tlancio

To answer the question asked by passionflower "I feel with all my years as a nurse, teaching proper nutrition,etc. I could already consider myself a health coach. Am I wrong in thinking this?" Yes, you are wrong. Teaching is not coaching, that is the difference. In Coaching you don't provide the answers, instead you ask a series of skillful questions and provide techniques to help the client tap into their own feelings, wants and needs, not what you (the nurse) thinks they should be doing. There are no right answers in coaching, you are working in partnership with the client, not telling them what they should or should not be doing which is what is done in traditional nursing. And yes you can use you nursing knowledge to be an effective coach but teaching is not your focus as a coach. That's why nurses should take a course or educate yourself on what coaching is and how to do it effectively. Hope this clears things up.

So what is your idea of acute care? Do you think acute care experience is only learned in a hospital setting? Reading your post I got the feeling that you don't feel you've gained any credible experience working in LTC (wrong, you have) Also this may be why you haven't gotten a job in the hospital, you're not presenting yourself in the best light. Make a list of everything you've learned in the past year including leadership skills (never put on a resume or say in an interview you have some leadership skills) and you'll be amazed at the experience you do have and can use to get the job you want in any hospital. It's all in how you present yourself and if you present yourself like you did in this post you won't get the job but if you highlight what you have learned and can articulate this to a potential employer you'll be ahead of the game. Try buying nursing career books that give solid advice on getting that nursing job you want, Donna Cardillo wrote an excellent book called The Ultimate Career Guide for Nurses. You'll find examples of resumes, cover letters, interview tips and more. Stop thinking that just because you work in a LTC facility you're not acquiring skills that can be transferred to a hospital setting because you are. All nurses gain experience in different types of settings and these experiences can be transitioned to other part of the nursing profession, keep this in mind when setting out for your next job interview - you have transferrable skills. Good luck!

To answer your question of "Is it worth it to join the AHNA?" the answer is YES! This is a great place to start if you want more information on this topic and how to transition. If you don't want to join yet, see if there is a chapter in your area and if so go to a meeting as a guest and network with these nurses. "Should I get a certification?" the answer is no, you don't qualify for certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) You need to be working at least 1000 hours as a Holistic Nurse. I think you mean more training by taking courses in Holistic Health which you can do online but first I would network with nurses who are already in this specialty. They are going to be your best resources for information on what you can do and how to make a living as a Holistic Nurse. I have been a nurse for 25 + years and I feel your frustration, it's why I left hospital nursing 10 years ago and went into home care so if you need more help you can pm me, I write about holistic nursing on my blog, maybe I can give you ideas on what you could do. I wish you all the best!

Just to update my post above from 2011, there is now certification for nurses who are coaches. The American Holistic Nurses’ Certification Corporation (AHNCC) which is the board that certifies nurses in Holistic Nursing, is now accepting applications for a new program called Professional Nurse Coaches Certification Program. This is for nurses who are working as health and wellness coaches, they can now become certified, recognized as a nursing specialty. You'll be able to put the initials NC-BC behind your name - Nurse Coach Board Certified. Here's a link to the certification program if anyone is interested AHNCC To answer the question above from njoceangirl41 you could try looking at insurance companies, they hire health coaches or if there is an alternative health center in your area, they may hire health coaches also. You probably won't find these jobs listed, you'll have to go looking for them by calling the companies or going directly to their websites for info. It also helps if you know someone who works for these types of companies, they can help you get a foot in the door. Good luck!

To answer your question njoceangirl41 about "Do you have to complete this course to become an RN health coach?" is no you don't have to finish any course to call yourself a health coach but the reason for taking a health coaching program is to learn what coaching is and how to apply it. Most people who didn't take a coaching program and do coaching are actually consultants not coaches because they don't understand that coaching isn't about you telling a client what to do, it's the client figuring out what is best for them. As nurses we are task oriented and follow care plans, doctors orders and teaching clients what they need to do be well. In coaching this isn't how it works, so although you have a MS in healing modalities that background won't prepare you for being a health coach, additional training is needed to effectively help others make a change in their health that works for them not for you. It's a skill that nurses can easily learn though and I highly recommend doing research on this topic to give you an idea of what coaching is and how to apply it. You may be able to self teach yourself how to coach others or consider hiring someone to be your coach to see how the process works. Hope this helps, if you need any more information let me know, I'm a nurse writer and write about this topic frequently, just pm me.

Take the job, if you lose skills than so be it. They can be learned again but there are many alternative nursing careers out there that don't require you to be at the bedside if you lost this job and had to look for another. I recommend for any nurse feeling burnout to look elsewhere no matter what your situation is. No one wants a nurse working at the bedside because she has to, there are many options for nurses today. Congratulations on the job, I wish you all the best!

Do you really want to hire a web developer? Self hosted wordpress is not that difficult, what do you need help with. I may be able to give you an answer for free. I have 3 wordpress.org sites.

