Tag: nursing

Seven Strategies to Prevent Nursing Fatigue

Almost all nurses have experienced nursing fatigue at some point in their careers; try these seven strategies to combat the effects of it.

By Deborah Swanson

Nurses are incredibly resilient. Each day, they wake up, throw on a set of scrubs and head into work to perform a demanding 12-hour shift—all while striving to provide the best possible care to their patients. Then, they get home and fall asleep, only to begin the process all over again.

But as a nurse, you know that this barely touches the reality of the situation. In the United States, most hospitals and clinics are woefully understaffed, which often forces nurses to work longer shifts and manage far more patients than they can actually handle. The unfortunate result is nursing fatigue, a common condition which can make you feel both mentally and physically exhausted for days, weeks, or even months.

Almost all nurses have experienced nursing fatigue at some point in their careers, so don’t feel guilty over it. Instead, you can try these seven strategies to combat the effects of nursing fatigue.

1. Leave Work at the Door

When you clock out from work, it’s important for you to clock out mentally as well. Leaving your work at the door is essential for avoiding compassion fatigue, a condition which results from repeated exposure to patient suffering while working in a high-stress environment.

In a 2017 study published in the European Journal of Oncology Nursing, researchers found that nurses were more likely to experience compassion fatigue when they were more self-judgmental. If you come home from work and feel guilty about all the things you could have done to make your patient’s life easier, you won’t give yourself time to recharge for the next shift.

2. Practice Different Forms of Self Care

Nurses go from patient-to-patient, checking their vital signs, administering medicine and assisting them with daily activities. As a result, it’s easy to get so caught up in caring for patients that you forget to take care of yourself.

To be on top of your game each day, it’s critical that you do things for yourself on a regular basis. Some self care practices you can try include: going for a walk in nature, starting your day with meditation or signing up for a healthy subscription meal service.

If you tend to feel guilty about treating yourself, make your forms of self care double as a bonus for work. For example, do arm work every other day to help lift your patients or invest in the new pair of nursing shoes that you’ve been eyeing for months.

3. Use Your Vacation Days

You have vacation days, so remember to use them. Taking time off work is key to preventing burnout and will help you return to work feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. If your nursing unit schedules vacations at the start of each year, be sure to get your days in the books—even if you don’t have anywhere in particular to go.

In fact, planning a “staycation” for yourself may be the perfect getaway. You can recharge your batteries by relaxing at home, catching up on things you’ve been neglecting and spending quality time with the family.

4. Unload Your Brain after Each Day

After a particularly tiring shift, sometimes you just need to declutter your mind and get all your thoughts out of your head. One way to do this is by writing them down on paper or typing them into a Google doc.

Untangling your mind and getting the thoughts out of your head can lower your mental brain fog and allow you to relax after a shift. The process is simple: Just set a timer for 15 minutes and unload your thoughts. Once the time is up, delete your document or click out of it. Reading it over again will only put the words back into your head.

5. Change Your Work Environment

While it’s no secret that most hospitals and clinics stretch their nurses far too thin, some take it to another level by creating an environment that is downright dangerous. If your healthcare institution has a poor nurse-to-patient ratio and no system in place to provide help for nurses, it may be worth it to begin searching for a new job.

Though nursing is an in-demand field, finding the right fit can be trickier than it sounds. Don’t be afraid to explore different healthcare settings to find your ideal work environment. While you might take a pay cut in some instances, the change could be the key to preventing nurse fatigue.

6. Find a Specialty You Love

It’s much easier to prevent nursing fatigue when you truly love what you do. If being a registered nurse just isn’t working for you, consider switching to a nursing specialty that makes you happy to stroll into work each day.

While you could always take a nursing specialty quiz to help you nail down your career, one of the best ways to get a feel for a particular specialty is hands-on experience. Are you interested in a position as an emergency room nurse? Talk with the ER manager and let them know you’re ready to help. There are hundreds of nursing specialties, so be sure to explore all your options to find a job that truly ignites your passion.

