Your Nursing Career Database

Throughout your career as a professional nurse and skilled healthcare provider, everything you create, publish, write, communicate, or otherwise put out into the world becomes part of the database of your nursing career. From your LinkedIn profile and resume to your tweets and updates, your personal and professional brand is to a large extent fed and watered by the paper and digital trail of your career. What does your database say about you?

Are You Feeling Spooked by Nursing?

Are you feeling spooked by your nursing career? It's Halloween week, and it seems natural to examine our careers for skeletons in the closet, ghosts that haunt us, and old stories that just don't fit anymore. Are you ready to dive in and see what we can see?

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Your Nursing Engine

Whether you're working in oncology, home care, or as a school nurse, fueling your nursing engine is an integral part of making sure that you're not running on empty. So, what does it mean to fuel your nursing engine? This is a metaphor, of course, and we can interpret it in many ways.

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Nursing Jobs, Cost of Living, & Where to Hang Your Hat

In my work as a career coach for nurses and healthcare professionals, I frequently witness those who work in nursing struggling with decisions related to finding work and the relative cost of living in terms of where they live or where they might move.

Making decisions about your workstyle and lifestyle can be fraught with anxiety and concern about the future -- let's unpack that conundrum.

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Nurse, Throw Your Hat Over the Wall

In your nursing career, have you ever wanted to get something done but never had the gumption to make the commitment and just do it? Well, there's an old Irish proverb that says, "When you come upon a wall, throw your hat over it and then go and get your hat."

In the context of your nursing career, I like to think of this saying in terms of you putting some skin in the game and making a commitment to do what needs to be done, no matter what obstacles may appear to be in your way. What are you avoiding? What are you waiting for? Is there a deep end you just need to dive into?

Are You a Nurse Job Hopper?

Nurses leave jobs for innumerable reasons, and sometimes circumstances cause those of us in healthcare and nursing to only stay at a string of positions for relatively short periods. Job-hopping has generally been frowned upon in human resources circles, but generational changes and new attitudes about work and careers are slowly altering the landscape. However, job-hopping continues to have its ups and downs, and being a nurse job-hopper still comes with significant career liability.

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When Nurses Receive Their Due

Most nurses will readily admit that they didn't choose nursing because of the astronomically high paychecks. Sure, nursing can be a relatively remunerative career, but there are plenty of other professions that are significantly more financially rewarding (and free of some of the challenges that nurses face on a daily basis). So, what if nurses were paid a whole lot more in exchange for saving ---and otherwise improving---the lives of a grateful public?

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APRNs and 21st-Century American Healthcare

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) are an increasingly important fixture within the 21^st-century American healthcare system and nursing profession. Full practice authority is a central key to APRNs’ ability to fulfill the needs of the American public, and it’s time for such authority to be granted nationwide.

Should I Quit This Darn Nursing Job?

Have you ever wondered when it's time to quit your nursing job and move on? Are you stuck in a job, uncertain where to go next as a nurse? Or do you just need a change of scenery? It's all about timing, self-care, finances, lifestyle and workstyle, career development, and other factors that impact how long you stay and when (and why) you go.

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Nurses: Come Out of the Woodwork

Although Nurses Week is long over, the public face of nursing still needs a regular shot in the arm so that the public knows what nurses actually do. As nurses, do we describe our work in a way that gets the point across? Does the public know that we're more than the media makes us out to be?

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The Tapestry of Nurse Collaboration

Collaboration among nurses and other healthcare professionals is central to the delivery of patient care. According to Merriam Webster's online dictionary, collaborate is defined "to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor". This particular definition is perfect for our purposes where the work of nurses is concerned.

Non-Traditional Nursing Careers: Where There Is No Box

Ask just about anyone what a nurse does and where a nurse works, and the general response is, "Oh, she works in a hospital." Apropos of that statement, when I tell someone I'm a nurse, they generally say, "So, do you work at the hospital?" I have nothing against hospital nursing, but there's more to our profession than meets the eye, and many of us are waking up to the multiplicity of non-traditional opportunities just waiting to be grasped by the savvy nurse.

Nurses, the Best Selfie is Internal

At a time in history when "selfies" are dominant in the depiction of our lives (and the potential measurement of our worth), the most important selfie for a nurse to take is on the inside, not the outside.

Selfies are part of our 21st-century culture, and there's no denying their popularity. In essence, it's our way of presenting a self-portrait to the world just like Van Gogh or Rembrandt would, except we can  effortlessly make dozens per day that can potentially be seen by hundreds or thousands of people. 

We have the habit of posting photos of ourselves having dinner with friends, walking on the beach with our dog, or relaxing on the hammock with a book and a glass of wine. In terms of our personal development and how we see ourselves as nurses and human beings, what if we shifted to taking "selfies" of what's going on inside of us? Rather than focusing on the outward appearances of our lives and careers, what if we delved more deeply into our motivations, fears, and joys? What if that which made us tick -- rather than the brightness of our smile or our curated life -- became the measure of our lives as nurses, human beings, and citizens?

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New Grad Nurse Confidence: Stoking the Flame

Graduating from nursing school and becoming a new nurse is a remarkable accomplishment that can generate excitement, fear and loathing, anxiety, joy, and all manner of both positive and negative emotions.

With new nurses abandoning their nursing careers within the first 1-3 years at alarming rates, the nursing profession itself needs to wake up and smell the coffee regarding how crucial it is to support, nurture, and grow our new nurses into seasoned and confident professionals.

New grads need to pass the NCLEX, of course, and when that hurdle is accomplished, landing and starting a first nursing job is the order of the day. Where does new grad self-confidence come from, and how is it inspired and retained for the long haul?