Yes, use Indeed.com to search for jobs in your area. There is also health coaching which insurance companies hire, Quality Improvement, Risk management, Legal nurse consultant (working with lawyers) Occupational health and safety, sales and marketing for pharmaceutical companies or medical equipment companies, nurse entrepreneur, holistic nursing, nursing informatics....

I agree with healthynurse, job security as a self employed NP will take time, alot of time, especially if you're not good at marketing yourself. It's best to start your business when you have a full time job, it's what I am doing now. I have been able to get myself down to 3 days a week and hope by this time next year I will be a full time nurse entrepreneur. And yes, being self employed and an Independent Nurse contractor are the same thing. Hope this helps - tinalancio

The answer to your question is yes, you can use your MHI to meet the requirements of "12 semester hours of academic credit in informatics courses that are part of a graduate-level informatics nursing program." Health Informatics is part of a nursing informatics graduate program. You do not have to have a Masters in Nursing Informatics to qualify for certification. Hope this helps.

I agree to what was said above by ikarus7401 and let me add this, don't waste your money and time going back to school to become CRNA or NP if that's not what you are interested in. Nursing Informatics is in its infancy stage and would not be hard for you to get into without much more experience. Here's some job titles you may want to look for - Clinical Analyst Project Manager RN – Information Systems Nurse Specialist Informatics Nurse Clinical Consultant Systems Analyst Implementation Specialist Also the HIMSS offers courses for nurses here HIMSS | Nursing Informatics | Professional Education | Salary Guide Hope this helps.

Are asking where to find information about nursing informatics? Have you checked out the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA) for more information. There is also a nursing informatics magazine you may want to subscribe to (it's available at a discounted rate if you join the ANIA) called Computers, Informatics, Nursing found at LWW or do a search and you will find it easily. And no, nursing informatics is not all about numbers and statistics, I work for a home healthcare agency and we use laptops in the field. We have 2 nursing informatics nurses on staff who work with the software company to develop it and to continue improving upon the software, making our job out in the field easier and safer for our patients. If we (field nurses) have an idea on how to improve the software for better outcomes we pitch the idea to the informatics nurse who works with the software company to make it happen. We've been using laptops in the field for about 2 years now and I love it and it's great having 2 nursing informatics nurses on staff, they do teaching as well and are always available to help when problems with the software arise. This is a great field to get into and I suggest looking at all the information (the two suggestions above) available now while your are still in school. Plenty of work in this field and if you educate yourself now about this exciting field, you will be prepared for a job in this nursing specialty after graduation. The ANIA has a forum, newsletter, member directory and more, a great place to network for your first nursing job as a nursing informatics nurse. Good Luck, I wish all the best!

Hi, The answer to your question about "would being an LVN hinder me from having my own independent practice" is NO, absolutely not. In fact you are at an advantage being a nurse and yes in your bio make sure you state you are a nurse. Many people are Holistic Life Coaches without a health or nursing background, you go for it. I would suggest you take a course that allows you to demonstrate how to do coaching as it is not want you are used to doing as a nurse. The American Holistic Nurses Ass. has a list of approved programs on their website. Take a look at these programs and understand by reading, researching and doing all you can to learn what Holistic Coaching is all about. This is a great field to get into, Good Luck!

I agree with Ashley above, don't include basic nursing skills and yes include clinical experience especially if it is a special skills not usually done by all nursing students. I would also include any special awards you received or committees you worked on or volunteer work that you did. Make your resume easy to read and be specific using action verbs to describe what your experience is. It's all in the words you put on your resume that will make it stand out, so don't be wordy or go on and on, make it scannable and easy to find the information needed. Not sure why someone would say not to include clinical experience. What would you put on your resume if you didn't summarize your clinical experience? Donna Cardillo wrote an excellent book called "The Ultimate Career Guide for Nurses" if you need help with writing a resume and cover letter.

a great person you may want to talk to or connect with is annette tersigni, she is the yoga nurse and is a holistic nurse. you can find her at yoganurse.com connect with her and ask her how you may get started in holistic nursing, she does teaching in relaxation, yoga and nutrition. she also does a yearly retreat i'm hoping to get in on next year. she's easy to connect with and would be more than happy to help you especially since you live in a rural area. it's tough when you don't have resources near you, i'm sure there's not much in the way of alternative clinics in your area right? hope this helps, i write about holistic nursing on my blog and have a great interest in the topic and in answer to mystcnurse comment about " by the very definition of "nursing" are "holistic", encompassing the whole person into their care" this is not true, not all nurses practice holistic nursing, i wish they did but nurses mostly treat the symptoms, they don't have time in a hospital setting to treat also the mind, spirit, environment, culture etc. and western medicine has not caught up to the concept of holistic healing as of yet. . just saying.