Lorie A Brown, R.N., M.N., J.D., Author at Empowered Nurses

What Would Lorie Do?

June 30, 2022 2:20 pm Leave a Comment

I own 4 successful businesses for which I am the CEO of each. When I am about to take an action, I won’t ask myself, “What would I do?” Rather, I ask, “What would Jeff Bezos or Tony Robbins do? Both men are remarkably successful CEOs of a number of businesses.

When we make decisions from where we are, we always will be at that place. We cannot create new results without moving outside our comfort zone.

So many nurses are afraid to invest in themselves because the money is not there, this just means the money is not there now, but it is on its way. The only way to grow is to do something outside your comfort zone. Whether that would be investing in yourself, investing in software or supplies for your business or investing in a program, the money probably isn’t there or it is not a good time. Ask yourself, what would a CEO that you respect do? Would they delay something that would really help their business grow and provide a return on investment or would they wait until they had the money. It is important. Your business will not grow or at least not as fast without thinking like a CEO.

Tony Robbins’s mentor was the late Jim Rohn. I would encourage you to listen to any of Tony Robbin’s materials or, for that matter, that of Jim Rohn.

There are so many successful people in the world and there is a predictable pattern for success. Why reinvent the wheel and make it harder for yourself?

It took me 5 years to become successful with my legal nurse consulting practice. It was a long 5 years. I was reluctant to hire a mentor because I did not have the money since at that time, I was a single mom with 2 kids. However, once I finally took that leap and hired a mentor, my business growth was exponential. In fact, when I started my 2^nd business with my law firm doing professional licensing defense, I was able to exceed my legal nurse consulting income within 9 months.

As nurses, we tend to sabotage ourselves because we are so busy giving to everyone else. However, you need to come first. This your life, no one else’s. This is all we have.

I wish I had back those first 5 years of my business because when your business does become successful, it leads to freedom and you have money to give back and help those less fortunate.

If you are interested about fast-tracking your growth and your business, let’s schedule a CallWithLorie.com.

Stretch Yourself!

June 23, 2022 8:27 pm Leave a Comment

What do I mean by “stretch?”

Stretch means doing something different, something hard and going past what you believe to be your limitations.

We nurses tend to get stuck in our comfort zone. We are at the top of our game as a nurse, yet we tend to stay there without pushing ourselves to be, do or have more.

Your comfort zone is like a thermostat in your home: when the house gets too warm, the air conditioning kicks on and, conversely, when it gets too cold, it engages the heat.

The same is true of our individual weight. We all have a weight thermostat which is why people striving to lose weight eventually regain what they’ve lost.

To go past these predetermined limits, such as those of our comfort zone, it is important to stretch yourself. You can stretch yourself in small ways by trying new things that open your mind.

However, if you do NOT stretch yourself, it’s like Ground Hog Day. You wake up and even though the patients may be different, everything is pretty much the same.

We really are creatures of our habits. We all get up and many of us start our day at about the same time. Many have the same or similar breakfast. We shower, brush our teeth, and typically have the same grooming routine. Everything is “old hat” and it’s like you are on autopilot.

The only way to break out of this cycle is to stretch yourself.

I stretch myself to prove that I can do more and it allows me to think differently about my capabilities.

When I broke a board with my hand, my fear was instead I would break the bones in my hand and no longer be able to use my computer. More frightening was when I “ate fire,” I could see myself in a burn unit.

Sometimes our own mind is our own worst enemy. Our mind thrusts all kinds of fears upon us that are not real. As a result of the board breaking and eating fire, I did not hurt myself!

All growth occurs outside your comfort zone. Life it too short. Going through the motions in my mind is not living. There is so much joy in being the creator of your life. I was so pleased to find out that I could go beyond my limiting beliefs.

Now, here are some things you can do to get out of your comfort zone.

