Do Nursing Differently

 

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Just the other day, I came across a post that was discussing an article written about the number of nurses that have a side gig outside of nursing to earn extra income. ConnectRN and my newest obsession, The Nursing Beat newsletter, surveyed more than 1,300 US nurses and found that nearly 50 percent have a current side gig and many plan to make their side gig their full-time job in the future. Side note: If you aren’t already subscribed, you really should be (Sign-up here).

All I can say is…WOW! While that statistic is startling, I wouldn’t say that I find it all that surprising. Anyone working with nurses over the last decade knows they crave more from their career. They want to be valued for their knowledge, skills, and abilities. They want work-life balance. They want better physical and mental health. And while they knew nights, weekends, and holidays were part of the hospital nursing gig when they signed up for it, it doesn’t make missing out on quality time with their friends and family any easier. Not surprising, the survey captured this data too. 90 percent indicated maintaining mental health, time with friends and family, work-life balance, physician health, and excelling at work as the top five factors that were extremely important to them. 

Never before in the history of the nursing profession have there been more opportunities to leverage nursing knowledge outside of the traditional role of nursing inside of the hospital walls. It makes sense that nurses are searching for more flexible work because they see so many nurses already engaged in that kind of work, and they want it too. I know this presents a challenge for the practice setting, but I would be lying if I said it doesn’t excite me about the future. 50 percent of nurses surveyed want to further their education, and 80 percent want to start their own businesses.

While this survey could be a helpful nudge for nurse leaders to get creative with scheduling or look at their benefits offerings or tuition reimbursement packages, it goes far beyond just that. This data tells us we are on to something. In a previous article, we discussed how aspiring entrepreneurs and retiring professionals could leverage Stat PD as a platform to meet their goals, but Stat PD can help so many more. Nurses are excited about the idea of a gig economy and the perks it promises. They want to explore entrepreneurship. They want to engage in ongoing professional development. They have side gigs. Nurses want to do nursing differently. Stat PD is here to help.