Interested in Nurse Entrepreneurship

[Taylor T LPN]

Hello all! This is my first post to all nurses forum. To those who take time out of their day to read my topic, thank you in advance! ?

So getting into it. I'm an LPN with 3 years experience in NE Ohio. Im going back to school on July for RN (woot woot!). But more recently nurse entrepreneurs have been catching my eye. I'm intrigued by the idea of building my own brand and really believe the sky is the limit with the stuff we can do. So I've started coming up with my own business plan. I'm starting with small things first and then once I have my RN that will open up even more doors for me as to what I can do and services I can offer.

So basically I just wanted to know if there are any LPN or RN nurse entrepreneurs out there willing to share their experiences with me. I also have a few questions that I wanted to ask my fellow nurses...

#1- Can LPNs teach/run their own STNA or HHA classes? (I dont think we can run it only teach but wasnt sure.)

#2- Best way to start up my own merchandise?

#3- Good ways to get involved with my community? I thought about hosting community wellness events and education seminars in my area but wasn't sure if I could do that as an LPN either.

#4- What can I teach/educate others on as an LPN. I wanted to offer refresher courses for fellow LPNS, maybe some NCLEX prep for LPNs or just classes for anything newer grads may find difficult like IVs and behavioral/psych nursing (which are both becoming more popular in my areas nursing homes). I have a lot of great skills and I am great at teaching others.

Just any information would be great. I'll take anything I can get on the subject really. This is something I've been planning for a few months. I actually go to look at some office space this week and it's all really exciting. I appreciate all of you for your insight!

[Alyssa Kay, BSN, RN]

HI! I know this is an old post but I figured I would reply anyway in case it is helpful to someone.

I'm an RN and I started my own home care business. It's definitely different than creating your own personal brand, but since then I also built a website to help other entrepreneurs who are starting their own private home health agency so that has felt a bit more like my own personal brand.

In general I think you can't use being a nurse as a sales tool for the public.  So, I have always thought about the example of a foot care nurse who is also rep for a cosmetic company. That foot care nurse can't use their position as a health care professional to sell foot cream to their client...that's a conflict of interest because the nurse is taking advantage of their position for personal gain. 

However, you can definitely share your knowledge and offer information.  If you are selling to other nurses the power dynamic is different, so there wouldn't be a conflict of interest the same way. 

My favorite community networking is with the local chamber of commerce, and also with retirement homes (but I have always been focused on serving seniors)

Your ideas to offer to other nurses about course prep and skills refreshers are great. If other people are doing it already...that's usually a sign of a market...so test it out and see if people are willing to pay. 

Good luck!!