Take a different route to work or ride your bike to work;
Go someplace you have never been;
Read a book on a topic in which you would not normally be interested;
Take a new college class;
Try a new and exotic food;
Go to a social event where you do not know anyone;
Visit a museum with exhibits you know nothing about;
Play a new game;
Go to a concert performing a different style of music;
Watch a sporting event that you do not understand.

You can find many other new experiences that can open your mind and stretch yourself to new possibilities in your life.

A toast! Here’s to stretching yourself today and creating new possibilities.

Please give me examples below of what you have done or may consider doing that will allow you to “stretch” yourself.

Be The Source In Your Nursing Practice

June 16, 2022 6:57 pm 1 Comment

I frequently am heard saying, “You can always get another job but not another license.” Over the past few years, particularly under the duress of the pandemic, nursing has become an extremely difficult profession. If you are not happy in the area where you work, try something new.

We all are conditioned by our comfort zone to which we are so accustomed that we are too afraid to leave it. Yet sometimes the grass on the other side can truly be greener.

If you are not planning to change but want to make wherever you are a more likeable environment, I suggest that you become “the source.”

What do I mean by “source?” It is a place to stand and take responsibility. I am not talking about in terms of fault or blame but in terms of If this is happening, I can do something about it. Choice gives us freedom. We always have a choice but may not like the options.

If I am not happy with something, I know I can do something about it. Some nurses tend to blame everyone and everything else for what is going on. “I have too many patients … There’s not enough staff … I got a bad assignment … I couldn’t get any help …” You can put the excuses in a basket by the handfuls.

When you blame someone else for something that occurs, you give away your power. That means everything is outside of you and you become helpless that nothing can be done.

However, if you take the position of I have too many patients and flip it so that, instead of blaming the situation, you ask yourself how can you do the best with that situation or what can you do about it?

Maybe you can go to your supervisor and say, “I have too many patients and I think that makes my assignment dangerous. Is there any way that you can help me?”

But, doing nothing and being resentful about the situation you have is also not a good place to be.

Being the source, imagine that you created the situation, that it is there for a reason and ask yourself how can I get through it without putting my license in jeopardy?

Let’s take another example: you are the source of where you work. If you are not happy with where you work, you can do something about it. If you are blaming, “Oh, it’s the only hospital near me,” you can always move. Because we have free will, you always have a choice.

Every day I wake up and take the stand that I am the source of my day and I get to create it the way I want it. Typically, I am surprised by the results. When you are intentional about what you want to create and accomplish, it is amazing what you can do. I think the same applies for anything that you do. To be successful, you must be the source.

“If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.”

For example, you cannot be successful in dieting without being the source. You are the source of what you decide to put in your mouth and how much you will exercise.

You cannot be successful in relationships if you are not the source of creating them and achieving workability within them.

I would love to hear your ideas of how you are the source in your nursing practice. Please let me read your thoughts below.

In House Travel Nursing

June 9, 2022 7:07 pm 1 Comment

Hospitals across the country are offering internal travel nurse programs. Did you know that?

What is great about this is that you can make the money of a travel nurse while the healthcare facility does not have to pay the middleman agency for the nurses. Plus, if you love the job, you can possibly get hired full time.

To me, this is a great solution allowing nurses to make more money without having to go through the agency as the go-between.

Nevertheless, I still have a problem about committed regular staff nurses who are making less than the travel nurse who just walk in to contribute their skills for a short period of time.

I have noticed instances of some nursing units that treat the travel nurses poorly who arrive to help in their units. One would think they would be grateful for the extra hands.

Nurses need to stick together, to treat each other with the respect and dignity they deserve, no matter what their respective statuses might be. We do this for our patients, why not for each other?

Gender Pay Disparity for Nurses

June 2, 2022 6:20 pm Leave a Comment

A recently released study showed that in 2021 male nurses were earning a median salary that was $14,000.00 more than their female counterparts. The previous year, 2020, the median salary for male nurses was $7,297.00 higher that the ladies.

