ANY OTHER ENTREPRENEURS?!?!

[BizNurse]

I've diversified out of the traditional nursing role so I can be home with my kids and "work" from home..... and I LOVE it! I never minded the hospital "owning" my time till I had kids and I found I was trying to fit my time with my kids/family AROUND my employment.

I tried the nutritional field and lost my butt over 5 years and then added Global website technology and have done great there. How many of you have either left Nursing entirely or have another business while still in Nursing?? How do you like it?

[EntrepreneurRN]

I am also a Nurse entrepreneur, and have been in a variety of nursing businesses over the past 10+ years. I've done nursing consulting, conducted continuing ed seminars on the road, home health agency owner, private duty nursing company owner, and some legal case review. What is your web business all about? (Just curious). I think that being a nurse is the most versatile career, because you can do so many different roles and functions. Keeps you from getting bored. I am also convinced that more nurses need to try out their entrepreneurial wings. While nursing is GREAT, hospitals can be toxic environments. One reason that I became an entrepreneur was because I felt that the hospital was sucking the life out of me as a person. Nurses can practice their art and science without being employees of toxic environments.

[uni92fan]

Hi there. I am new to this forum and am very interested in being in the continuing ed business. I have taught a class "Spanish for Medical Professionals" for the last 10 years at a local college, and am now putting on my own one day, on-site workshops. Any ideas on how to market this to other area hospitals would be greatly appreciated.
Stef
www.midwestmedicalspanish.com

[nursinghumor]

Hello Stef,

Lots of options out there.

1. You could start your own continuing education company, apply to the AACN and other associations for CEU provider approval (it sounds like you may have done this already).

2. You could partner with a company that is already providing continuing education and offer your courses and share a portion of the revenue that comes in. This would take advantage of their established hospital client base and save you the marketing/credentialling process.

3. You could start developing your lessons, teaching manuals into an HTML format. Start a membership site where for a fee, hospital staff or consumers could access your lessons online for a fee. Maybe offer the "beginner" materials for free and as people look for more advanced topics, offer the "subscription only" materials.

4. From your website which would already offer free "teaser" material, offer hard or electronic copies of your lessons that can be purchased either in book (hard) or electronic formats.

5. Place ads on Pay Per Click search engines, http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com under medical spanish related terms. That way, when people go looking for translators, interpretors, medical spanish courses, your website would come up.

6. Contact other nurses doing what you're doing, ask if you can do some kind of cooperative agreement that would be mutually beneficial.

Off the top of my head, the following nurses come to mind.

Linda B. Jenkins RN BSN PHN ACCE, California Nurse Entrepreneurs:
Specialty Areas: Childbirth, Labor Videos in Spanish, Medical Surgical, Obstetrics OB, Prenatal
http://www.nursingentrepreneurs.com/jenkins/
************************************************** ****

And:

Pilar Fleige RN
http://www.spanish4nurses.com
************************************************** ****

Personally, I'd focus trying to develop the online offerings. There are only so many seminars you can teach in a day, week or year. If the information was online, an unlimited # of students could access it on a daily basis (each paying the appropriate fee of course )

Like your site by the way

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursingentrepreneurs.com

[sharonhug]

Yes, I am an entrepreneur too! I have started a DME business specializing in a new bowel therapy equipment that I just got approved by the state of California Medi-Cal system. I don't plan on having any employees. I am out-sourcing the billing, but I am not sure how to educate people in the medical field about this new equipment. Any suggestions? I was thinking of offering a referral fee for qualified leads that ultimately receive authorization form either their private insurance or medi-cal.

Sharon

[BizNurse]

That's AWESOME!!! What is your business?? You mentioned Bowel... is it like bowel training??

Employees are a hassle, but without it will you have any free time at all?? I'd also not do referral fees due to liability there, but how about hitting up the MD offices and take donuts or something and do an inservice?? Get some of your doc friends to help spread the word!! I did that when we started our corporation. A few months ago I also diversified with Mela on-line, and the extra $4,000 to $6,000 monthly for what I call "playing" on line has been great...

Tell us more about your program and we can help you know how to get the world out!!

:-) CONGRATS!!!!

Linda/RN
BizNurse@satx.rr.com
www.Ex-FrustratedNurse.com

[aestheticRN]

Hi everyone...I'm new to this site...I've been an IC for about 4 years doing primarily private pay home care/visits and extended hrs/case management...this past year however I've taken a different course....aesthetics....took classes in botox injuections, sclerotherapy, medical skin care...LOVING it...been busy and learn ing a great deal...recently joined forces with another aesthetic RN and we are going to teach this new "trade" to other RN's....will include botox, sclerotherapy, laser hair removal, dermabrasion and medical skin care....any interested RN's please contact me here or my e-mail
paulettevrem@cs.com thanks and good luck

[writeRN]

I worked as an RN for ten years, and for five of those, wrote on the side. Then I got a three-book deal from my publisher, and left nursing. That was eleven years ago. I've written and sold 20+ novels to major publishers. Until now, just writing has worked wonderfully, and I've been able to support my family on just writing income. But the publishing industry is going through some upheavals, and I'm looking at pulling my license out of storage as one possibility during this publishing change.

Every career path has its bumps.

[BizNurse]

Yeppers... I completely understand that. I started a medical cost containment / medical fraud investigation corporation in 1991 and then managed care killed that field... We moved to supplement income with a business built totally on line so I could work it around my kids, and it's done better than I ever dreamed of with a nice recurring monthly income now...THANKFULLY! There WAS no RECURRING income with Nursing.... LOL!!!

I totally admire you for writing books!! Are they about Nursing?? Where can we buy/order them???

<font color="blue"> </font color>
Linda/FCLS, CMAS, BS, RN *NOW stay at home MOM*!!!
EMAIL - BizNurse@satx.rr.com
AOL I.M. - NetEmpowered

[writeRN]

&gt; and it's done better than I ever dreamed of with a
&gt; nice recurring monthly income now...THANKFULLY!
&gt; There WAS no RECURRING income with Nursing.... LOL!!!

Recurring income. The Holy Grail of the self-employed. Writing is supposed to provide recurring income -- with more than twenty novels out there, you're supposed to be able to live off of royalties. Unfortunately, chain bookstores and legislation have changed the way the business works until it's become pretty brutal just to stay alive.

&gt; I totally admire you for writing books!! Are they about
&gt; Nursing?? Where can we buy/order them???

I wrote one about an RN working in the ICU -- it's out of print now, but my publisher does have it online and available in its entirety for free in a non-print form. The title is Sympathy for the Devil. It starts in Hell, literally, and after this very brief intro, moves to Dayne in the ICU.

Currently in print books are available at local bookstores or online -- I write primarily fantasy novels, though I have written one SF novel and am currently working with my agent to see if we can move me into other fields.

I feel a bit awkward about taking this topic so far off of nursing, so rather than list my books here or other writing information, I'll just link to my homepage -- if you're interested, everything is there (check Author and Shops for book info), and if you aren't I haven't spammed the site with what would essentially be an advertisement for my (very non-nurse related) novels.