7. Explore New Hobbies

Every nurse needs a hobby that allows them to decompress and wind down from work. Finding joy in a new hobby can combat nursing fatigue by giving you something to look forward to after a shift.

Some of the best hobbies for nurses often double as stress-relieving activities, such as painting, knitting, woodworking and jewelry-making. Be sure to explore hobbies that get your heart rate up. Getting involved in a pickup soccer game, going zip-lining with friends and enrolling in a martial arts class can help keep your mind off work while improving your mood.

Long shifts combined with understaffed nursing units are the perfect storm for nursing fatigue. While some healthcare facilities are working to address the problem, it’s important for you to be proactive about your health and happiness. With the help of these strategies, you can fight back against nursing fatigue and prevent it from affecting your personal and professional life.

Deborah Swanson is a Coordinator for the Real Caregivers Program at allheart.com. A site dedicated to celebrating medical professionals and their journeys. She keeps busy interviewing caregivers and writing about them and loves gardening.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The #1 Reason Nurses Leave Their Jobs

Nurse turnover remains a problem for hospitals year after year. So, what is the main factor driving nurses away from their jobs?

What is the most common reason nurses leave their jobs? It’s their work environment, or so says the Press Ganey Nursing Special Report, Optimizing the Nursing Workforce: Key Drivers of Intent to Stay for Newly Licensed and Experienced Nurses.

The study, which explored responses from nearly a quarter of a million RNs, identified trends in nurse retention and turnover, as well as intent to stay in their jobs, based on age, tenure, and unit type. Nurses across all ages and experience levels who planned to leave their job within the next year most commonly cited dissatisfaction with their work environment as their reason for leaving. Poor work environment was followed by home or personal reasons as the second most popular reason for leaving, and then a change in nursing career.

If you’ve left your job recently, or are planning to leave, has your work environment played a role in your decision?

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Is Your Nursing Career Making You Fat?

Is your nursing career making you fat? A new study says it could be. Take our poll and let us know just how much weight you think this study holds.

Employees with substantial workloads who experience exhaustion or burnout are more likely to emotionally eat and exercise less, behaviors that promote weight gain, according to a study published May 30th in the Journal of Health Psychology.

That sure sounds like a career in nursing, doesn’t it?

This isn’t the first time weight gain has been tied to the profession, either. Previous studies have found that nurses have a high rate of being overweight or obese, and that working the night shift can be linked to an increase in body weight. Though the job comes with many physical demands, and physical activity is a tried and true factor in maintaining a healthy weight, that doesn’t seem to help keep the pounds off when it comes to the emotional weight of nursing.

Have you packed on pounds since becoming a nurse, or do you feel as if this study doesn’t hold weight for you? Tell us below.

Have you gained weight, lost weight, or maintained your weight since becoming a nurse?:

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The State of Emergency Nursing

There is not exactly a state of emergency when it comes to the field of emergency/trauma/transport nursing, but one may be on the way.

A recently released study took an in-depth look at the state of emergency, trauma, and transport nurses in the United States in an effort to gain an understanding of the landscape of the field, as well as the issues facing these nurses. The comprehensive study, which is the first of its kind, provides important insights about the current workforce and the future demands of the profession.

Here are some highlights from the report.

Demographics

  • The majority of the workforce is under the age of 40 (43%), female (78%), and Caucasian (87%).
  • Transport nurses are more likely to be male than emergency or trauma nurses.
  • Compared to the overall nursing workforce, emergency/trauma/transport nurses are more likely to be male and white.
  • More than 50% of respondents have previously worked in an Emergency Department.
  • 10% of respondents report previous military experience.
  • 78% of respondents hold a BSN or higher.

On the Job

  • Respondents indicated that 60% of their time is spent on direct patient care, while 25% of their time is spent on documentation.
  • 65% of respondents stated they are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs.
  • 39% of respondents report the workload is too heavy or overwhelming.