An interesting thing revealed by the study was that males consistently asked for higher salaries than females when accepting nursing positions.

So, I want to send this message to all nurses: nursing is the hardest profession on earth and many of the things that nurses do would not likely be worth any amount of money to the average person. There is something special in a nurse. It’s in our DNA as I always say.

However, though it is our calling to care for people, we do not need to be treated like a doormat. Nurses are needed now more than ever because of the loss of nurses during the COVID pandemic and due to the critical staffing shortage.

If you are offered a nursing job, advocate for yourself! It is not unreasonable to ask for better money to manage such crucial and vital duties. In fact, better your position by applying for several facilities and “play them against each other.” There is nothing wrong for you, so to speak, “to blow your own horn” to get paid what you deserve.

Getting back to my first paragraph in this article, there is NO reason for men being paid more than women in the nursing profession. Both sexes do the same work so there is no sound reason to pay one more than the other.

I always say for you to stand in your power, and, specifically in this case, for you to feel free to negotiate your salary because the healthcare field needs you.

Are You the Walmart, Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus of Your Nurse Owned Business?

May 31, 2022 6:22 pm Leave a Comment

I have come over the years to sort out businesses into three classes, each modeled after a current successful company: Walmart, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus.

A Walmart business gives discounts to pull in patrons to purchase your goods or services. It’s like Groupon where people look at the price and the product before deciding which they wish to purchase.

The business owner does not get repeat business from the Groupon purchasers unless the business owner offers another discount for continued services or products.

I’ll be straight with you, I used to be a Walmart for professional licensing defense. I made a $10,000 mistake but learned valuable lessons. I had so many nurses contacting me because of matters involving their licensure and a number would say they, “could not afford” me.
I’ll be straight with you, I used to be a Walmart for professional licensing defense. While I had so many nurses contacting me because of matters involving their licensure, some would hesitate when they learned the amount of the fees involved.

I felt bad for some nurses because they were going to face the board without legal representation because of financial limitations.

I decided to start a pre-paid legal fund where nurses could participate at a cost of $197.00 per year for which they would be provided with whatever defense they required if a legal situation arose.

In the meantime, under the plan, they could call me with questions and nursing employment issues.

I felt the $197.00 was fair and by pooling together everyone’s money, there would be sufficient funds to cover the cost and fees of providing a defense for the occasional nurse needing legal assistance.

After setting up the fund, I asked the Board through a public records request for the email addresses for all of Indiana’s licensed nurses. Now, mind you, this was before the CAN-SPAM Act which sets rules for commercial email use. My thought at the time was that I would email them about this amazing program to provide them with legal defense if they needed it. To me, it was a win-win for everyone.

Ultimately, the Board refused to allow me the email addresses but, in fact, sent out their own email to all the nurses informing them that I had asked for their contact information. At first, I was upset but I came to realize that name recognition is good, no matter what.

With that I hired my former boss as my attorney to take on the state to allow my public records request for the email addresses. After paying roughly $10,000.00, my efforts eventually were for naught as I lost the case.

The universe was clearly giving me a sign that my proposed plan was not meant to be.

Although it was costly, it was a great lesson to step into my work. Once I realized how much good I could do for nurses, felt my value to charge what I thought I was worth, everything changed.

I was able to attract the clients I wanted, clients able to afford my service and, in turn, clients whom I could reward with an excellent defense.

Those were my Walmart days.

Now, maybe you’re the Nordstrom style of business. Are your fees kind of in the middle-of-the-road? Not too cheap (not based on bargains and discounts) and not too expensive where you price yourself out of the market?

Nordstrom is a nice middle ground which is the level at which I like to keep myself. I needed to do a lot of work on my mindset to charge what I am worth and be able to receive it. Now, nurses have no trouble paying for my services because I know my value and am able to share it.

Lastly, you might be in the Neiman Marcus level with your nurse owned business. Neiman Marcus is high priced and consistently offers high value, high quality, and it overdelivers.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being in the Neiman Marcus level with your business and, if you go this way, I think it’s great! You can be the icon at the top of the line for the service you provide.

