In the late nineteen eighties, a late night tv host introduced a top ten list which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I thought I might share the ten top reasons to become a Nurse Coach now in the 21st century.
Previously I have both written and shared in several podcasts some of my own personal journey becoming a Nurse Coach, but as I reflected on the most important highlights of this journey and why I continue to believe this decision was one of the most pivotal in my career, I thought of 10 key reasons.
10. Nursing Praxis within Nursing Theory
Nursing is a profession and as such to reach one’s full potential within a profession, a Nurse must practice with a framework of knowledge, theory, evidence, and all ways of knowing, whether evident or visible. According to Rafii et al. 2022, nursing praxis applies knowledge fully in sophisticated, complex ways as to eliminate discrimination and injustice globally. Nurse Coaches base praxis on The Theory of Integrative Nurse Coaching (Dossey et al., 2015).
9. Whole Person Caring
Holistic nursing care according to the American Holistic Nurses Association’s Scope of Practice 3rd ed., is “person and relationship centered, and healing rather than disease and cure oriented.” pg.1. Nursing care is focused on promoting, protecting, and optimizing health and wellness (ANA and AHNA, 2019). Nurse Coaches approach client interactions from a whole-person centered approach paying attention to interventions that address bio-psycho-social, spiritual, cultural, and environmental perspectives (Art & Science of Nurse Coach, 2021).
8. Global Healing
Since becoming a Nurse Coach in 2018, and then faculty with the Integrative Nurse Coach® Academy, I have had the privilege of working with nurses from many countries, who are pioneering Nurse Coaching in their own countries. What we do as Nurse Coaches is being expanded across the globe! The International Nurse Coach™ Association is a global community!
The Nurse Coach is a leader who advocates for and creates new approaches to optimizing lifestyle health and wellness.
7. Nursing Innovation
Nurses are the original innovators, just look at some of the pioneers in our profession! From Florence Nightengale to Hazel Johnson Brown, who in 1979 became the first Black female general in the United States Army and the first Black chief of the United States Army Nurse Corps. Nurse Coaches are some of the new innovators of nursing care. We bring not only our knowledge, education, and experience to each client interaction, but also our hearts.
6. Independence and Entrepreneurial Spirit
Before I became a Nurse Coach, I did not work outside of a healthcare system. When I learned there were other settings I could use my skills, knowledge, and expertise in, I felt a sense of independence and freedom I had not known before in my professional career. The Integrative Nurse Coach® Academy’s certificate program is only the beginning of Nurse Coaching. There are additional specialty programs available to elevate your knowledge, skills, and practice.
5. Co-creation with Clients
Nurse Coaching is not the same as giving discharge instructions to patients when leaving care facilities. While Nurse Coaching can include some education, the focus of coaching is on co-creating with the clients their own health goals. Clients know themselves best, so a Nurse Coach lets go of the “expert” role and journeys alongside the client in the direction they want to focus on in their own wellbeing. As we take the whole person care approach in Nurse Coaching, we pay attention to a client’s cultural and ethic environments in their care.
4. Collaboration with Health Professionals
Rather than sending clients off to specialists that may be needed and being in a silo of care, Nurse Coaches collaborate and work within the process of health and healing. According to the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (ANA, 2015b), Provision 8 states, “The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public to protect human rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities.” In order to strive for this, Nurse Coaches exemplify respect within and around interprofessional relationships (The Art & Science of Nurse Coaching, 2nd ed., 2021).
3. Self-actualization
Typically, when we hear of self-actualization, we think of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. At the top of the pyramid is the attainment of self-fulfillment, but I have come to understand through Nurse Coaching I am not only becoming but so is the individual, group, or community I am working alongside. It reminds me more of Kurt Goldstein’sinterpretation of this concept more than Maslow’s as he believed it to be “ as the overarching tendency to express oneself as fully as possible, given the context.” In Nurse Coaching, the coach and the client are actively engaged in this process in every session, and it is a beautiful experience to be in as evidenced by “ah-ha” moments.
2. Connecting with Self and Others
One of the first experiences new Nurse Coach students share during our Group Supervisory Meetings is how much they are beginning to connect to themselves, sometimes for the first time in a long time, and others who have not had a connection to themselves in this way of Nurse Coaching. I have experienced this connection within myself more deeply since becoming a Nurse Coach and wrote about it in a blog post entitled, Showing Up. I have experienced more connection within myself over the past six years in ways that have transformed me forever and I owe that to becoming a Nurse Coach.
1. Self-healing
The number one reason for becoming an Integrative Nurse Coach® is definitely to engage in your own self-healing alongside other colleagues who know the suffering, grief, and fatigue that accompanies the nurse in this healing profession. According to a recent research study conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) in April 2023, a quarter to half of nurses reported feeling emotionally drained (50.8%), used up (56.4%), fatigued (49.7%), burned out (45.1%), or at the end of the rope (29.4%) “a few times a week” or “every day.” It comes as no surprise to anyone within the nursing profession the crisis state we are in currently, however there are possibilities and hope for healing! It begins with the nurses themselves. I have heard repeatedly during our graduation ceremonies from our alumni the impact on their mental health and wellbeing from completing the Integrative Nurse Coach® Certificate Program.
If you are interested in joining us for the next group cohort, you can sign up here, or feel free to reach out to one of our Board Certified Nurse Coach admission specialists
Holly Kapusinski is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Integrative Nurse Coach® with a passion for nurturing children and families. With a background in healthcare and a focus on nutrition and alternative healing, she established Life Cycle Balance LLC to promote holistic wellness. Her expertise extends to stress management, brain health, and non-violent communication. Holly's dedication to community extends to volunteering and leading wellness seminars. She dreams of creating a wellness center and authoring a book on healing from trauma as a Nurse Coach. Her interests include languages, cycling, hiking, and exploring new horizons.
