Nurse entrepreneurship has grown exponentially in the 21st century. These days, it doesn’t take much research to discover that nurses are now enjoying the fruits of their labors in product development, consulting, coaching, writing, podcasting, and many other large and small business endeavors.
Nurses are knowledgeable, forward-thinking, and savvy. It’s no surprise that the most trusted profession has found many niches to leverage that trust.
My Side Hustle Story
In the first decade of the century, nurse entrepreneurship lived on the fringes of the online conversations occurring by and about nurses on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. At that time, podcasts were a new phenomenon beginning to catch hold in some industries, and blogging was growing quickly. During that first decade, nurse entrepreneurs began to capture increasing attention as pursuits like blogging, podcasting, and coaching began to catch fire.
I launched my blog in 2005, and as it focused on nursing, it became one of the first nursing blogs on the internet. During this time, I also learned about the growing field of coaching. As I attended workshops, gained knowledge, met others, and saw the growing potential of the coaching field, I found a way to launch a small side hustle as a career coach focused on nurses and other healthcare professionals.
Meanwhile, around 2011, conversations about podcasting were heating up on Twitter, and it wasn’t long before two colleagues and I launched RNFM Radio, arguably one of the first nursing podcasts in existence. This was soon followed by The Nurse Keith Show, my current nursing career podcast, which has reached almost 500 episodes.
At the same time, I discovered that many healthcare-related websites were beginning to seek out nurses with writing skills who would be willing to create relevant content for their growing online audiences. The freelance nurse writer concept was fairly novel in those early days, and I and several colleagues all found ourselves in demand as content creators for various online brands.
Building side hustles in blogging, podcasting, coaching, freelance writing, and public speaking has been a multifaceted undertaking with a steep learning curve and many twists and turns, but it underscores the reality that many nurses are seeing an avenue to self-generated income and opportunity through an enormous array of business opportunities.
The Current Nurse Business Environment
In this third decade of the 21st century, the notion of the nurse entrepreneur comes as little or no surprise to most individuals paying attention to these developments. The role of the “influencer” has found its way into numerous industries, and nurses are no exception. With nurses gaining traction with a growing number of traditional and online media outlets, some nurses have found themselves in the position of health coach, media correspondent, and resident expert.
For nurses seeking opportunities using their podcasting, speaking, coaching, and writing skills, the ability to create financially and personally rewarding side hustles and full-time businesses has never been stronger.
Along with the growth of nurse entrepreneurship has come the increasing profile of older established organizations like the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA) and newer groups such as the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, and Leaders (SONSIEL). Online forums and networks also provide excellent support to nurse entrepreneurs, as do nurses who have fashioned themselves into business coaches able to support other nurses on these journeys.
Even though nurses don’t necessarily learn applicable business and marketing skills in nursing programs, this has not stood in the way of those of us who have chosen to pursue opportunities beyond the bedside. With access to a world of information and support currently available on the internet, self-taught nurse entrepreneurs are finding success, as are nurses who have coupled their nursing education with degrees in communication, marketing, and business administration.
With the flourishing ability to create an online presence through blogs, websites, podcasts, online video channels, and social media accounts, so has nurses’ ability to reach wider audiences grown exponentially.
Whether nurses seek to create online businesses, develop their medical products, work as consultants with large corporations, or establish traditional “brick and mortar” businesses like home health care agencies, wellness clinics, or aesthetic medical spas, the potential for success has never been more significant.
Nurse entrepreneurship has indeed come into its own. For nurses with the drive to have a few side hustles or a full-blown business endeavor, there have never been more possibilities and avenues to pursue.
The growth of your career as a nurse can be consciously self-generated or simply a result of happenstance and a laissez-faire attitude toward professional development. Neither of these options is necessarily bad in and of themselves, but a thoughtfully sculpted career is definitely fodder for a much richer, more satisfying, and rewarding trajectory.