Salary & Career Path

  • For emergency nurses, the median salary is $77,500.
  • For trauma nurses, the median salary is $82,500.
  • For transport nurses, the median salary is $82,500.
  • The majority of survey respondents expect a shortage or extreme shortage of nurses in the next 5 to 10 years, though most report plans to continue in their current role for the next 5 to 10 years.
  • The most common planned career change among respondents is to obtain a specialty certification or become an APRN.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Top Survival Tips for New Nurses

Here are four essential tips for the new nurse, to not only quell your nerves, but to begin to shape you into the best nurse you can be.

You’ve just accepted your very first job as a Registered Nurse. Now what? Here are four essential tips to not only quell your nerves, but to begin to shape you into the best nurse you can be.

  1. Seek Out a Mentor: Though some hospitals and health care facilities have mentorship programs built in, some don’t. If your new employer is one that does not, speak up and seek out a mentor of your own—be it a seasoned nurse that you can just quietly observe or one that you have a more established mentoring relationship with, in which you can ask questions and receive feedback.
  2. Ask Questions: Though you’ve just finished school, there is still a lot to learn. Don’t be afraid to use your voice, if you come across something you’re curious or unsure about. No one knows everything—not even the most experienced nurse—but there will be plenty of people who can help you to learn more as you settle into your new role.
  3. Pay Attention: It’s easy to become overwhelmed, especially when you’re new to the field, and things could easily slip through the cracks, if you’re being pulled in multiple different directions all at once—which you likely will be. Be mindful and focused as best you can at all times. And don’t be afraid to step back, breathe, and ask for help, if you need it.
  4. Practice Self Care: Your shifts will likely be long, your bathroom breaks will likely be short, or non-existent, and you’ll likely be on your feet all day. It’s easy to feel drained, when that is your day-to-day. Take care of your brain and body every single day by hydrating, eating right, sleeping well, and leaving the stresses of work at work.

What other tips would you add to this list? What is the best advice you received when entering the field of nursing?

The Hardest Parts of Nursing

The nursing profession comes with many obvious rewards, be they personal or professional. However, it is also well-documented to be one of the most stressful careers, due to staffing shortages, hospital politics, long hours, and many other factors. Business Insider recently took a deep dive into the minds of nurses and released a list of what they have found to be the top pain points of working nurses. The list, released last week, includes eleven of the hardest challenges faced by nurses today, including:

  1. Experiencing the death of patients
  2. Judgment passed by others about their occupation
  3. Long, stressful hours
  4. A lack of respect from others in the industry
  5. Hospital politics
  6. Non-existent or few bathroom breaks
  7. Outdated and time-consuming technology
  8. Know-it-all patients and their families
  9. Missing out on holidays and weekends
  10. The pressure to know everything
  11. Caring for drug-addicted patients

What do you think is missing from this list? Are you facing struggles that aren’t mentioned above? Feel free to vent about them in the comments.

Nurses, Nursing, and the Nature of Suffering

Nurses are no strangers to the illness, suffering, and death of others. But how a nurse navigates their own personal suffering plays a role in how they approach life, work, and the overlapping of the two.

From Nurse Keith’s Digital Doorway

In the course of many nurses’ healthcare careers, witnessing the illness, suffering, and death of others is commonplace. From dialysis and med-surg to home health and the ICU, nurses create therapeutic relationships with patients and their families, providing spiritual and emotional comfort, compassion, and expert skilled care based on many decades of nursing science and evidence-based interventions.

Aside from witnessing the challenges faced by others, nurses are themselves human beings with their own life experiences, victories, and suffering. How a nurse navigates their own personal suffering plays a role in determining how they approach life, work, and the overlapping of the two.

Life is Suffering

In Buddhist studies, it has been said that life is suffering. I believe that this expression refers to the notion that our emotional attachment to the things that make up our lives (relationships, money, success, possessions, family) are what cause us suffering, and the ability to live in the present without grasping for what we don’t already have can help to alleviate that suffering. In other words, our desires cause us to suffer.

Aside from our attachment to things and people, there is also the reality that bad things often happen to good people — we see children with incurable cancer, elders living alone and destitute, and many other situations that seem both untenable and patently unfair.

