About Me
You know that saying… when life hands you lemons, make lemonade?
I say, “No way!”
Make lemonade *AND* lemon tarts, *AND* lemonheads, *AND* lemon merengue pie and anything else you can make with it! Go crazy!
You know why?
Because life’s challenges are so incredibly juicy and so ready to be flipped into life’s conquests, if you just start to look at them in the right way…
5 years ago, I sold my sporting goods company to go back to school and become a nurse. 2.5 years ago, I graduated and went straight from school into the ICU and started paying my dues on night shift.
It was OK for a while, and I definitely LOVED taking care of my patients, but after a while, the mountain of paperwork, the lack of respect, the fact that we were *always* understaffed, the being pulled in 9.2 million directions all at once, the committees, the clinical ladder, the “another requirement here” and “another certification there,” and just all of the “stuff” that kept me from actually doing what I loved (taking care of my patients), just *really* started to wear me down…
This feeling was my big ol’ plate of lemons, as it were.
My whole life, I’d either been a bartender/bar manager (where I RAN the joint) or a business owner (who’d answered only really to myself), so suddenly all these requirements, hierarchy, chain of command, cranky charge nurses and JCAHO regulations were just a bit more than I could handle.
I started to realize that while I loved my patients (and most of my co-workers)….mostly I wasn’t entirely happy. And that stunk!
I only get one go-around on this big blue ball – I didn’t want to have to drag myself to work every shift… The thought was sickening…
And when that happens…when the assembly line stops, and you look around and say, “what the heck am I doing *here*?” something is wrong.
And here’s the newsflash: it’s NOT gonna fix itself…
I know a thing or two about that sinking feeling that happens when you end up in that place where, you are questioning *everything.*
Did I make a mistake by becoming a nurse? Should I go back to school for two more years, just so I can get my NP or CRNA and get the heck outta here? Why is everyone here so grumpy? Is the cafeteria really serving *that* again? Maybe, I should just become a travel nurse and try somewhere new…
Anyone recognize that line of questioning? Yes or Yes?!
It’s that sinking feeling that you are in the *wrong place* and you don’t know how the heck to get out.
Nobody should have to end up feeling like that. But unfortunately, these things happen – and, sadly, they especially happen in nursing these days.
The problem is that in Western culture, we define ourselves by what we do.
We put a tremendous amount of importance on our jobs and professions – often staying in the wrong role because change would be too difficult. And when you’re in the “wrong place,” it causes friction. Major friction.
And that friction starts causing mayhem all over the place and in areas of your life that aren’t even work-related. In my case, I developed serious insomnia and a ton of anxiety triggered by all that stress. Soooo NOT worth it.
But today, because of the incredible amount of technology and amazing economic opportunity that has opened up due to the weakened economy, it is *easier than ever before* to build a business around YOU and YOUR NURSING EXPERTISE with which you can still make a big difference in people’s lives. (And don’t let that word ‘expertise’ scare you if you’re a relatively new nurse…remember, I was only a nurse for 2 years before becoming a nurse entrepreneur! There’s no magic number of years’ of experience you need to have, as long as you have drive and good mentors.)
So, I went from restless, unfulfilled bedside nurse to practically jumping out of my bed with excitement every morning, because as a nurse entrepreneur with an online-based business, I don’t have to be anywhere but out on my back patio with my legs up, laptop in hand, a glass of ice tea next to me, and the sunshine on my face. Every. Single. Day. And that freakin’ rocks!
It wasn’t easy and it took hard work to get things going, but every day I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to have built a solid business with multiple streams of income, doing something that I wholeheartedly enjoy, being a part of changing nurses’ lives and making the world just a little bit better place.
Today I own a successful coaching practice, get to write books, run a blog, create and sell information-based products that change lives and get to partner with some really fun people on projects that make us all a lot of money and that make a big difference in the world. What’s better than that?!
To me, entrepreneurship is the answer to taking back control of your life.
If you work for yourself, you get to call the shots. Sure, you take all the risk, but you reap all the juicy reward too. It isn’t for everybody, but for many people, in this day and age, it certainly is the best option. Period.
It’s certainly a heck of a lot better than letting a faceless corporation or broken healthcare system beat you down, and at the end of the day decide when they’re done with you.
Aren’t you ready to leave your life of frustration behind and build something new for yourself?
Maybe you’re just here exploring and aren’t really sure what to think. That’s OK – sign up for my email list, and my newsletter may just knock your socks off (if you’re wearing any).
But if you’re ready and you need to start making some changes immediately, taking your life and your business to the next level, you might want to visit my coaching page.
Either way, let me just say this: I get it. Life as a nurse can be a little disorientating these days. Maybe even a touch scary (I mean who wants to lose their license, because your unit was understaffed – again?)
But let me ask you: what have you got to lose?
Take that next step. Take action; you’ll be glad you did. And don’t worry, I’ve got your back.
PS – 10% of all the profits from this website – services, packages, fees, etc. – go to support the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
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My Mission with this Blog is to:
- Inspire nurses to reconnect to their passion for serving others.
- Empower nurses to break free from the shift-work paradigm.
- Free nurses from the Bottom Rung of the Hospital Hierarchy.
- Be a vast resource to nurses exploring their options outside the hospital and to those who’ve already made the leap into nurse entrepreneurship.
- Support all nurses wherever their journey leads them.
- Teach nurses how to leverage their skills, knowledge and experience to create products and services which will have meaningful and exponential impact in the world and their own lives.
Welcome to a Community of Nurses Where:
- People & Passion are valued over Position
- Service means more than Certifications
- Compassion is valued over the Clinical Ladder
- Leadership means more than Management
- Aspirations eclipse Acronyms
- Dedication trumps Degree
I’m glad you’re here and look forward to sharing a whole new world of nursing with you!
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Anna Morrison is the Founder of The EntrepreNurse™ Group and the annual EntrepreNurse™ Summit. Her work empowers Nurses to leverage their clinical experience to create profitable businesses with meaningful impact.
She is the #1 Amazon Bestselling author of 5 Things They Never Told You in Nursing School.
Her upcoming books include: The EntrepreNurse Club: Escape the Bedside, Make a Difference, and (Finally) Earn What You’re Worth, and the awe-inspiring Magnitude 7.0: Hope & Transformation After Haiti’s Apocalyptic Earthquake.
As an inspiring servant-leader and in-demand speaker, and nursing career coach, Anna has helped hundreds of nurses re-connect to their passion for making a difference in the world, while improving their own lives.
Anna runs the “I Coach Nurses” Blog online and her international volunteer work has been featured in The Miami Herald, on Good Morning America, Plum TV and Nurse.com. Anna is a member of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the National Association of Legal Nurse Consultants.