Walmart … Nordstrom … or Neiman Marcus! No matter which level of business you go with is only a matter of choice. I suggest that you stay in your power and worth by selecting the style you think serves you the best.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Nurses: Are You the Captain of Your Ship?

May 26, 2022 8:42 pm Leave a Comment

The captain of your ship? Is that you?

The ship captain analogy was used quite a bit in our recent retreat as it is applicable in nursing.

In law, “the captain of the ship” is a doctrine meaning that the physician is responsible for everything that happens in surgery. However, I use the term to question whether you are charting the course and steering your ship where you want it to go? Or are you allowing others to take the helm while you sit back as a passenger, just there for the ride? Or do you have pirates aboard, sabotaging your mission and who you need to cast off your vessel?

There are 3 types of nurses.

The first type is holding on to the dock for dear life, staying in their safety and comfort zones. These would be nurses who hate their job but will not move on to other employment for fear of winding up sitting in the unknown.

You constantly hear me say, “You can get another job . . . but you can’t get another license.” If you’re holding on to the dock, staying with your job only because of loyalty but feeling that it is not safe to stay there, there is a whole big ocean out there waiting for you to discover.

So, jump in, get your feet wet and chart your own course.

The second type of nurse is the one who is out in the middle of the ocean, being tossed about by the winds, waves, and storms. This is a nurse who goes with the flow and let’s everyone else contribute to decide her future rather than taking the helm herself and charting the course for where she wants to go.

The “Captain of the Ship” is the third type of nurse who is firmly in control of the craft, charts the course she wants and takes the actions to get there.

This could be a nurse climbing the clinical ladder by continuing her education, but is happy with where they are, happy with their career and steering their ship to their own destination.

There are places like this in nursing where you can be the captain of your ship, feeling good about what you are doing. Now, it would be nice if all nurses were captains of their ships and not letting the hospital or other circumstances deflect them in other directions.

Food for thought: which type of nurse are YOU? Let me hear your comments below. If you are not Captain of your Ship, what are you doing to regain control and chart your course where you want to go?

Nurses’ Week: Was Your Employer Naughty Or Nice?

May 12, 2022 9:49 pm 1 Comment

I have heard that many hospitals have done away with Nurses’ week and now celebrate “Hospital week.” Interestingly, the largest workforce in healthcare is nurses, yet their one special week gets taken away from them when doctors have their own day and other health professions have their own day to celebrate.

According to an article in BECKER’S HOSPITAL REVIEW, and a survey in connectRN, 63% of nurses say, “The typical way their employers show appreciation feels patronizing.”

That is really sad. Although nurses want to be paid appropriately, they want to feel valued, respected, have adequate staffing, feel like they can do their job and feel supported at work both physically and emotionally.

Years ago, I created a “Nurses’ Bill of Rights” because we have a “Patient Bill of Rights” where patients have rights but nurses rights go unattended.

In another article by BECKERS, they discussed how 18 hospital executives wrote notes to nurses and praised them for the excellent job they were doing and how they are the backbone of the healthcare system.

Some lackluster gifts nurses received in the past for Nurses’ Week included business card holders. I don’t know how many nurses, if any, carry business cards, tote bags, cookies, cakes, and packs of Extra gum, “because we’re ‘Extra’ special.” Last year, rocks were given stating ‘gratitude rocks’ for the nurses’ services. Some now call these “Nurses’ Weak” gifts.

While these gifts seem to have been created by a corporate marketing person; they seem to fail in what is really in the best interests of the nurse.

I also have seen on Facebook, copies of emails to staff saying, “I know we’re extra short staffed now and if you do not take this assignment, we can take a walk to HR.” That is no way to treat nurses for all the hard work they do to care for patients and to support the cause for the hospital’s very existence.

I have always believed and claimed that nurses are the hardest working people on the planet. You cannot pay people enough to do the work that nurses do.

