09// How to Nurture and Rekindle your Nursing Passion

Have you ever questioned whether you're in love with nursing or just going through the motions? Today, I, invite you into a heartfelt exploration of what it means to carry a true passion for our profession. It's not the allure of overtime or financial incentives that we're after; it's that dedication to patient care and the intricacies of healthcare that we love to discuss. Sharing my pivots within healthcare, I'll lead you through recognizing if your heart truly lies in nursing and how this connection enriches the care we provide and our overall job satisfaction.

This episode also shines a light on the importance of nurturing that love for nursing. I emphasize the power of being surrounded by those who not only share your vision but also challenge the status quo, pushing the boundaries of what we know and how we grow. From the spark that educational events can ignite to the mentorship that builds us up, I unpack the steps to creating a supportive nursing community that thrives on innovation.
 Join me in this episode as I extend an invitation not just to listen but to actively participate in shaping the future of nursing through advocacy, engagement, and continuous dialogue. 

Together, let's fuel our ambitious career journeys with a passion that only true love for nursing can sustain.

Transcript

Bonnie Meadows: 0:05

Welcome to the Ambitions Nurse podcast, where I provide tips, tools and resources for the experienced nurse to put in your career bag to help you be a better person, a better leader, a better professional and, most of all, a better nurse. I'm your host, bonnie Meadows, a career coach and a clinical nurse specialist with over 18 years of experience in health care and nursing. It's my passion to help experienced nurses develop their careers to impact health care and their communities. Hello and welcome back everyone. It is 2024. It is a new year. It is not January, but it's a new year. It's a fresh start. It's all that and things, and this episode is likely coming out in February of 2024. And I want to touch on the word love, the two major things that usually we focus on in the month of February and love, whatever love that is, whether that's Godly love, whether that's friendship love, whether that's romantic love. We focus on love. But I am going to kind of walk through your love of the profession of nursing and just kind of talk about that and then try to give you some tips on how to figure out how you if you love it or if you like it, if you just like it do you love nursing, or do you just like it? And then, how do you nurture that or where do you go from there? So this topic came about because I'm an avid sports lover and my main sports that I usually watch pro football, pro basketball, college football, college basketball, I dabbling, a little bit of baseball, I dabbling track and field, I'm all about the Olympics Like, yeah, I even watch golf a little bit of tennis. Golf is some good napping content it really is, but I actually follow the game and so I know a few of the players. I'm usually watching on, like that Saturday and that Sunday, to see what's going on. So I am an avid sports lover and sports is my drama. If someone's talking about they are watching new episodes of something on Netflix, I am looking forward every day to catching up on what happened on the sport shows of the day and what was the sports news of the day. So all of that to say.

Bonnie Meadows: 3:16

I am a lover of Dion Sanders. I've been following him ever since he was a pro football player, pro baseball player at the same time, and I've been following him in his journey with the University of Colorado, jackson State University, and I usually watch his press conferences pretty much after every game, because I just love his consistency. If there's anything about Dion I love his consistency of, he is always who he is, but you don't have to guess if Dion is going to be this way or if Dion is going to be that way. He is always consistent in who he is and I love that. And so after one of the games, this is on their loser streak.

Bonnie Meadows: 4:06

He mentioned something about the fact that you know the players. They really have to figure out do they love it or do they like it? And more so he was talking about the game of football, playing college football at that level, division One, Power five, conference. Do you like it or do you love it? And so he went, he was talking about some other things and a media personnel kind of backed him up and they said so, what should the team focus on in the next 24 hours? And that's when he said do you like it or do you love it? And then the media personnel said well, what? What was? How do that? How would they figure out? Do they like it or do they love it? He could be pretty much asked another probing question to figure out what Deion meant by well, do they like it or do they love it. And he said he told the team that when you love something, you give to it unconditionally. You give everything you have to it, but when you like it, that's just the button you push and it lights you up. He said that's what we do on social media.

