Life Coaching for Nurses
Hey fellow Nurses!
I am writing this page on Life Coaching especially for you.
I have a great passion for Life Coaching because I believe it can bring AWESOME changes in our lives…
And you know why?
Simply because I am CERTAIN of it… I have experienced it myself- in a VERY powerful way.
A few years back I was in a situation where I wanted to quit nursing.
I was really stuck in life and disillusioned with my career. I just felt I needed to change direction but I had NO idea where to go. I had hit a brick wall and I could not find a way out of my situation. I applied for different jobs, attended interviews and kept going round in circles, not knowing what I wanted in life. It was a really bad patch in my life when everything seemed dark and I had to drag myself to work everyday. Going to work after a long leave felt as if I was being escorted to the electric chair. Nothing seemed to give me satisfaction and I was just fed up and without any kind of passion for life.
And then one day after a crappy night duty I was driving myself home and as I was listening to the stereo in my car. At one point I looked up in the sky and suddenly had an ‘Aha’ experience that changed my whole perspective. It was a powerful paradigm shift that led me to a search during which I discovered the 10 Power Keys of Life Success. I suddenly realized that it was not Nursing itself was not the problem, but the way I was perceiving and filtering my work through my negative thinking patterns. I decided there and then that I would not tolerate this attitude any more and I would search a pathway that would lead to new insights in my life. After a number of enlightening journeys within Hypnotherapy, Life Coaching, Meditation and Personal Development Seminars I suddenly discovered my Dream and Life Purpose. Through more research and personal experiences I finally came up with the 10 Vital Keys to Life Success. These Keys that I came upon are influenced by Life Coaching and they RADICALLY changed my life.
.From a loser at work who used to drag himself out of bed every morning to go to work I ended up CREATING my own career in Nursing. I was the first official Practice Development Nurse in my hospital and I helped to craft the role of this career pathway into something I loved to do.
Today I can say that I am really motivated and my career gives me great fulfillment and satisfaction. I branched out to become a Life Coach, I created an Orthopaedic Nursing Association and organized two International Orthopaedic Nursing Conferences.
Big difference from the guy who used to drag himself to work in a depressive mood!
So YES! That’s why I am really passionate about Life Coaching.
And I believe it’s time that Life Coaching made a bigger influence in Nursing.
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So do we need to introduce Life Coaching for Nurses?
Over the years I have observed the phenomenal pace of progress within Nursing in relation to the academic and skills aspect of the profession……. Nursing Degrees, Masters and Doctorates, Nursing Consultants and Directors. This is certainly a great way to move forward.
However, at least from my perspective, I still see a gap with regards to one of the most important and crucial aspects of Nursing- the honing of skills as regards the art of nursing, that is, the art of excellence in communication, in being a resource person and problem solver for others, in the ability to inspire people when they are struck down with illness, in the ability to lead and take decisions in the co-ordination of services and in being an inspiration and a light of hope for others, especially for patients, their relatives and colleagues. Of course this does not apply to many nurses who are resourceful and truly motivated. However I do see a gap in theses skills in quite a large number of nurses.
I believe that Nursing is such a Special Life Mission.
It is a work that connects people during times when the patient and the relatives may be vulnerable and need support.
Looking back in history we can see that during the times when Nursing was guided by clear Values and when Society 
appreciated such Values, Nursing reached the zenith of its nobleness as a profession. One can mention the early Christian orders such as the Knights Hospitallers and other influences including the renaissance that Florence Nightingale managed to bring about .
Values and a clear sense of who we are as a person and what we want to achieve in Life can create a sense of certainty and an internal strength that will emanate from us and influence others.
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Imagine….
Just imagine the effect that Nurses can have if they have clearly identified Values and they are aware of what their Life purpose and Dream is. Imagine the added passion and zest for life this would have and consider how this would affect the patients, the relatives and the interdisciplinary team.
Try and visualize how you would feel if you had a clear idea of what you value in life and this certainty and inner strength was used to empower yourself to achieve your personal Goals and Dreams as well as to help other people to move beyond their perceived limitations and look at wellness as an ideal to strive for. Just imagine the power that Nurses could wield both benevolently in the clinical area and politically in the rooms where decisions are taken if they just managed to hone their skills in the areas that matter most.
The present situation that I see, at least in my country is that although we are giving sterling academic training for Nurses, we still lack in providing excellent life skills. Today’s society tends to be a bit hazy about Values and most students are not being prepared for the big challenges they face when they are hit by the crude realities of the clinical setting. Thus, they might not be able to inspire others to rise up to the challenges of illness and look for positive ways to move forward. I also see that because of the challenge that this work brings with it, nurses may feel drained especially if they lack the internal resilience and the ability to refer to their inner strength.
