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

Getting Ready To Get Ready

August 31, 2021 12:57 pm Leave a Comment

I see it all the time: nurses getting ready to get ready to start their business!

Nurses want to start a business but instead they spend their time developing a logo and getting a brochure and a website before they even start marketing themselves and seeing if the business is viable.

In order to have a viable business, your business must solve a problem. For example, if you are a burnout coach, how many nurses really acknowledge that they are burned out and want to get help? Most wait until it’s too late.

Nurses are not waking up at 3:00 A.M. saying, “Oh, I’m burned out! What should I do about it?”

No one loves to admit that they have a problem and by the time they realize that they are burned out, it’s too late. It’s too late for coaching and it’s taking a toll on their physical self and/or mental health. That is not to say you can’t use the same principles that you would to coach somebody with burnout and just re-message it in a different way so they understand they have a problem and they want help to solve it.

If you are like many nurses getting ready to get ready to start a business and you are forming your entity, creating your website, your logo, and your brochure, I can promise you, your message is going to change the more that your business evolves. Instead, you could be making money today.

Rather than getting ready to get ready, start making money now and use the money to bootstrap yourself. By making money in your business, you are showing you have a viable business. Secondly, it gives you the money to invest in logos and brochures, websites, etc. Each day you delay, you are actually losing money.

Getting ready to get ready is a way to hide instead of stepping in and saying, “I’m really going to do this and I’m going to be successful and taking the actions necessary to get business.” Would you go to a doctor because they have a nice website and brochure? No! You would go if you received referrals and met the doctor and know, like and trust the doctor.

So, rather than get ready to get ready, start. When is now a good time to start?

If you would like to have a nurse-to-nurse business owner assessment strategy call, please go to CallWithLorie.com. I would love to speak with you personally and help you start rather than get ready.

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME…

August 19, 2021 12:49 pm 3 Comments

What was known as the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists has changed its name to the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) because the new designation will more accurately convey the profession.

Anesthetists sometimes can relate to a trade or a technician. It’s interesting that the AANA name came about after it was revealed that Nurse Anesthetists in New Hampshire are no longer permitted to refer to themselves as Nurse Anesthesiologists.

The rebranding to AANA is to show what they really do in anesthesiology.

There was a recent article in Medpages about this renaming and physicians are up in arms because they believe that the medical title of anesthesiology is considered to be a “misappropriation.”

It will be interesting to see what comes of that.

As with anything, the titles get muckier. DNPs call themselves “doctor.” But so do veterinarians, dentists, PhDs, and doctors in education.

CRNAs, as Advanced Practice Nurses, are part of the most trusted part of the nursing profession and they have continued their knowledge to become providers of anesthesiology.

I believe that Physician Assistants are undergoing a similar title change to Physician Associates.

As with nursing, there are so many titles, but I personally believe that Nurse Anesthesiologist better portrays what a CRNA does.

Let me know what you think by posting your comments below.

No Nurses, No Care

August 12, 2021 12:45 pm 1 Comment

Last month, all 10 hospitals in Indianapolis were on “diversion” which meant that their emergency rooms were not taking patients.

One person was transported from Franklin, Indiana to Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, a trip of over 80 miles, because none of the Indianapolis area hospitals could care for any new patient.

Can you imagine the closest hospital being 80 miles away when you’re in an urban area? Well, this was the reality on that day.

This Indianapolis diversion was not because of a shortage of beds but because there was a shortage of nurses! Not enough nurses were available to provide emergency care for all the patients being delivered to those facilities at that time.

As you know and I know, nurses are getting so overworked, some suffering from post-traumatic stress as a result of the pandemic crush on our work force for the last 1½ years.

Nurses have been and are still being asked to do more with less, some who get no breaks during shifts up to 12 hours long.

I am hoping that my writing here helps to send a “wake-up call” to administrations that something must be done about the dwindling number of nurses to handle our national health care of patients.

Nurses need and deserve better treatment and to be provided with the physical, mental, and emotional support that actually inspires them. I’m hoping that these health care facilities will wake up and provide nurses with the care and support that they need.