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Build a Firewall Against Negative Nurse Syndrome

As nurses, we see the good, the bad, and the ugly of life, society, and humanity. In the course of our nursing careers, we can encounter belligerent patients, impatient families, nurse bullies, arrogant surgeons, uncaring managers, and generally miserable nurse peers. So how do we stay positive amidst such negativity? How do we protect ourselves against those who would prefer to drag us down with them -- including other nurses?

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Your Nursing Career: Attention and Intention

As a career coach for nurses, I frequently hear from nurses who feel they've been ignoring their own nursing career development for far too long and they're ready to give it the attention it deserves. Do you regularly give your nursing career focused intention and attention? If not, how can you begin?

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Change, Personal Agency, and Wellness -- Celebrating Nurses Week 2018

As Nurses Week begins, what does the idea of nurses and nursing conjure for the majority of people when they think about nurses? Obviously, the public trusts us immensely (the Gallup Poll confirms that every year), so there's a lot behind who we nurses are and why we're so special.

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Nurses Take DC 2018: Nurses' Voices Matter

On Thursday, April 26th, 2018, I had the distinct privilege and pleasure of speaking in front of the United States Capitol Building at the annual Nurses Take DC Rally for Nurse-Patient Ratios. With the iconic Capitol dome in the background and the Washington Monument directly in front of me as I spoke to hundreds of fired up nurses, it was a powerful moment for me as a nurse and as a motivational public speaker.

Your Nursing Career's Differential Diagnosis

In medicine, nursing, and healthcare, a differential diagnosis refers to the process of differentiating between two or more conditions sharing similar signs and symptoms. In the context of your nursing career, this process can be equally elucidating. Is there a careful career examination in your future? If so, what would your differential diagnosis be?

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Nurses: Moving at the Speed of Trust

Seeking a career in nursing could be characterized as an exercise in trust. We nurses willingly endure a grueling educational experience; place ourselves in the hands of nursing professors and professional nurse preceptors; and otherwise trust that the blood, sweat, tears, and expense of pursuing our goal is worthwhile. In essence, we move at the speed of trust as we enter the universe of a nursing career.

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Nurse Innovators and Trailblazers: An Embarrassment of Riches

I recently spoke with a nurse career coaching client who's thoughtfully searching for what she should do next with her nursing career in order to more fully reach her potential as a healthcare professional.

As I've previously discussed on both this blog and my podcast, the sky's the limit in terms of what nurses are capable of, even though nursing schools (and by extension many of your nursing colleagues) will lead you to believe that acute care is the only place where "real" nurses choose to make their professional nest.

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Nurse Bullies: A Plague On Our House

Sadly, there appears to be a desperate need for a continued conversation about bullying within the nursing profession. One would hope that the dawning of the 21st century would have seen a decline in such old school behaviors, but there are obviously those among us who haven't yet learned the lesson that collaboration and cooperation are the true keys to success.

A Shot of Nursing Self-Esteem

Do you hold yourself and your nursing skills in high esteem? Do you internalize and embody your value as a nurse? If not, it's high time that you did.

Escape Velocity

There are many of us who desire change during the course of our nursing careers, but change can be hard to manifest for a variety of reasons: boredom, ennui, limiting beliefs, lack of imagination, low self-esteem, difficult life circumstances, finances, burnout, or perhaps a rut so deep that we can't dig ourselves out.

In order to break free of the earth's gravitational field, a rocket must reach 25,020 miles per hour. Is your needed escape velocity equally daunting? If you were to gain the momentum needed to make a change, what is the escape velocity you would need to actually make it happen?

A Soft Landing for New Nurses

In speaking with large numbers of new nurses over the years, I consistently hear that novice nurses are not often given the guidance, nurturing, and mentoring that they truly need to move from surviving to thriving in their new nursing careers. New nurses need a "soft landing" as they enter the field, and it's up to us seasoned nurses to make sure they get it.

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Common Questions About Nurse Entrepreneurship

Nurse entrepreneurship is exploding in the 21st century, and many nurses ask me for advice about nursing-based business. So, let's dig into some of the most common questions that nurses have about potentially launching a business or entrepreneurial endeavor.

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Nursing Trends and the ANA, Part 2 of 2

One of the premier nursing organizations gathering information about nurses is the American Nurses Association (ANA). In my previous post, we delved into the results of a 2017 ANA survey based on responses from approximately 6,000 nurses. Today we're going to dive back in for part 2 of our 2-part series.

Nursing Trends and the ANA -- Part 1 of 2

In the November and December 2017 issues of American Nurse Today, the ANA revealed the results of a survey of almost 6,000 nurses. This nursing survey explored the state of the profession in relation to trends in nursing salaries, the makeup of the nurse clinician workforce, and workplace culture and environment. Let's explore some of what they found -- we'll explore more in next week's blog post.

Hispanic Nurses On Fire

I recently spent an incredibly inspiring and powerful weekend with 100 Latino nurse leaders who gathered in San Antonio, Texas for the inaugural National Association of Hispanic Nurses Leadership Institute. This spirited group of forward thinking nurses of all ages clearly demonstrates that unity, organizing, critical thinking, and planning for the future are part and parcel of enlightened 21st-century nurse leadership.

Nurses, Gallup, and Amplifying Your Voice

Well folks, nurses did it again. According to the newly released Gallup poll, we're still the most trusted professionals in the United States! Let's face it - the nursing profession rocks.

The BSN Requirement -- A Legislative Sea Change

Do you believe that nurses should be required by the government to have a BSN? Well, the tide is turning and a massive sea change is inexorably underway since New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed such legislation into law on December 19th, 2017. It's called "BSN in 10", and the consequences will be widely felt by the nursing profession in the wake of this controversial move that was 14 years in the making.