Too many times Nurses are caught between demands of the patients and Management issues that sometimes mirror a lack of sensitivity for the value of the individual nurse. Nurses sometimes feel unappreciated. The rich potential that is dormant within each and every nurse may remain untapped because routine management systems erode personal initiative. I meet a lot of nurses who feel frustrated because of this and they state that they feel unable to unleash their abilities .
Sometimes they do not even know or recognize this distress and a few may express this lack of fulfillment by becoming more distant and disgruntled with their work. As time goes by there might be a tendency to see work as another tedious part of their lives.
As I said before – I know what I’m talking about.
I have been there…
And through the experience I lived, I wanted to work where my strength lay- that is in activities related to connecting with people, being a resource person, contributing to others, Coaching and mentoring, living my values of Freedom, Creativity, Adventure, Connectiveness, Passion, Wisdom, and Contribution.
What I gained from this experience was an awareness that when nurses go through phases like these, they rarely find support and they only receive basic and impersonal training in this field.
Because of this, when challenges come up we may find oursleves unable to fully manage such situations in life.
And that’s where Life Coaching comes in.
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So how can Life Coaching help YOU as a Nurse?
I believe that Life Coaching can serve as a new and exciting pathway to provide you with support and personal development opportunities in the following situations:
On a Personal Level:- Coaching can help you to grow as an individual, to expand your personality and your circle of influence and to gain new insights about life.
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- Through Coaching you can identify what your personal Big Dream is and create a powerful step-by-step approach towards achieving it. What do you REALLY want to do in life? What is that one thing that you are REALLY passionate about? What new experiences would you like to live ? This will create a passion in your life that can really power and energize your actions.
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- Where lack of Life balance is an issue Coaching can help you to achieve such balance by giving importance to all aspects of the Wheel of Life (an example of the Wheel of life is demonstrated on the above picture).
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- Coaching provides the skills for self-care and self-growth.
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- Coaching can help you if you are struggling with questions related to the Meaning of Life and Life Purpose. Maybe you are struggling with the need for a new direction, financial problems or maybe you are trying to rise up from the ashes of a broken relationship.
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- If you are feeling ‘stuck’ in life – either on a personal level or at work Coaching can help you to face up to such challenges and use empowering ways to regain control of your life.
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On a Professional Level:- Life Coaching can be provided on a one-to-one basis, initially to support Clinical Ward or Departmental Nursing Managers who need to inspire the people around them. By going through an internal journey of discovery and identifying where they are now and where they want to be, they will have the necessary tools to effectively lead, motivate and inspire nurses.
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- Coaching can provide an opportunity for both nurse students and clinical nurses to go through a Values clarification exercise and other such exercises that will help to provide a compass for internal True North Principles. Such principles may be unclear in today’s fast paced world where it is a big challenge to keep up with the daily challenges.
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- Life Coaching can be integrated within Performance reviews so as to support nurses and view them from the aspect of a whole person. Wellness in all aspects of life will lead to enhanced performance in the clinical area.
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- Coaching can provide a humane support for nurses because unlike clinical supervision, the support available is not based solely on honing skills related to clinical aspects. Life Coaching provides individualized support for nurses that covers all the important 8 sectors of the Life Wheel as shown in the Wheel of Life picture above.
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- In other words, by having a Life Coach acting as a partner, nurses can remain focused, challenged and motivated to live their personal and professional lives on purpose.
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- Coaching can provide support when nurses are faced with the negative effects of daily contact with human tragedies and suffering
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Not all Nurses may feel that they require such support. I believe that a large number of nurses already have the abilities to self-care and nurture themselves as well as provide support and inspiration for others.
However I KNOW that there is a proportion of nurses who need to find a niche of support where they can freely express their feelings and find others who understand them- especially on issues that have a direct connection to Life coaching.
I believe that even as a profession, unless we start helping nurses to help themselves first we cannot expect them to effectively help others.
The first victory has to be a personal victory. You cannot succeed within an Organisation or Society unless you first succeed on a personal level.
It’s here that we, as nurses may at times lack the inspiration and support to help us with this internal journey. The quest we need to do so that we become Masters of our Destiny.
Part of my personal Mission is, I believe to raise this awareness and to create support systems for nurses who, like me, went through a bad patch and had to start picking up the pieces.
My Vision is to create an online community of Nurses who are inspired to achieve their peak potential.
Nurses who have DREAM they want to achieve in their life and who are ready to follow it with passion and commitment.- Nurses who may be facing personal challenges and want to regain control of their life
- Nurses who are PASSIONATE about life and the work they do.
- Nurses who are POWERFULLY motivated to tap their potential to the full and be a light and a shining example to others.
- Nurses who ENERGIZE their life by living their True Values and Life Purpose.
- Nurses who are EXCITED about the future and who manage to be front runners in making a difference within society.
If you are a Nurse who resonates with these ideas, maybe it’s time that you took ACTION and started your journey towards the Life Success that you want to create.
