By Stella Nsong, RN, CMC, LTCP, CEO
A few days ago, I met a nurse who works on the float team in the hospital. I was telling her that I sometimes miss working as a bedside nurse. I started as an LPN and loved the hands-on care at the bedside.
She told me how awful the work environment and culture is at their hospital and that sometimes she goes home worried that she did not do a job and that some of her patients did not receive the great care that she knows she could have provided.
I asked her if she would remain in the profession, and she said she is weighing her options. It made me think about all the possibilities that we nurses have today.
Why did I tell you about my conversation with this nurse? Because many of us have been in her shoes and there is more, we can do as nurses if we look deeper and around us. Here is what I mean by looking deeper; with how sick patients are today, is there something we wish we had that would make the care that we give patients a little safer, a little easier and a little more dignifying? How can we take our knowledge, skills and creativity and channel it into programs, products, and or services to improve healthcare and patient outcomes?
The income potential of a nurse is limitless. Besides working directly with patients or in administration there are over 50 different income and profit streams for nurses.
Do you see that as a nurse you are limitless? In your work as a nurse, you solve problems and create solutions and that is huge. Your passion for nursing has the potential of bringing you a great income as a nurse entrepreneur solving problems in Corporate America.
One place that many people don’t see the work, the creativity and ingenuity of nurses is in Corporate America.
Annually, US businesses lose 17 to 33 billion from loss of productivity associated with informal family caregiving because they lack programs, products and services that promote retention, presenteeism, work life balance, life care management, primary health care, caregiving, leadership training, health, wellness and life coaching for their employees who are family caregivers.
An employee who is a family caregiver needs eighteen different providers through his or her caregiving journey. Nurse entrepreneurs can now create programs, products and services as solutions for caregiving employees. These solutions would create beautiful income for nurse entrepreneurs and invaluable services to the businesses, a win and win situation.
Who best to create a product better than a nurse? Most of us have ideas of needed products and services as we care for patients or when we try to solve problems for our clients. We know what we need to make patient care easier, safer and more dignified and we can do it if we look a little deeper or a few inches outside of our niches.
Here are a few critical numbers from AARP’s public policy institute.
- Corporate America spends 6.6 billion a year to replace employees because of informal caregiving.
- 64% of employees who are family caregivers arrive late to work or leave early because of family caregiving.
- 68% will experience at least one change in employment.
- 17% must take a leave of absence
- 10% give up their job.
- 5% turn down a job.
Every nurse is passionate about something and in corporate America there is the possibility of creating a product or a service to profit from the 17 to 33 billion dollars that corporate America loses each year because of informal caregiving.
Research shows that when we plan, we save time, money, heart aches, and we achieve our desired outcomes less expensively, quicker and easier. Helping employees to plan for long-term care offers three income streams. Other possible “perfect for nurses” businesses include transitional care coordination, medical and non-medical staffing, medical equipment and supplies, clothing, daily money management, visiting/mobile primary health care, grief and wellness coaching, supportive living/life care management, medical homes, communication apps, patient education and people development.
When family caregiving follows an employee to work, the employer needs a comprehensive employee elder care assistance service
That is what led me to the creation of the CARE WORK LEARN platform as a one stop solution for municipalities and corporations who employ and work with individuals dealing with the challenges that face the elderly.
Benefits of CARE WORK LEARN
- com provides all the employee elder care assistance information needed in one location
- The employee can sign up for themselves, or their family member
- Training programs are available for caregivers and HR managers
- Long term care planning tools, virtual and live caregiver support and coaching
- Access to fully vetted and accredited providers for all caregiving needs
- Productivity and Profitability for the business increases
Today there is a gap between the amount of services needed, the man power and the economic resources of our health care system. That gap widens every day, creating more and more opportunities for nurses.
To learn more about how to create profitable programs, products and services to serve corporate America through the CARE WORK LEARN PLATFORM, join me on the next virtual THURSDAY NIGHTS WITH STELLA NSONG on zoom. Click here, tell me about yourself and I shall send you the zoom invite. Let’s meet up and talk. I can’t wait to meet you.