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Nurses Reactive and Proactive Beyond the Bedside

March 01, 20233 min read

When you start a business for yourself, you are on an island, some will say. 

Business is a constant ebb and flow of good and bad. Some days you'll be on top of the world and others you will feel like the underdog that has been hit, beat and run over. You can't get hung up in those losing moments. It’s up to you to pull yourself through those dark moments in business. And trust me when I say, they can come out of nowhere unexpectedly. 

Recently, I was booked to shoot a video ad. I had the videographer booked, and hair and makeup scheduled. We spent weeks writing the copy for the ad. I had learned my script and was ready … until I wasn't. 

The night before the shoot, my hair and makeup artists both canceled due to sickness. This news came 12 hours prior to the shoot. I had two options, cancel the shoot knowing this would delay our ad campaign. Something that we had already established. Knowing the ad was very time specific it would not work if I delayed the shoot. 

Being in front of a camera to some people seems very daunting. There is a pressure, thanks to social media filters, to achieve a perfect flawless look. This is not reality! 

As I sat there on the side of my bathtub, I could feel the wave of initial panic coming. Everything I had planned was falling through. Then I stopped my mind from going further into the darkness of doom. I thought, these ads are not about me. It's about the seniors I have served over the past 11 years. The seniors who have made my heart swell with their gratitude for my services. Beyond that, it’s about the nurses who are out there looking for guidance in business development. I am bridging the needs of two demographics - nurses and seniors. I have the tools to show them the way. They do not care about my hair and make-up. If they do, they are not my people. 

When confronted with a problem that is unexpected in business, take a moment to breathe. 

Our first instinct is to react. Nurses are very reactive, and proactive by trade. These skills help a ton in business. In nursing we like to proceed in a proactive approach at the bedside. We try to divert any potential escalating health issues before they become life altering situations. This is what makes a good nurse a great nurse.  

As nurses know, we can’t always avoid all that can go wrong in healthcare. This is when our reactionary skills kick in. The patient that suddenly turns the corner for the worse unexpectedly. 

What we do in those moments is key. We don’t have time to get emotional in those moments. You go into nurse mode and do what you have been trained to do. It’s about the patient at that point. 

The same concepts can be applied in business. When you step outside of the problem, you realize it's not about you. It is there in that space that you can find a solution much easier. 

Never allow emotion to drive your decisions! 

When you are building a business, you will always be handed dilemmas, problems, and unexpected fires that you will have to figure out. This can be scary, (probably not as scary as your first code) but it is what makes building a business so much fun. Enjoy the process!

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Heather Wilson is a former bedside nurse turned nurse entrepreneur. She is the owner of Everyday Divinity, and the Foot and Nail Institute.

Heather Wilson

Heather Wilson is a former bedside nurse turned nurse entrepreneur. She is the owner of Everyday Divinity, and the Foot and Nail Institute.

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