There is a large and growing need for nurses across the board in America’s healthcare system today. The rise in the number of senior citizens and geriatrics within the population are directly linked with the need for quality nursing care. With that comes a number of challenges and strains that are placed upon the medical buildings and their staff to make sure that adequate care is given to all people regardless of the demographic. Enter self-employed nurse practitioners to the rescue!
Emerging Challenge in the Healthcare System
The state of the healthcare system in America today is rife with reforms that have motivated nurses to seek out and implement alternative modes by which they can care for patients. The desire to provide clients and patients with better qualities of care, no matter the age group they are serving— all at more reasonable costs and ease of access than some hospitals can provide— often requires freedoms that traditional institutions do not allow.
While this is by no means the only factor that is contributing to the shifts that are taking place in healthcare practices today, it is certainly a looming and driving force that all policy makers and administrators are considering. As procedures change and demands upon staff rise there will be an increase in the variety of stresses upon the workforce as well. Many of these strains— many of which were drastically heightened in their intensities during the COVID-19 pandemic— caused people to rethink the reasons, motivations, and structure of their own work-life balances.
With there being little relief in sight, and with some people being so burned out from years of tiresome work on the whole, nursing is just one more field in a growing list of career paths that is seeing a transition as a result: more nurse practitioners starting independent practices.
There are many different steps, concerns, and responsibilities which accompany a transition from traditional employment to self-employment, and while the leap as a whole may be intimidating, it may be easier than previously imagined. New technology, educational preparation, entrepreneurial support groups, and a societal shift towards greater numbers of small businesses has made the shift easier than ever before.
When combining this increased ease, demand for more nurses, and a list of individual benefits, there are only a handful of reasons to not consider becoming an independent nurse practitioner.
Benefits of self-employment
People who choose to change from traditional employment roles to an entrepreneurial lifestyle may do so for different primary reasons at the end of the day, but there are a number of consistent motivations that are connected to this change. Burnout has been a consistent trend related to working as a nurse.
The amount of energy, time, and resources demanded of nurses to care, all while providing high levels of emotional compassion can quickly drain even the most resilient person. When combining this with environments that exacerbate the myriad of stresses that accompany this work with unavoidable traumas, long hours, staffing shortages, and interpersonal conflicts, the want of a healthier workplace is easy to sympathize with.
For those nurses that have decided to become independent nurse practitioners, there are a collection of positive results that accompany the shift from traditional employment structures to self-employment.
Self-care
The ability to maintain consistent self-care practices in order to maintain good levels of emotional, physical, and spiritual stability is much of what keeps people going —especially during times of heightened stress. This is a powerful necessity in the nursing world. Nurse entrepreneurs have reported higher rates of helpful self-care techniques when compared to other community samples.
Much of this is a result of entrepreneurs’ ability to better manage and manipulate their schedules to maintain focus on self-care in comparison to the rigid demands of traditional scheduling.
Psychological Empowerment
Without meaning and purpose in a career, work becomes a monotonous drain of personal efforts. Being that most people are primarily motivated by wanting to be in a career that is meaningful, the necessity of psychological empowerment ranks high as a motivation for becoming an entrepreneur. Not surprisingly, those who become nurse entrepreneurs report increased factors of purpose and the awareness of making an impact in the lives of those they serve.
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