In nursing, medicine, and healthcare, what we’re grasping for is the health and well-being of our patients, sometimes against all odds. We grow attached to patients and their families, our compassion goes out to them in their hour of need, and we can feel like failures when things don’t go the way we wished they would.

I’ve lost many patients over the years, and I did indeed sometimes blame myself when they suffered or died, especially when it seemed almost impossible to alleviate their suffering. I’ve seen patients consumed by cancer, heart or liver disease, dementia, stroke, multiple sclerosis, ALS, diabetes, and the opportunistic infections that transform an HIV+ patient into someone living with AIDS.

Suffering is also witnessed by so many of us when we turn on the evening news, listen to the radio, or scroll through a news app on our phone or our Facebook feed. War, famine, terrorism, politics, the economy — each of these aspects of 21st-century life can reveal to us the crueler side of human nature and existence.

Our Own Suffering

I’ve lived with chronic pain for more than a dozen years, and I admittedly suffer to some degree every day. Like many other people with physical pain, I power through my days and then rest at night as best I can.

Throughout my many years of providing career coaching and professional support to nurses, I’ve heard many stories that have nearly broken my heart. Nurses with all manner of conditions have passed through my orbit, and I’m consistently inspired by the courage and persistence embodied by these incredibly strong human beings. From burnout and depression to cancer and brain trauma, nurses are themselves patients too.

As nurses who serve the ill, injured, and vulnerable, how do we tend to our own suffering while also being present for our patients? How do we allow ourselves the space to feel our own feelings and deal with our personal issues without feeling guilty for being vulnerable ourselves?

Nurses often feel they need to be invincible, uncomplaining, and stoic, but we’re human beings, not angels and saints. We nurses need to honor our own suffering, challenges, and pain — by doing so, we can then be even more available for our patients through the simple fact of our own compassionate understanding of their plight and our very human experience.

Our Own Humanity

As nurses, healthcare professionals, and human beings living in a complex and often stressful 21st-century world, our own humanity matters, even when we’re determined to deny our own pain and suffering in the interest of being the strong nurse helping others. Denying our humanity and our pain does us no good, but nurses are experts at doing so.

We nurses are fallible and prone to all of the ills that are visited upon our fellow citizens. Like everyone else, we have our existential anxieties about family and friends, the environment, politics, our finances, our futures, our careers, and anything else under the sun.

Nurses too live with debt, personal tragedy, and grief and loss — we also strive to create the best lives we possibly can for ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities. At times, admitting that we don’t have the answers is a very human thing to do. The ability to say “I don’t know” is a sign of strength, even for a nurse who prides herself on always having the answers to life’s vexing questions.

Our humanity has meaning, no matter our efforts to be superhuman and carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. As nurses, we must strive to recognize, accept, and celebrate our own fallibility, and create lifestyles and careers that honor our needs, our pain, our suffering, and the forward thinking personal and professional lives we strive to live.

Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC, is the Board Certified Nurse Coach behind NurseKeith.com and the well-known nursing blog, Digital Doorway. Please visit his online platforms and reach out for his support when you need it most.

Keith is co-host of RNFMRadio.com, a wildly popular nursing podcast; he also hosts The Nurse Keith Show, his own podcast focused on career advice and inspiration for nurses.

A widely published nurse writer, Keith is the author of “Savvy Networking For Nurses: Getting Connected and Staying Connected in the 21st Century,” and has contributed chapters to a number of books related to the nursing profession. Keith has written for Nurse.com, Nurse.org, MultiViews News Service, LPNtoBSNOnline, StaffGarden, AusMed, American Sentinel University, the ANA blog, Working Nurse Magazine, and other online publications.

Mr. Carlson brings a plethora of experience as a nurse thought leader, online nurse personality, podcaster, holistic career coach, writer, and well-known successful nurse entrepreneur. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his lovely and talented wife, Mary Rives.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

“The Jewish Nurse” Who Treated Tree of Life Gunman Speaks Out, Urges Love

After the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history, stories emerged about “The Jewish Nurse” who treated the alleged gunman. Now, Ari Mahler, RN, tells his side.