Whereas employment can often feel like a means to an economic end (i.e., survival), there is also the notion that work is an avenue to self-awareness, a sense of personal pride, contribution to the community and society, and a full engagement in life.
Work, Fear, and Struggle
It is true that, at specific points in life, work serves a particular purpose. But, especially at a young age, before professional training or advanced education, work is often a utilitarian exercise. Yet, at the same time, it can also feed our sense of pride and purpose—and, perhaps, aspirations for more.
Many work ethics are out there, and many of us may be familiar with the so-called “Puritan Work Ethic,” which espouses hard work and a frugal lifestyle. But, then, there are also the 21st-century pop culture notions of “The Four-Hour Work Week” and get-rich-quick plans.
Meanwhile, fears and anxieties are frequently experienced by those who grew up during the Great Depression.
Since the economic downturn of 2008, many households have struggled to survive, with breadwinners working multiple jobs in the face of a rising cost of living, frozen wages, and increased difficulty finding health insurance (the Affordable Care Act notwithstanding) or planning for retirement.
Yes, work can feel like something we need to do to survive. But we can also consider how work doesn’t just pay the bills and put food on the table but also how it feeds us on the inside.
The Continuum of Consciousness
Considering these suppositions, where do you fall on the continuum of consciousness vis-à-vis your nursing career? Are you “sculpting” a career that’s truly meant for you to embody? Or, to the contrary, are you gliding along a track that, while more or less acceptable, seems like it was created for you by those who feel they have the right to dictate your professional pathway?
Along these same lines, is your career driven by something akin to the Puritan Work Ethic, or are you driven by fear, whether it be fear of not having enough, fear of losing status, or fear of being without work?
This continuum of consciousness vis-a-vis our nursing career trajectory can frequently change, perhaps even daily. Some days, you may feel completely connected at work, aware of how you make a difference in the lives of others. On other days, work may feel like a total slog, a chore to complete as quickly as possible, with your blinders fully in place so that you go through your day without much sense of connection or purpose.
The larger arc is what we’re after, no matter what happens daily. Even though it’s no fun to survive those problematic workdays that feel like they’ll never end, if the majority of your work life is positive, growthful, and adding meaning to your life, you’re on the right track.
Sculpting A Nursing Career That Fits
When you consciously sculpt your nursing career, you are the driver, and your decisions create the path ahead of you. And if you’re not exactly sure where you’re going, don’t worry; the path can be created with each step of the journey.
Sometimes, we follow our intuition, applying for a job because “something” tells us we should give it a try. At other times, a potential position comes into our awareness, and we “know” that the position is the best step towards a future that we’re creating. Our intuition can guide us, and we can consciously seek out opportunities that we feel are the strongest choices for us at this particular time.
The main question is this: are you consciously creating your career, or is your career just happening to you? While it may be OK to coast along from time to time, a consciously created career is the most potentially satisfying.
Paying Attention to Career Arc
So, dear Reader, pay attention to the arc of your career. Have you made good choices? If not, is there a way to remedy that situation? If your current position has you feeling stuck, what can you do to get unstuck? Who can you turn to for advice or support? What action steps can you take to get back on track?
Paying conscious attention is a powerful way to feel like you’re taking the reins of your career. Others’ opinions don’t need to matter much unless you value their opinions. Do you feel like there’s something you need to do because “they” say you “should”? Well, who are “they,” and why do you need to listen to what they say.
Some people function from that above-mentioned place of fear, and others operate from a place of abundance and grace. Which lens would you prefer to look through?
Take the reins of your career path. Find your place on the continuum of consciousness. Create a career that works for you, and make your nursing career a work of art of which you’re proud.
Water and feed your nursing career with conscious creativity and attention, and it will feed you from the inside out.
Minority Nurse is thrilled to welcome Keith Carlson, “Nurse Keith,” a well-known nurse career coach and podcaster of The Nurse Keith Show as a guest columnist. Check back every other Thursday for Keith’s column.
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