Nurse Entrepreneur Roll Call!

[PaleoNurse]

I would love to get an idea of what other nurse entrepreneurs are up to. Would anyone be willing to share what their business is? Even if you haven't yet implemented your business plan, I'd love to hear from you!

Please include what your business (or planned business) is, your location, how long you have been in business, and any other information that may be helpful.

Thank you!

[clinicalteach]

I took time away from the bedside learned how to program and build with arduinos (all through online tutorials on adafruit and YouTube), came up with an algorhythm and started a company that assisted caregivers with preventing Alzheimer's and other cognitively impaired patients from wandering. It uses predictive analytics and biosensors to discover the patients baseline and then depending on the parameters set by how sensitive the facility wants it, it will send a push alert to the staff and using this tech thats like a suped up RFID it can find within a 1.5 meter accuracy the patient without needing a ton of ble hubs throughout the facility. 

[NedRN]

Taken to extremes with every nurse an independent contractor, I would agree. But that cannot happen, employers have too much power and employees value job security and local ties too much. 

[Emily Jordan, RN]

Gearing up my new business as a freelance nurse writer! Currently working on pro bono work to generate clips, which will then be shared to my website for the world to see!

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

I have  number of irons in the fire. I am developing a health promotion line of supplements for people with ideopathic autoimmune illness. I have 3 auto immune disorders and this line comes out of my own experiences in how people with chronic illnesses are treated. 

I also am launching a line of cruelty free and vegan (Except for the ones that have beeswax in them). So far I have a line of small batch soaps, face masks and body butters. I am focussing on on scent's and textures for all skin types that will appeal to everyone.  I am in the process of getting my LLC and then staring selling at Farmers Markets and local small businesses.

Of course if my Lotto Ticket comes in I'm off to an Off Grid farms where I will be able to expand on organically sourced ingredients for these products.

Hppy

 

TeaCea said:

I am surprised by the lack of nurses who responded...I wonder if a lot of nurses shy away from business because they are truly not interested or because they don't have the support and/or know how.

I think it's a bit of both. But in my experience many nurses are just so tired at the end of the day that they don't have the energy. 

Hppy 

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

hppygr8ful said:

I have  number of irons in the fire. I am developing a health promotion line of supplements for people with ideopathic autoimmune illness. I have 3 auto immune disorders and this line comes out of my own experiences in how people with chronic illnesses are treated. 

I also am launching a line of cruelty free and vegan soaps and sin care line (Except for the ones that have beeswax in them). So far I have a line of small batch soaps, face masks and body butters. I am focussing on on scent's and textures for all skin types that will appeal to everyone.  I am in the process of getting my LLC and then staring selling at Farmers Markets and local small businesses.

Of course if my Lotto Ticket comes in I'm off to an Off Grid farms where I will be able to expand on organically sourced ingredients for these products.

Hppy

 

I think it's a bit of both. But in my experience many nurses are just so tired at the end of the day that they don't have the energy. 

Hppy 

I would like to clarify that my supplement line is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease state. I also do not reccomend people stop treatment. I encourage them to seek out advice from their medical professional on adding complimentary practices to manage symptoms. 

[Amber Draper]

AS16RN said:

I would think it's because of the support/know how. I believe it's a moment where you have to "jump" and see where it takes you. People including RN's are more comfortable with the "paths already made" than to make their own. It involves risk and would be my opinion. I have been wanting to start a business and it's been hard to come up with an idea. My initial is to start an adult day care center. But having worked in a Cardiac floor specializing in Heart Failure, theres so much room for improvement in the elderly/geriatric part of health care.

I think it's more not wanting to give away knowledge for nothing. I jumped into an unfamiliar area, spent a lot of time on Google, took a few hand-slaps from regulation, and added more letters after my name than are in it to get going that first year. It is the most irritating thing in the world for someone to come up to me and ask for lessons to become my competition.  No, I charge a $2000 consultation fee to discuss what you need to get started, $10k to get you up and through licensing (because certain credentials are required and the people who have them and are experienced opening a business own their own businesses), and 20% ownership to consult on keeping you open (regulation targets mom n pop shops cause no corporate lawyers). That's still cheap in comparison to what I paid to get started, and in hindsight would have paid someone like myself to deal with it. So no, I'm not dropping a list of business ideas cause I'm using them and don't want the competition to benefit from my learning-tax ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[MelaninCowgurl]

I started a small business years ago because I saw a need.  My company teaches all aspects of Utilization Management, Case Management, & Compliance. We assist with job placement assistance. We are also contracted to run different UM Departments in addition to Appeals and Grievance.

I began by managing clinics back in the 1990s because of my  experience with different specialists at Cedars and UCI Med Center so I started a business taking over every aspect of running a doctor's office so that all he or she would have to do is concentrate on their practice.

We are continuing to grow..

We are currently in joint ventures with a few East African countries to open  University with teaching hospitals. There's a lot of red tape and thinking outside of the norms..total culture shock.

The interesting thing is that all of my business clients were referred by word of mouth due to my company's reputation.

Remember reputation and excellent customer service goes a long way.