In the days following the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in suburban Pittsburgh that left 11 Jewish people dead, stories spread of “The Jewish Nurse” who treated Robert Bowers, the alleged gunman. “Death to all Jews,” Bowers reportedly yelled as he was wheeled into the ER at Allegheny General Hospital, and still, “The Jewish Nurse” cared for him.

Now, “The Jewish Nurse” has a name—Ari Mahler, RN—and a message, and he has taken to the internet to tell his side of the events that transpired on October 27th in a powerful and moving social media post.

“I am The Jewish Nurse. Yes, that Jewish Nurse. The same one that people are talking about in the Pittsburgh shooting that left 11 dead. The trauma nurse in the ER that cared for Robert Bowers who yelled, “Death to all Jews,” as he was wheeled into the hospital. The Jewish nurse who ran into a room to save his life,” the post, which has been shared more than 166,000 times since it was published on Saturday, began.

Mahler went on to explain how he found empathy for the man who stands accused of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.

“Love. That’s why I did it,” he said in the post. “Love as an action is more powerful than words, and love in the face of evil gives others hope. It demonstrates humanity. It reaffirms why we’re all here. The meaning of life is to give meaning to life, and love is the ultimate force that connects all living beings. I could care less what Robert Bowers thinks, but you, the person reading this, love is the only message I wish to instill in you.”

Mahler’s poignant message can be found in full below.

Can’t see the post above? Click here to view it directly on Facebook.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Nurse’s Post about Vaccines Goes Viral

If you buck vaccinations and Big Pharma, should you be allowed go to the doctor or the hospital when you get sick? This nurse says no in her viral post.

Days before an article was published by the Los Angeles Times stating, “Health authorities in California have more power to insist that a dog is vaccinated against rabies than to ensure that a child enrolled in public school is vaccinated against measles,” a California nurse took to Facebook and made a post about that very topic. In her post, Meggy Doodle, as she’s known on the site, told parents that they may have the “freedom” not to vaccinate their children, but that it comes with a caveat—”The caveat to that is this: then they should NOT be allowed go to the doctor or the hospital when they get sick, looking for treatment,” if they think Big Pharma is “just trying to turn a profit or poison us all.”

Doodle went on to urge those against vaccinations to, “stop being so naïve,” and rattled off a list of live-saving measures which are also compliments of Big Pharma—antibiotics for sepsis, steroids and epinephrine for anaphylaxis, an inhaler for asthma.

“Having a heart attack? Better break out your essential oils and get your affairs in order, because the only thing we have to offer you is medicine and procedures brought to you by the very same people who are responsible for those vaccines you insist are evil,” Doodle continued.

She then said that she personally takes offense to anyone who, “implies that medical professionals, like myself, would ever administer anything to anyone, especially a child, that would intentionally harm them. I take even more offense to anyone that would imply that a college educated professional, like myself, is incapable of “doing the research.””

She signed the post as “a nurse, a mother, a college graduate (with a science based degree), NOT BIG PHARMA.”

The post quickly went viral, amassing more than 12,000 shares and upwards of 13,000 reactions in mere days, with many who shared the post echoing Doodle’s sentiment. “You tell them girl. I agree with you,” said one woman who shared the post. “With flu season approaching… I’ll just leave this here,” said another. “Something to think about,” read comments accompanying quite a few other shares.

As a nurse, do you agree with Doodle’s sentiment? Read her post in full below, then tell us in the comments.

Can’t see the post above? Click here to view it directly on Facebook.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

10 Steps to Nurse Entrepreneurship

Many nursing professionals would like to be business owners but aren’t quite sure how to get started—if that’s you, this guide is here to help.

From Nurse Keith’s Digital Doorway

I recently attended the 2018 annual conference of the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA) and I was reminded that many nursing professionals would like to be business owners but aren’t sure how to get started. That lack of business acumen is both prevalent and understandable.

While I’m not specifically a business coach for nurses, my career coaching practice and experience as a nurse entrepreneur has taught me a thing or two about getting a business up and running.

What Does A Business Do?

Before we get to my top tips for launching your nurse-run business, let’s talk about what a business actually does.

