From Bedside Nurse to Nurse Business Owner

How does a nurse transition from a bedside nurse to a business owner/entrepreneur?

Let’s first explore what a nurse entrepreneur is. Nurse entrepreneurship is defined as a nurse who leverages their background along with creativity and business knowledge to develop their own business within the healthcare industry. Do not let that definition scare you off. I can tell you…I had zero business knowledge when I started my own nursing business journey. 

As we begin to explore what nurses are doing beyond the bedside, I think we need to change the culture within nursing itself. We have been conditioned to believe all nursing roles are limited to the bedside or created by a large corporation. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As I stand here today on not one but two nursing businesses, I can tell you not only does nurse entrepreneurship exist, but it is also growing and expanding in all forms. Nurses are utilizing their experience and expertise to create solutions for many different arenas within nurse owned businesses. 

One of the first nurse entrepreneurs known was Clara Barton. Founder of The American Red Cross in 1881. Clara began bringing support to the soldiers on the field during the Civil War. She saw a need and filled it. Out of that need grew The American Red Cross which she founded at age 60 and continued to lead for the next 23 years. Proving there were no limitations to nursing at any age.

I don’t think many set out to become entrepreneurs, I think nurse entrepreneurship finds those who are destined to fulfill a need. As nurses working in the field, we have a wide-eyed view of healthcare up close and personal. We see what is broken and lacking. We also see what needs improved upon. A lot of times we may investigate solutions to these problems we are seeing at the bedside.  When we see these needs, that is when the seeds of nurse entrepreneurship are planted. Now the seed needs to be nurtured. Who’s going to nurture that seed you ask? You are! 

Had I ignored what I was witnessing at the bedside I would have never built a senior foot care business. Over the past 10 years I have delivered foot care services to thousands of patients. I had no clue what it took to build a business when I started. I just knew there was a need that I thought maybe I as a nurse could fulfill. A seed I hoped to nurture. 

Who knew 10 years ago when I started building Everyday Divinity, I would later embark on a second business helping nurses launch their own foot care businesses through The Foot and Nail Institute? The need for senior foot care nursing is so expansive that I alone could never meet the market need. 

Even if owning a senior foot care business is not right for you, keep your eyes open to the possibilities that surround you. Nurses are launching businesses, inventing products and creating innovative solutions throughout the healthcare field every day. 

As we begin to explore the different types of businesses created by nurses, I hope to show you the power you as a nurse have within. The power to fill the gaps within the healthcare sector if we just began to explore and nurture those seeds of opportunity.

Learn more about how The Foot and Nail Institute® is helping nurses grow successful foot care businesses.