Why Becoming a Nurse Coach Was My BEST Career Move

>>Listen to “Why Becoming a Nurse Coach Was My BEST Career Move (With Holly Kapusinski and Wendy DeGraffenried)”

When I tell people I’m a Nurse Coach, I often get one of these two responses, 

• What is a “Nurse Coach?”  
• “You mean you coach other nurses?”

I love these questions!  It allows me to share what I love about being a Nurse Coach.  As a Nurse Coach, I walk alongside another person, family, or community, exploring possibilities for growth, healing, and change. Together, with my clients, we co-create a beautiful life! 

Because Nurse Coaching is fairly new, it is first helpful to understand what it is not.

• It is not telling someone what they should be doing, although some form of education is often involved.  
• It is not having a person follow your plans. It’s a collaboration, co-creating a plan of improvement based on the person’s desires and dreams and led by the client.  
• It is not a linear process with a person.  Someone can decide to work on one particular area of their life and then decide at any point this is not the direction, habit, or goal they want to pursue and change their mind at any time.

When most people hear the word “coach” they have memories of the coaches they may have encountered earlier in their lives as a kid or their kids’ coaches.  It suggests many ideas and images.  While there are aspects of being a Nurse Coach similar to the “coaching” they may be remembering, such as cheering someone on to achieve, providing guidance, and instruction, these are not the only aspects of being a “Nurse Coach.”  

Nurse coaching might benefit from enlisting a different title to emphasize what it really embraces. A more appropriate title, in my opinion, might be something like, 

• Nurse Advocate
• Nurse Mentor
• Nurse Co-Creator
• Nurse Healing Facilitator

Honestly, so much of what I do as a nurse coach is a therapeutic partnership with my clients. The title, “Nurse Coach” simply doesn’t fully explain the full scope of practice. 

When people hear the word nurse, they clearly understand what that portrays. Nurses are trustworthy professionals with higher education, and skilled in caring for others with physiological, psychological, and spiritual dysfunctions that may require immediate and continuous care. 

The latter word, coaching might sound confusing. You may ask yourself, “What is a Nurse Coach?” So, it is a matter of educating and sharing what exactly coaching means in this relationship.  How can a nurse provide those skills and what value will that bring to my care as a patient, family member, or community?

A Nurse.org article highlights what Nurse Coaching is, and the process of certification. Here’s an excerpt from the article, “the professional nurse coach is a registered nurse who integrates coaching competencies into any setting or specialty area of practice to facilitate a process of change or development that helps individuals or groups realize their potential”.  

Nurse Coaching is a specialty within Nursing.  The Nurse Coach has completed additional training, education, and experience and achieved mastery of competencies and standards delineated by a credentialing organization. 

My journey to becoming a Nurse Coach started when I learned I had a health issue involving my heart and was faced with traumatic, life-changing surgery to correct the condition. I began to think about how I might change behaviors to minimize, enhance, and possibly mitigate a potentially chronic health condition on my own. Similar to what a Nurse Coach does with clients, only I was initially exploring this by myself.

When I began to invest in myself, learning and making lifestyle behavior changes, I had not yet fully leaped into nurse coaching. However, at this time, I was at the beginning of continuing my education and experience to become a nurse coach. I was learning about “health coaching” and “nutritional coaching” during this time, but neither of those was the right fit for what I truly wanted to do. I wanted to incorporate my knowledge, education, and experience, with my love for people and nursing. 

Over several years, I healed my heart condition.  I worked on my lifestyle habits such as,

• What I was eating
• How I was moving my body every day
• Identifying the challenges and obstacles to quality sleep
• How I was engaging with others in my social relationships 

When I took a deep dive into these lifestyle health areas, made changes, and worked on myself, I was able to change the outcome of my health.  The cardiologist congratulated me for this work. 

So, I started exploring ways to combine my nursing knowledge, experience, and education with helping others who may have the same problem.  That’s when I discovered Nurse Coaching!  I could finally connect my love of nursing with prevention, wellness, and partnering with people rather than telling or fixing. 

As a nurse, I knew that people usually don’t like being told what to do- they’ll often respond with, “Who are YOU to tell me what I should do?” But, people do like others who are there to listen to them, hear them, and guide them along their health journey without feeling forced. 

When I started my journey as a Nurse Coach, I was encouraged to address my own well-being.  I learned that to care for others, I needed to focus on caring for myself.  In the American Nurses Association’s code of ethics, provision number 5, states, “The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to promote health and safety, preserve wholeness of character and integrity, maintain competence, and continue personal and professional growth.”

The ANA’s provision is a core element in the scope and standards for Nurse Coaches, according to the American Holistic Nurses Association. I embrace this standard every day in my role as a Nurse Coach and I have seen a difference in my personal and professional life.  I am less ashamed and have less guilt about saying no and creating boundaries with others, which ultimately brings me more happiness and life satisfaction.  I can be vulnerable, authentic, and present in each situation because I have the tools needed to thrive.

In 2020 the National Academy of Medicine in partnership with the American Nurses Association called on nursing organizations to re-image nursing and address the overwhelming burnout nurses were experiencing. The American Holistic Nurses Association created a task force and developed a toolkit to address this issue entitled, Promoting Nurse Health & Well-being Toolkit.

Wendy DeGraffenried was one of the task members who spent time procuring resources, evidence-based interventions, and tools to create this resource for organizations, individuals, and countries.  The toolkit addresses 15 key actions and is available as a downloadable PDF in both English and Spanish. Resources can be printed individually as used for organizations, management, and nurses.  

We are only now beginning the healing journey, which can feel overwhelming, but there are resources available, and you are not alone.   There is also the American Nurses Foundation Well-being Initiative which has resources.  There are nurse coaches available through this initiative to help you use the Vitalize Care platform.

Nurse.org has many resources available whether you are a nursing student, a seasoned nurse, or a retired nurse.  There are resources from continued nursing education, job satisfaction, career resources, and starting your career.

Remember to shine your single candle and it will bring light to the darkness.

Connect With Holly on Social Media:

Instagram: @lifecyclebalance
Website: www.lifecyclebalance.llc