A business identifies a pain point, problem, or need, and then delivers a product or service to solve that problem to a customer willing to pay for that solution.

Since the days of people living in caves, nothing has really changed about the nature of business. When a particular cave dweller found that he had a skill for making weapons out of bones, other cave dwellers may have realized that they really wanted to “own” one of his “products”. Since money had yet to be invented as a means of exchange, barter was likely the way of the world. So, a cave woman who was skilled at making herbal remedies may have traded her herbal salves for a knife made of bone. In this way, both parties received a product that solved a vexing problem.

When money came along, barter was no longer necessary, thus those with the financial means could essentially trade currency for a product or service.

As a “nursepreneur”, you may not be making knives out of bones, but you may have developed a product that solves a problem, and you’d like people to give you money for it. Take Wayne and Dawn Nix of RNVention as a prime example: this husband-and-wife nurse team invented the Multinix, a brilliant tool that solves many problems for busy nurses with only so much room in their pockets.

Basically, Dawn and Wayne saw a problem (nurses running around their units looking for various tools to perform a multitude of tasks) and they created a product that makes those nurses’ jobs easier by combining functions that would decrease nurses’ need to seek out different tools throughout the course of a shift. And voila, the Multinix was born.

This exemplifies the process of identifying a problem (nurses’ myriad tasks to accomplish), identifying the target market (nurses in busy clinical settings, generally hospital-based), and creating an affordable and well-made product that solves the identified problem(s). Of course, a brilliant product sometimes doesn’t fly off the shelves for various reasons, but those who see or work with the Multinix feel strongly that it’s absolutely the bees’ knees and a godsend to busy nurses everywhere.

Now that we’ve reviewed one example of how a product or service can solve an important problem — specifically for nurses — let’s look at my top 10 tips for those desiring to jump into the world of nurse entrepreneurship and nurse-run business.

Tip #1: What’s your idea?

A business almost always begins with an idea or a story. Perhaps you’ve invented a physical tool like Dawn and Wayne Nix, or maybe you’d like to start a home health agency targeting homebound seniors whose adult children would like a private duty nurse like you to manage their care. And maybe you have a gripping story that explains your motivations for starting this new venture — those stories can communicate so much about your passion for your project.

  • Identify your idea
  • Ascertain if there’s a compelling story behind your idea
  • Solidify and sharpen your idea and story

Tip #2: Do your research

Most people do a fair amount of research before they go to the trouble of launching a business venture. You need to be fairly certain that there’s a viable market for your product or service; this includes making sure that the people for whom you’re solving a problem are actually seeking a solution for that problem. A great product without a target audience is a product that may never see the light of day.

If you plan to manufacture a physical product, you’ll need to do deep research regarding:

  • Developing a prototype
  • Finding a trustworthy manufacturer
  • Understanding how distribution will take place
  • Applying for a patent or trademark
  • And so much more

Tip #3: Identify your target market/niche

Your research will reveal who your target market or niche is, and your mentors and other advisors may have helpful information for you in that regard. The general idea has always been that “the riches are in the niches”, meaning that a narrower niche will often be more successful than a business that tries to serve anyone and everyone.

For me, the niche that I’ve identified for my career coaching services is registered nurses, and that’s a pretty big niche! I even work with some APRNs and nurse practitioners. As other coaches and counselors begin to enter this same market, I may choose to narrow my niche to, for instance, mid-career nurses who need career counseling and support; so I watch the market, see who’s coming to me, and continue to monitor if my target audience needs to change in some way. Being willing to pivot and flex is certainly the order of the day.

Tip #4: Seek support in setting up your business

Starting a business can be a complex undertaking, so getting support is essential. You can seek out a mentor, hire a business coach, or discover if your local municipality provides any services for new business owners.

I cannot recommend the National Nurses in Business Association highly enough. The NNBA provides access to a national community of like-minded nurse entrepreneurs, and the annual conference in Las Vegas is the flagship event that any business-minded nurse would be prudent to attend.

There are plenty of business coaches out there, including some who are nurses associated (or not) with the NNBA.