Nurses are not necessarily asking for more money, however, that would be nice. More so, it’s to be treated with respect and dignity. Check out our Empowered Nurses Bill of Rights.

Is your emergency room short staffed? Tell us about the challenges you face there and what your facility is doing or should be doing to attract new nurses.

Let all of us know in the comments below.

MONEY IS EVERYWHERE, YOU JUST HAVE TO ASK

July 28, 2021 1:33 pm Leave a Comment

In our society, there is a mentality that rich people are evil.

When I was growing up, all the rich people on TV programs were not nice. There was J.R. of DALLAS, George Jefferson of THE JEFFERSONS and the Howells of GILLIGAN’S ISLAND along with many others.

The television shows normalized people who don’t have money and are always trying to make it. Just look at the shows like ALICE as well as LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY.

Now, for me, I believe that money is a mindset. And that your mindset can be changed to make more money. We are all programmed for what I call a money set point. Just like dieting … we can lose weight but many gain it back to that weight set point, or even more.

Money is the same way. When you want to make more money by stepping out of your comfort zone, it’s important to have a new relationship with money and a new mindset about that as well.

I would get occasional complaints from nurses who needed help with their license but did not have enough money for my services. Once I changed my money mind set and my beliefs surrounding money, people all of a sudden found a way to creatively get money.

Money is everywhere, I suggest you draw 50 lines on a sheet of paper. From there, I want you to figure out 50 different ways that you can make money NOW! It doesn’t matter how silly they may be but, of course, I suggest that they be legal. No robbing of banks, please …

Then circle the top 3 that may get you the most money in the least amount of time. You would be surprised. Money is everywhere!

Don’t stop or quit on yourself. Let the universe help and guide you to complete the 50 ways. DON’T STOP! Stopping just means that “it’s just not that important” to you.

I used the 50 ways recently. When I moved to San Diego, my daughter and I gave a lot of things away. We moved with only 2 suitcases each along with our 2 dogs.

Somehow in the past 3½ years here, we filled up the house. Fortunately, the woman who lived here before me left her furniture, so I did not need to buy anything new. However, now that we are moving again, we are not taking that furniture with us.

Yet, the landlord has informed us that we had to get rid of what we had been using. Rather than paying someone to haul the furniture, I posted pictures on Facebook and within a day, I made $220 with no furniture left.

So, keep in mind, money is everywhere, even in front of you.

Until next time, happy marketing.

AFTER 75 YEARS, STILL A WORKING NURSE!

July 21, 2021 3:08 pm 2 Comments

Florence Rigney, who goes by “SeeSee”, started her career as a nurse in the same era that penicillin was being developed. Graduating from nursing school in 1946, if you do the math, you’ll realize that she has been a nurse for 75 years, three-fourths of a century! And all but those first 5 years were at MultiCare Tacoma General in Washington State.

More than 30 years ago, when she was a youthful 65, Florence tried to retire from her profession, however, that respite lasted only 6 months. The only other interruption to her extremely long term of service was when she was forced to drop out due to COVID and that was only because of her age.

The hospital’s administration and her coworkers supported and worked with her during the pandemic. When the numbers of those infected in Tacoma sufficiently decreased, she went back to the medical front line.

Sadly, I often see where nurses are being targeted because of their age yet MultiCare Tacoma General has been particularly supportive. I applaud the facility for their faith in Florence and I applaud Florence herself for her lifelong dedication to nursing.

She has become somewhat of a media darling as the community and the nursing profession celebrates her. One article said she was 92, another from last fall said 95. But since that latter publication, she had another birthday this past May 8th meaning she is 96 today and just retired July 16th!

How amazing and beautiful it has been that Florence has provided her lifelong service to her community and all through the same healthcare facility.

Nursing Shortage Due to Lack of Faculty

July 1, 2021 12:54 pm 3 Comments

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) conducted a survey that found that 80,407 qualified applicants were denied spots in the nation’s nursing schools.

The reason? The survey cited that it is due to difficulty in obtaining qualified faculty members. Faculty salaries are much lower than those in clinical nursing practice and, therefore, many nursing schools are just unable to attract qualified faculty.

