The better question might be—how did I become a writer? I wasn’t a writer. I am a nurse. I work with patients. I take care of people’s ailments. I help them feel better. So why am I wanting to write?
As an RN, we are taught an insane amount of medical information, business techniques, work ethics, and critical thinking skills, to name a few concepts. We are taught how medical industries function and what our role in the industry is. We are hired to care, teach, and follow the rules…lots and lots of rules.
So much so, we nurses are burning out. We miss our families, work in unsafe conditions (e.g. staffing ratios), are told to adhere to some rules that are ridiculous, and we are not getting the appreciation we deserve.
For me, nurse writing has solved several of my problems. Here’s why I became a nurse writer.
1. Corporate healthcare—Bless our medical industries for providing a place for people to get the medical help they need. But, I’m telling you, the rules and regulations that are constantly added are becoming overwhelming.
2. The Grind to the nth degree—Repetitive work, day in and day out, for nearly 20 years. I don’t mean the nursing care. It’s the daily schedule of getting up and driving, arriving, mingling, putting in the work, and driving home. It’s old and there is a new way.
3. Independent work—My work revolves around ONLY ME. I design, create, and regulate how I want my business to run. I work with the teams I choose. If a person and I don’t mesh, we don’t have to continue working together. We don’t have to “figure it out.”
4. Introverting— Channeling my inner energy, feeling natural, and being comfortable is a huge deal for me.
5. The bedside—Nursing can be provided in an abundance of different avenues besides at the bedside, such as school nursing, flight nursing, nurse management, legal nurse consulting, health coaching, and nurse writing. As I pursued this writing journey, I discovered that, regardless of loving bedside nursing, I am burned out and need something different.
6. Time, Freedom, and Family—Let’s just be real. All three of these are clear benefits to entrepreneurial freelancing. Freedom to schedule on your own clock. Freedom to make your own choices about the business. More time with your family. Having more rest and increased energy. I absolutely love this!
7. Saving money while making money —Yes! Being able to work without driving is certainly a perk. For starters, saving on gas money is huge. If you have a long commute, this might be a major problem for you right now. Another way to save money would be to find new health insurance outside the company you are still working for, such as the US Health Marketplace. It might be worth looking into.
8. Learn something new every day—The internet is a big place. You can teach yourself just about anything by simply searching on YouTube. As a writer, I am scanning content constantly, picking up new techniques, skills, and data to help myself grow. My favorite learning activities include self-care advice, writing skills, medical topics and colleague publications, stocks and world news, and the new Web3 (have you heard about it?).
9. Enjoy writing—I do! You would think that would be a given, but grade school essays were a pain. However, looking back, I wrote them well. The skill of writing was drilled into me. College pushed more. I know the format like the back of my hand. Combine simple format writing with learning new health information (score!) with earning money while doing it (double score!) and you have a potentially lucrative, enjoyable career.
10. I love nursing—Ultimately, that’s what it boils down to. I’ve always cared about the human body and wellness. I love providing nursing care to those in need. Nursing will always be my passion.
So here I am, a nurse writer in the content marketing field for healthcare. I produce blog posts and articles for consumers, SEO agencies, and healthcare companies. I have a voice that readers understand and clients want. It’s a big, bright world out there and I’m loving every minute of it!