If you need to find out if there’s a small business support center in your local area, try Score.org, and they’ll pair you with a local mentor who will often be a retired businessperson who volunteers their time to help people like you.

Finally, just talk to people who run businesses and pick their brains!

Tip #5: Choose a name for your business

Your business will certainly need a name, so think carefully about this. The name of your company will be on your website, social media platforms, business cards, letterhead, checks, credit cards, etc. also

Tip #6: Create a structure

An important part of your business startup is creating a business structure. This is an important decision in the process. Your business will generally be an LLC, S-Corp, J-Corp, or sole proprietorship. Seek out advice from legal counsel, your local Score office, or other reliable sources.

Tip #7: Set up your finances

Once you’ve decided on a structure, you’ll probably want and need to separate your personal and business finances. In my own experience, this was simple: after forming my LLC, I went to my favorite local credit union where I do my banking and I opened a business checking account, a business savings account, and applied for a business credit card. For my own peace of mind, I keep track of transfers I make between my personal and business accounts, but you should definitely check with your accountant or bookkeeper about what data they would like you to make note of.

Tip #8: Create your web presence

Every business needs a web presence, even if that business is a “brick and mortar” entity. Designing and building a website isn’t rocket science, but it’s admittedly complicated. I chose to hire a web designer to build my site, and I’m happy I did. If you have the wherewithal to build your own, go for it but be sure you ask for help when you need it!

Your business will also need to be on social media — it’s just the way that 21st-century businesses operate and it’s what consumers expect. Don’t feel you have to set up an account on every platform known to humans — choose the places where it seems your target audience hangs out. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, SnapChat, LinkedIn — these are the main social media sites that average Americans use regularly, so see what makes sense for you.

Tip #9: Hire reliable help

Aside from your mentors and other helpers in #4 above, you will also likely hire contractors or employees at some point in the course of running your business. I currently have a podcasting coach, a social media coordinator, a web designer, a tax preparer, and a podcast producer. In the past, I’ve also hired a graphic designer and a business coach. I actually did almost all of these things on my own at first, but quickly realized that I couldn’t do it all and needed to focus on earning money, not learning a thousand new skills all at once.

Being able to hire people takes cash flow, so having some reserves is helpful, or you may need to take out a small business loan. Or you may simply do it all until there’s enough money coming in to cover expenses.

Tip #10: Be nimble and willing to pivot

My final piece of advice is to be willing to pivot as you move along in the life of your business. In this economic climate, businesses need to be nimble — markets shift, consumers change, and your needs or goals may also evolve over time.

Nimbleness is paramount — can you be a flexible business owner ready to roll with the changes and punches?

Bringing it All Back Home

This list of my top 10 tips for launching your nurse-centric entrepreneurial endeavor is not exhaustive by any means. Again, a business coach or other mentor is often essential to getting things jump-started, and I’ll repeat that the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA) is a great resource not to be overlooked — where else can you find other nurses with an entrepreneurial mindset?

Good luck, and remember to reach out to skilled professionals who can support you on this exciting road! Go forth and conquer!

Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC, is the Board Certified Nurse Coach behind NurseKeith.com and the well-known nursing blog, Digital Doorway. Please visit his online platforms and reach out for his support when you need it most.

Keith is co-host of RNFMRadio.com, a wildly popular nursing podcast; he also hosts The Nurse Keith Show, his own podcast focused on career advice and inspiration for nurses.

A widely published nurse writer, Keith is the author of “Savvy Networking For Nurses: Getting Connected and Staying Connected in the 21st Century,” and has contributed chapters to a number of books related to the nursing profession. Keith has written for Nurse.com, Nurse.org, MultiViews News Service, LPNtoBSNOnline, StaffGarden, AusMed, American Sentinel University, the ANA blog, Working Nurse Magazine, and other online publications.

Mr. Carlson brings a plethora of experience as a nurse thought leader, online nurse personality, podcaster, holistic career coach, writer, and well-known successful nurse entrepreneur. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his lovely and talented wife, Mary Rives.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.