The faculty shortage greatly contributes to the shortage of nurses for the simple reason that if there are not enough faculty members, fewer people can be educated and trained to become qualified nurses.

The AACN also reported that the average salary for a masters-prepared faculty member is $57,454 and the average for an instructor with a doctorate degree is $120,377.

However, according to a South Carolina news report, the average nurse with a master’s degree earns more than $100,000 while one with a doctorate can earn twice that amount!

Unfortunately, the non-competitive salaries are the greatest reason why these nursing school faculty positions cannot be filled. But it is not for lack of people who want to enter the nursing profession.

Another contributory element to the nursing shortage is that nurses are leaving the profession due to problems in the nursing field.

Check out the recently released Institute of Medicines (now National Academy of Medicine) Future of Nursing Report.

What ideas might you have of what we can do to attract and retain qualified nursing faculty members to enhance the overall number of nurses?

Please let me know your thoughts below.

Everything Is Energy!

8:34 am Leave a Comment

Wherever your energy goes … attention flows. And, of course a business takes energy. However, so many times our energy gets diverted in other directions.

When I first started working from home, I would see a messy room and feel compelled to clean it. I would have to run and errand. I would look at the overflowing laundry and the dirty kitchen. All of these things would cause me to stop and take care of the personal things before I focused my attention on my business tasks. In order to have a successful business, one has to set boundaries and look at what is diverting one’s attention.

For anything that diverts your attention, I suggest making a “stop doing” list. All those tasks that you can ask someone else to do, in the long run, it pays off. You will make more money focusing on your business compared to paying someone a few dollars to clean your house or do your laundry. My philosophy is “Do, delete or delegate.” If it is something that you don’t personally have to do, it’s better to delegate or not do it at all. Every time I walk past the laundry, the dishes in the sink or the personal errands I have to run, it would take my energy even if I did not do it at that time. I became annoyed.

That is why I suggest you create the “stop doing” list. Anything that is taking your focus away from your business, stop doing it. Then you can delete it or delegate it.

If you choose to do the list, set your boundaries and do it after work hours. The more focused and disciplined you can be during your work hours (whatever hours those may be which I suggest to be the ones where you are the most productive) create that list and set those boundaries so that your energy flows and you can stay focused and follow through on growing your business and serving your clients.

Safe Staffing?

June 24, 2021 9:12 am 1 Comment

Can you believe that mandatory minimum staffing in nursing homes is now a law in New York? Interestingly, last year Governor Cuomo was exposed for requiring nursing homes to accept COVID-19 positive patients when New York hospitals were overflowing and then not being truthful about the number of deaths of nursing home residents.

However, New York recently passed laws and Governor Cuomo signed legislation requiring safe staffing in nursing homes and hospitals. It requires that nursing homes be properly staffed with a minimum of 3.5 hours of nursing care per resident. I hope this does not mean CNAs and that it is hours of licensed nursing staff.

With regard to the hospitals, they are required to seek input from nurses and other staff in creating staffing plans to include specific guidelines on how many patients each nurse is assigned. Requiring a committee to develop specific guidelines on how many patients each nurse is assigned causes me concern. When there is not an absolute minimum number of nurses to take care of patients, doesn’t that give you cause for concern when hospitals are allowed to create staffing guidelines?

If hospitals were going to provide adequate staffing, they would have done so already. A law requiring them to have a committee to create their own standards and levels of staffing, it seems like the fox guarding the hen house.

That is why I like California’s laws requiring mandatory minimum staffing. And remember, minimum staffing levels are for a minimum and hospitals can flex up with higher acuity. For if you don’t have the minimum number of staff it can be dangerous for patients. When hospitals are not properly staffed, it causes increased incidences of medical malpractice, decreases retention of nurses, and decreases nurse satisfaction.

While I applaud New York for taking steps to ensure that its residents receive proper care, I am not sure this is the best resolution. I am glad nurses have a seat at the table but is this in name only? Is it someone in administration or someone working the floors?

I would not be surprised if hospitals intimidate or strong-arm nurses to agree to lower staffing levels than is safe or necessary. This has been happening for years where nurses are put in dangerous positions for their license and wellbeing.