It is time that hospitals bring nurses to the table and ask them what they want … AND DELIVER!

Instead of fighting and letting nurses go on strike, let us sit at the table and have an adult conversation to find solutions. I believe nurses have the answers to the problems in the healthcare system. They just are not listened to.

It saddens me that the profession that I love is so broken and that nurses are treated poorly, especially on their special week, like factory workers that are replaceable.

I believe that nursing is in our DNA and not everyone can be a nurse. If you are a nurse for the money, you will not be in nursing for long.

I would love to see administration show the care and concern for their nurses the same as nurses do for their patients.

What does your health system do for you for Nurses’ Week? Let me read your comments below.

More Tragedies In Nursing

May 5, 2022 9:20 pm Leave a Comment

On April 30, 2022, halfway through his shift at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, a nurse entered a supply closet and, taking a gun he brought from home, took his own life in front of a coworker. This was the second suicide in that area since the first of the year.
This broke my heart to learn of these nurses, so stressed during their shifts, that the only release seemed to be for them to take their own lives.

Ambulances were diverted from the emergency room, but they still allowed walk-ins.

If a coworker killed themselves in the ED where you were working, are you going to feel like you can take care of patients?

Are you supposed to turn off your emotions and pretend as if nothing had happened? That is crazy!

When my son was on summer break before the fifth grade, he lost a classmate in an auto accident. When he returned to school, they still had the child’s vacant seat to honor the child who was killed. They brought in counselors to help the students. Mind you, school started a few weeks after the child’s death.

What about nurses? What are they doing for our mental health?

In this situation, it was the employer’s emergency room that was affected by this.

My heart breaks for this man who felt he had no alternative but to take his life. There must be another answer.

Suicide rates for nurses is much higher than the public. I don’t know how much more our profession can take before we all crash. I hope it does not come to this.

I would love to hear your comments below.

What Do You Mean That I Can’t Get Business There?

April 29, 2022 5:44 pm Leave a Comment

Did you know that almost every contract includes a provision called a “covenant not to compete” or a “covenant not to solicit”?

Basically, what these mean is that you cannot talk to any clients of a person or work in a particular area during the term of the contract and after.

Courts do not like covenants not to compete because they restrict the trade of an individual meaning where that person can work or with whom they can associate to get business.

However, if such provisions are reasonable as to distance and to time, courts usually allow these.

I see these provisions in a lot of nurse practitioner contracts. A number of NPs have reached out to me saying they would like to start their own practice. When I ask where they are now working, many will say, “For the hospital” to which I add, “Did you sign a contract.” When they say, “Yes,” I direct them to look for these non-compete provisions.

Contracts for many nurse practitioners have a provision that they cannot work within a certain area meaning not only where they work but the entire health system as well. Such provisions also set a restriction for a period, usually about 2 years.

For a legal nurse consultant, if they subcontract, they usually find this provision in their contract as well. I have seen one contract go as far as saying that the legal nurse consultant cannot contact any attorney in the restricted area regarding your legal nurse consulting services.

In my opinion, that is overly broad. However, because many nurses don’t understand these provisions, they sign the contract anyway.

If you are going to have a non-compete clause in your contract as a legal nurse consultant, I recommend that it should be specifically for that one client and service. So, if you are attending a DME for a legal nurse consultant for an attorney, the covenant not to compete should be for that one attorney and should be only for DMEs.

Therefore, if you want to contact the attorney for other consultant services, you have no problem. However, you do not want to bite the hand that feeds you. If this legal nurse consultant is subcontracting and giving you DMEs, you don’t want to go behind their back and take their clients.

It is important to be in integrity with these agreements and to know what they say before you sign. Be in integrity and respect and follow the agreement.

It is important to be knowledgeable about everything that you sign because you are required to abide by it. Ignorance is not a defense.

Author Archives: Lorie A Brown, R.N., M.N., J.D.