Bonnie Meadows: 5:23

And so that got me to thinking about nursing and nurses and how, in my 20 years in July career in nursing, I've seen the ebb and flow of people who like nursing versus people who love nursing. People who love nursing, they give to it unconditionally and that does not mean give up all your time, give up, give up all your resources working over time. All of this Because there are people who work overtime and are always at work and they just like nursing because they like the money. But there are people who love nursing. They love the care of the patient, they love taking their time with patients and with families and digging into making sure that we are doing those things that are right for our patients and making sure that we're following through on things and looking at policies and procedures. And they don't have to have a PhD in the thing, but they understand the implications of there is better care to be provided to the patient, and that care that I provide is a reflection of my love for nursing and my love for patients. They understand the complexities of healthcare and they rise above that. They might complain about it, or shall I say, be passionate about it, but they understand the value that nursing brings. Those that love it understand that value. And so I will tell you.

Bonnie Meadows: 7:15

I've been in that position of trying to figure out do I love nursing or do I like it? When I was still at the bedside, probably about two years in, I decided to go to med school and I probably told us the story before, but every time I tell it I think I'm probably going to tell just a different iteration of it. But it applies to this. I started taking classes from med school pre-med classes. I was very good in science. I was the person who made like an A or, but I think I made a B in biochemistry and an A in physics, and these are all classes like. I had already had my bachelor's degree in nursing, and so I took these classes like one one a semester, all of those things that are needed for prerequisite for med school. And I'm studying for the MCAT and recognizing that everyone who applies even people who have been passionate about going to med school since they were gay high everyone who applies does not get in on the first try. And so I did all of those things. I took the MCAT and then I applied and I didn't get in. And I was also at the cross point of it's time for me to leave the bedside. I'd given my all, I'd been there. Now I know I recognize there may be some who are listening to me, who have been at the bedside for maybe over 15, 20 years.

Bonnie Meadows: 8:46

I knew, coming in to nursing, that I was not going to be that person. I love those people. I want you to stay where you are because that's where your passion is. I just want you to grow in that space. I knew I wasn't going to be that person. I knew myself. That was my self-awareness and I was at a crossroad of okay, I need to do something different.

Bonnie Meadows: 9:11

If I'm not going to med school, then what is going to be my, what's going to be my plan? And really it was the question of am I going to reapply or am I going to make the most of my nursing career? So you could pretty much say at that juncture, when I was going through all of that, I was liking nursing, loved healthcare, but I wasn't in love with nursing. And so then I had to make a decision what am I going to do? Because it's definitely time for me to leave the bedside, but what? Do I reapply to medical school or do I go another route in nursing? I always knew that I loved healthcare administration. So I said you know what? I'm going to make the best of my nursing career and I'm going to go back to school and get a master's degree. And I decided to get a master's degree in nursing, with a focus in healthcare systems management. That was definitely the best decision that I'd ever made and it helped me to cultivate my love for nursing. And so from there, I just said, you know what? I haven't looked back since, and so I started getting involved in my professional nursing organization, my state nurses association, and the love just continued to grow and grow from there.

Bonnie Meadows: 10:41

And so if you find that you are evaluating, do I love nursing or do I like nursing, then I have a few things for you on the back end of this podcast. So stay tuned, and I will also say, if you do love nursing. That love needs to be nurtured. So let's first talk about how do we nurture our love for nursing, and I will say one is by being around others who love it just as much as you do. You may be working in the hospital experienced, you've been at it for a little while and everyone around you might be griping about all the things. There's always a plethora of things that we can come line about working in the hospital, but there are a plethora of things that we can be proud of that we can talk about. That's uplifting. We can talk about the possibilities of what you can accomplish within where you work, and that's how you nurture the love of nursing. You speak positively of it and you keep your mind and your thoughts open to the possibilities of how you can improve where you work and improve how you work together as teammates and how you work to improve your unit, the care that you provide to your patients and how you work to support one another on the unit as nurses. You need to nurture that love. That's how you nurture. Somebody else is gonna be on the same pages with you, and it might be only three or four people, one or two people.

Bonnie Meadows: 12:37

I found that I stand alone sometimes in my thoughts and how I think about nursing and what I think about nursing, and I'm okay with that, because I'm always gonna find a nurse nerd or someone who loves nursing just as much as I. I just stay away from those people who don't really like it that much or who always wanna gripe about this, that and the other. That's not. I mean, there are things that there is a whole lot we can change. There's a whole lot that we can't change, so let's just focus on those things that we can change.