While I appreciate the attempts, I’m not sure that the means will be worth it. We shall see.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this approach to mandatory minimum staffing. I believe this was tried after a strike in Illinois, but it has not been successful.

Is Starting A Nurse Owned Business Right For Me?

May 31, 2021 10:19 am Leave a Comment

There’s never been a better time to start a business. With the growth in technology and most people doing business online, many brick-and-mortar stores are going out of business and the days of those remaining are numbered. Just look at our malls. Many of the stores are closing because just about anything you need can be purchased through Amazon.

Starting a business is right for if …

… you want to help people. Obviously, as a nurse, you would love to help people or you wouldn’t be a nurse. You want to improve their lives, improve their health and improve their wellness. You like to solve problems and listen to their complaints. If this is you, then starting a business might be right for you. Next, we just need to figure out how you want to help people.
… you want to make money. As nurses, we rely on our hospital or our employer for a paycheck. The only way to make more money is to work more. But, as a nurse business owner, we get to make our own money and, would you believe that you can make a lot more money than as an employee. For example, a legal nurse consultant who charges $200.00 an hour needs to bill only 10.4 hours a week to make over a $100,000.00 a year.
… you want to work hard. Nursing is the hardest working profession on the planet and we have to deal with acutely ill patients, short staffing and lack of support as well as other travails. We also can be exposed to bodily fluids of all kinds. If you think you can just go and hang out your shingle and earn all this money, you’re wrong. It takes drive, dedication and persistence. You are going to fall down and skin your knees but you get to get back up and start all over again. It is the best personal growth on the planet and the more that you learn and develop yourself, the more successful you will be.

You want to start a business but now is not the right time. So, when is the right time? There is never a right time. There will always be something that gets in the way of you following your dreams because, as humans, we are designed to stay in our comfort zone. Anything that gets us out of our comfort zone is scary.

Make the commitment that you want to start your business now. Have a vision of what you want to create and then go for it.

I’m afraid of risk. As nurses we are reliant on our job to pay our bills. But, as a business owner, we rely on hitting the pavement and letting people know who we are, and asking them to work with us.

As nurses, we are lucky many of us work 12-hour shifts and have 3 or 4 days a week to devote to our business. I suggest you build the plane as you fly and dedicate yourself to doing 3 small things each day that are going to move you closer to your dreams of being a successful business owner.

I don’t like doing the accounting, billing and legal work (for the business). It doesn’t matter whether you know how to do accounting, legal work, or billing. At first, you will be the chief, cook, and bottlewasher. But when you become successful will be able to hire someone else to perform these services, thereby devoting more time to do what you love.

Owning your own business is the most rewarding experience in the world. It gives you the freedom over time and money because you know that if you need more money, you just find another client. Or, if you want to take a day off, you can. The freedom and flexibility are the best. No more working 12-hour shifts. No more bedpans. No more hurting your back walking on concrete floors. No more working holidays and weekends.

If you have a dream to own your own business, when is now a good time to start? If you would like a complimentary strategy session to go from Nurse to Nurse Business Owner, check out www.CallWithLorie.com so we can schedule a time to chat.

Nurses Take the Streets for Advocacy

May 27, 2021 1:42 pm 1 Comment

I am pleased and proud that nurses in my San Diego community have banded together and have taken their passions and advocacies to the streets and were recognized by the American Nurses Association of California with their 2021 President’s award.

So, what is inspiring about these nurses?

In May 2020, a group of registered nurses volunteered to treat people who were pepper sprayed and otherwise injured during protests to the George Floyd murder.

The philosophy of these nurses is that racism is a public health issue.

They walk their talk and attended multiple protests and their group has grown to nearly 30 nurses from multiple health care organizations in San Diego County and they have volunteered at more than 200 protests.

It warms my heart that nurses are standing side-by-side with my community for a cause they believe in.

They’ve also used the protests as an opportunity to offer masks and educate the public on preventing the spread of COVID-19.

I am proud that I am a fellow nurse with these leaders in taking a stand for racial equality and social justice and not only talking about it but participating in efforts to remedy these types of situations.

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