I am continuing a series for our newsletter to include a leadership topic along with passing along news in the nursing community. I wanted to focus on the positive in nursing and leadership. Subscribe to receive notification when our newsletter comes out. We publish twice a month.
Passion. There are songs written about it. Movies made about it. It is that drive, that hum, that feeling of being alive when we are with the ones we love or we are doing something that we love. When we talk about burnout, it is described as “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration” by Merriam Webster, or simply put, our flame has gone out. Our passion has diminished or it has been depleted.
” by Merriam Webster, or simply put, our flame has gone out. Our passion has diminished or it has been depleted.
In her book, Blessed Life, actor Kim Fields, describes her time on Dancing with the Stars. She wrote about the chemistry she felt with her professional partner, Sasha Farber. How their similar circumstances of working hard as child stars served as common ground to build trust. “Both of us had worked since we were kids, and we were still doing what we loved. We discovered other shared traits. We were driven, goal-oriented, and hard workers. “ Although she was eliminated from the season (too early in my opinion), she has this to say about the experience. “I was okay before Dancing with the Stars, but I was even better afterward. Yes, part of the reason I went on the show was to continue my professional narrative, to try projects and genres I hadn’t done. But it was also something I did for myself, something that nourished me deep down as a human being. It was, as I had hoped, my new happy place…At age forty-seven, I proved it is never too late to learn something new, acquire a new passion, and find your happy place.”
I admire the passion that she brings to her work. It is interesting because I feel like we “grew up together” so to speak. Watching her on Facts of Life as Tootie and later Living Single as Regine, I could relate to being a young woman discovering who you are and it was easy to see the joy she had in her work. It is a passion to which I can relate. It is that passion for discovering new things and having a sense of adventure. It is what lead me to legal nurse consulting, to starting The Nurse Shark Academy©, and to being an entrepreneur. I bring a sense of passion and curiosity to what I do, simply because I love what I do. Whether it is reviewing a medical record, helping a new coaching client navigate the waters of entrepreneurship, or mentoring a new nurse, I embrace it all. I didn’t know I could write articles until I did. I didn’t know I could start a podcast until I did. I didn’t know I could be an entrepreneur, until I stepped out on faith and gave it a try. I am always interested in doing new things in my nursing career. I started out in the family nurse practitioner program. I got to my pediatric rotation and I realized, I missed geriatrics. It was there, trying something new (peds), that I realized I was going to be happier, in geriatrics. That is my true passion.
What are you passionate about? What gives your heart a lift? What music are you willing to dance to? How are you going to get out of your comfort zone to find your place of happiness? It begins with passion. Find that passion in what you’re doing again if the flame has burned out. Don’t be afraid to try something new. My motto in nursing, “Don’t leave your profession, leave your job.” In other words, find something new in nursing to be fulfilled and discover your new happy place. I did. I found entrepreneurship. I found a way to marry all the things that I loved about nursing and to package it in a new way. Find your passion. Set yourself free and share in the comments one thing about which you are passionate. Come on. You’ll feel better. Trust me.
Nursing News
An article titled “Nursing is not charity work” is circulating on shared on social media. Nurses are discussing the post that a fellow nurse made about getting reprimanded for having the opinion that he was working at his hospital to get paid. Why else would he be working at the hospital? He was not there to volunteer. I find it strange and disheartening to hear people tell nurses that they should be sacrificial and martyrs for their profession and that the topic of wanting to be compensated for one’s work is somehow unseemly. Imagine having that discussion with a group of physicians, your plumber, or frankly, anyone. Yet it seems to be okay and nurses are looked down upon for saying they are there to do a job and be adequately paid. Is it because we have been so conditioned to see nurses as “angels” and angels don’t have needs, so why pay them what they are worth? What do you have to say on about this? Let me know in the comments.
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