Bonnie Meadows: 13:10

So number two is by being around others who challenge your thoughts about how the nursing profession can make an impact in healthcare. So you be around others who love it just as much as you. You talk about all the great things you can do and then you start to be around others who challenge your thoughts about how you're doing things. It's those people who are your good no people. I say they are good, no people. There are people who many people think that or others think that these are no people or they're negative people. But if you really listen to their language, they're not saying no, they're saying let's consider some things as we are talking about this plan or have you considered this? Or have you considered that that's what they're saying? They're not saying no, don't do it, they're just saying let's think through this process. Now there's some flat out no people. They're not the challenge, it's the challenges. Those who will challenge you are very good for the forward movement of nursing. So number three and number four kind of go together and they're listening to webinars and being in rooms with others who you find resonate with the thoughts that you have had about how to improve nursing and how to improve the care we provide to our patients. And then number four is attending conferences and engaging in meaningful conversations about how to change nursing practice and understanding the impact that it makes on you individually.

Bonnie Meadows: 14:50

As a nurse. I tell nurses who have gotten to that place of possibly being stuck or just really not figuring out what to do or where to go next, or they're just like. I feel like I need to be doing something. I don't wanna move right now, but I'm just kind of stale where I am. It's like they don't wanna move and do something else and I'm good with that, but they are very stale where they are. Go to a conference. Have some engaging conversations with those outside of your four walls, or even listen to a webinar about what is going on outside of your four walls, and then talk about those things to those people who you know will challenge your thought process about nursing and healthcare and who love it just as much as you do. You'll be surprised at the possibilities. Your mind just shifts and you begin to then cultivate and nurture that love for nursing that you want to do more with it. Now I'm not suggesting that we exhaust ourselves. This is how you develop, how to think strategically about your direction in your career.

Bonnie Meadows: 16:10

Five advocating for change and being a voice for the nursing profession. We talk about advocacy, this and have. I'm gonna advocate for my patient. Well, who's advocating for you? And are you advocating for you? Not your nurse manager? Yep, they're gonna do what they need to do, hopefully. Are you advocating for you with your vote, with your possible communication to your community leaders? Are you advocating for you? Cause those are the people who are making decisions about what you do in the hospital. More to come on that, but advocating for change and being a voice for the nursing profession. We're not here to put anybody else down, but we are here to lift one another up and to be able to express the value that we bring to healthcare. It shouldn't take everybody else trying to figure it out. We should be able to articulate that to others so they can come into the fold and be like, oh yeah, this is great and not thinking that we just sitting around eating bonbons. No, no, no.

Bonnie Meadows: 17:20

Number six sharing information and being a mentor to others Very important. It is important that in whatever stage that we're in in our profession, that we reach back and we give just a little bit to those who are coming behind us and that we share with those who are beside us and that we even share with those who are going before us. We have a terrible problem within nursing of putting one another down, of assuming and making these claims that they haven't put in the work to do this, that and the other. Lateral violence is a beast. We wanna put people in their place and that just can't be tolerated. And if you love nursing, surely that's not what you're doing? You nurture your love of nursing by sharing and mentoring other nurses. These are the people that you want to take care of, your family members, so you have to nurture them in order for them to reciprocate that nurturing not only back to you but then to others. But even if they don't reciprocate it, it is good for you to share what you know with others. Share that love for nursing with others and be a mentor to others so that they can see the possibilities of what they can do and who they can be as a nurse. Lastly, or my last point, is, take action and make a difference. Get involved in your unit, get involved in your department, get involved in your professional organization. That is where your nurturing and your love for nursing grows.

Bonnie Meadows: 19:16

Once I was done with my master's degree, I was away from the bedside, I was working in risk management, and then I wanted to do more Because I was like I got this master's degree, I need to do something a little bit more with it. And so then I went to quality and at that point in time I did so much, but I dealt with so much lateral violence for the first time in my life that I literally hit another pivot point and I had to figure out what do I love? Again, I love nursing. I'd just gone through the leadership academy to really just that just really opened my eyes within my state nursing association. It just really opened my eyes beyond the walls of where I worked, and I really think that that is the bread and butter of how you develop your love for nursing Some of us, we have it innately with us, but it is what you see outside of the walls of where you work, whether it be you looking on LinkedIn or you following other nursing associations or sometimes even other nurses on social media to kind of see what they're talking about, what they're up to.

Bonnie Meadows: 20:33

There are a lot of people that I follow on Twitter and I'm like, yes, that's it. That's it. Like literally I was following, I follow a nurse on Twitter and we were just talking about not we she was talking about and just made a statement just about the discharge process in healthcare and just was like we've got to do some more because this juncture is critical. Boom, then you think about patients and yes, and they keep coming back and how we possibly rush them out the door. What do we do to get them out the door and how much we can do as nurses if we just spoke up and see it. Here's what the process needs to be. Now, some of us have been doing that and we've been getting pushed back, but y'all. It's a slow process. It's slow, people take a little while to get it, and guess what? That also goes back to who are making the rules about the discharge process. It's your politicians. And who puts them in office we do. So you've got to. You've got to pay attention to who you're voting for and what they are voting about and what they are advocating for, because if what they're advocating for puts a burden on your work, you need to let them know, because they have no clue of what we do. They're only. If you think that they're incompetent, they're only incompetent because you haven't told them what you do, you haven't informed them, you haven't educated them. That's for another day.

Bonnie Meadows: 22:16

I want to encourage you to take a moment to figure out whether you love nursing, not your job, separate. Let's take a step back. We're not talking about do you love your job, but do you love nursing in general? Do you love the idea of what we can do for our patients and the idea of what the nurse can do to improve healthcare and make an impact on our patients? Not, do you love the work that you do right now? Because if you love nursing in general, then you can find that thing that will help you to make the impact that you want to make and fill your cup. You can find that your job is not the end all be all. It is the collective work that you do in your career that matters. Don't let that be a hindrance. It's about nursing in general and the profession of nursing and what it has to offer your heart.

Bonnie Meadows: 23:26

And then think about why do you love it? Do you love it because it pays well, or do you love it because of how it fills your cup and how much you know it can do to be such a blessing to other people? If you find that you like it but you don't love it, then what is it about nursing that brought you to it? And is there something else that you love, career-wise or within healthcare that you could do, that you would use your nursing skills for, and I'm not just talking about clinical skills. You may have a creative side to you that might be best used in marketing. You might have a technical side to you that might be best used in IT. The opportunities for nursing are endless and your knowledge is valued. Use it for the greater good If you're on the fence and don't know and can't separate nursing in general from your job.

Bonnie Meadows: 24:18

Feel free to jump on a 30-minute call with me. I am offering free 30-minute calls to just kind of walk through this process of do you like nursing, do you love it, how can you separate it from is it my job or is it nursing in general? And if you just need help working through being stuck and just not knowing in general, if you like nursing, jump on a 30-minute call with me. Or if you need to figure out within your specific work on how you can nurture your love for nursing, I have a link in the show notes and you can click and set up a 30-minute call with me where we can talk through some things and you will walk away with some quick action items on what you can do today, what you can implement today, to help nurture that love of nursing so that you can grow in your nursing career. So I hope this was helpful for you. I trust and pray that this was helpful for you and gave you some nuggets to think about and I'll see you the next time.

Bonnie Meadows: 25:22

Thanks for joining us this week on the Ambitious Nurse Podcast To review the show notes and any links mentioned in today's episode. Please go to theambitiousnursepodcastcom If you enjoyed this conversation, follow or subscribe so you don't miss a future episode. Also, please consider leaving a rating, review and or comment about what you want to hear. This helps more nurses, just like you find this podcast. Thank you for joining me, bonnie Meadows, on the Ambitious Nurse Podcast. I look forward to chatting with you the next time. And remember you don't have to grow your career alone. As iron sharpen iron, one person sharpens another. Thank you for letting me sharpen you as you take this knowledge to sharpen the next.