Nursing Leadership Interview-Nurse Entrepreneur

Nursing Leadership Interview-Nurse Entrepreneur

Nurse entrepreneurs are nursing professionals who seek to fill the gaps in the healthcare delivery system by enhancing technology and developing specific services and products that target patient safety systems and software. A nurse entrepreneur is a business proprietor offering services in nursing, including consultation, administration, research, education, and direct care. A nurse entrepreneur may build their business by developing and distributing medical devices and products, offering patient advocacy or direct patient care, training and educating community members or other professionals, or providing healthcare-related consultation (Hong, 2017). The nurse entrepreneur I interviewed works in a partnership business that engages in different services, including selling medical devices and training nurses. She declined for the organization’s name to be mentioned in the interview report. The interviewee was selected because she presented a different aspect of nursing practice that I would like to explore in the next 3-4 years; I needed more information on what it entails to run a business as a nurse.

Interview Questions

1. What are the mission/vision and goals of the organization?

The Mission: To contribute to health and well-being through the provision of best care through integrated research and education and medical device supply.

The vision: Partnering with healthcare professionals and community members to improve health outcomes.

2. What are the expectations for a BSN-prepared nurse in your specialty in terms of meeting the organization’s mission?

A nurse needs to be innovative to excel in entrepreneurship. The everyday processes and patient care routines provide nurses the opportunity to better patient delivery. As a nurse, one needs to be keen on how they care for patients, the patient’s preferences, and ways to improve the patient experience. Innovation can be birthed from different settings, including medical device and pharmaceutical technology companies, payor systems, and hospitals with nurse-led teams. Most of the time, nurses need to collaborate with an interdisciplinary team to create novel service offerings.

In the interviewee’s case, her experience at the MCSquared Health organization at the REP program helped her to expand her perception of service delivery. The organization was a start-up that aimed to simplify the medical billing process. After working there for a while, the interviewee became aware of deep-rooted financial and administrative healthcare system flaws.

3. What does it take to succeed in the organization?

For a nurse to succeed as an entrepreneur, one needs a better understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship. Nurses can grow their knowledge through mentorship and increased education. Taking courses in addition to the nursing curriculum in business, programming, and technology development is beneficial in expanding one’s knowledge of the healthcare system.

A nurse will also need to think of the patient as the target audience. This is to say that any solution that a nurse is thinking of working on should better the lives of the patient; that way, an innovation, service, or product will be more easily acceptable in the market. Hence, the strategy is to identify problem areas in patient care delivery and, seek lasting or better solutions; sell the solution to other healthcare professionals, thus yielding a profitable business.

4. What recommendations would you suggest a BSN acquire to follow in your role in this specialty?

First among many is that a nurse should have an inclination to do business because not all nurses can successfully sustain a business. Secondly, a nurse should take extra courses in business education to learn how to successfully manage a business. Further, marketing courses are a must because a good product can only go as far as it is marketed. A nurse may be innovative but lack marketing skills; therefore, taking marketing courses is paramount to succeeding in nurse entrepreneurship.

Additionally, a nurse needs to stay ahead of the current trends in healthcare and innovation. That said, a nurse will need to read and follow on healthcare business topics. Attending conferences that focus on nurse entrepreneurship is very important as these can offer opportunities to expand one’s business networks and learn new information regarding healthcare service delivery.

5. For a nurse wanting to venture into entrepreneurship, where can one get support?

There are several places where a nurse wanting to venture into business can find support and guidance. Some of these places include finding a mentor at one’s Small Business Administrator Incubator. A nurse can also make connections with other local entrepreneurs and learn their business success strategies. Also, a nurse can join LinkedIn and Facebook groups for nurse entrepreneurs and actively interact with group members to learn more. Further, a nurse wanting to become an entrepreneur can hire a bookkeeper, business coach, and social media coach specializing in healthcare entrepreneurship. Lastly, a nurse can join organizations such as the National Nurses in Business Association and attend yearly conferences.

6. Should a nurse start entrepreneurship as a side hustle or as a full-time job?

Most nurses feel overwhelmed at the idea of quitting their regularly paying jobs and delving full-time into a business. They are worried about how to succeed sooner rather than having to wait until they have made enough business contacts. Another worry is what they would do if their new business fails and they are forced to return to employment.

The best option is to start the business as a side hustle while still in employment. Doing so will enable the nurse to have an income while the business becomes stable. One should not be in a hurry to be self-employed; it is better to have a business run stably for 2-3 years before fully immersing themselves in business. If a nurse wants to have a small business that perhaps brings in $1,000 per month, then such a business can continue as a side hustle. However, if the idea is to run a large, successful business, then it takes time to build one, and once established, a nurse can quit employment and pursue the business.

7. How does a nurse ever get started?

This is another major concern for nurses. Fear drives some to postpone their business pursuits, while others believe they need substantial resources to start. If nurses do not have money, they can start using social media to test the market for their products, gather potential consumer feedback, and make product changes to make them more suitable for the consumer based on the feedback. The nurse could also do some research on social media and even request that people fill in questionnaires to assess the willingness of consumers to use the proposed service or product. The nurse can also request interviews from entrepreneurs that one trusts and admires and do as much data collection and assessment as one can. The more information that one has, the better the decisions that one will make.

8. How Does a Nurse Solve a Problem?

The first thing is to find a problem and a solution to it; then ascertain that the persons with the problem are willing to pay for the solution that the business is providing. Alternatively, a nurse can create a solution to a problem that the consumer was unaware of; this is similar to what Apple did by creating the iPhone and iPad and convincing its consumers that they could not live without them.

9. How does a nurse keep the focus on the business, especially in the teething period?

One needs to keep motivated and should never consider quitting as an option. The simple reason is that every business has to go through a teething period, but only those that persevere make it big. The last thing one would want is to quit on a business idea only for someone else to start a similar business and succeed; feelings of regret and failure will definitely encompass the quitter.

Summary

Nurse entrepreneurship is very much like any other business, and one needs to be cut out to venture into these. A nurse wanting to venture into entrepreneurship needs to attain business skills by taking additional courses and attending conferences. Having a mentor and creating business networks is crucial for the success of the business. Also, a nurse needs to first identify a problem to which they have a solution, then test the consumer market to determine how ready the market is to purchase the solution. Lastly, it is advisable to start a business as a side hustle and then steadily work it to a stable venture before one can consider quitting employment and entering into business on a full-time basis.

Reflection

The interview with the nurse entrepreneur was very insightful. I was impressed that she chose to pursue her dream of becoming a business entrepreneur and has succeeded in the same. The interviewee shared some very insightful information that I believe can help one to venture into business. The interviewee advised that a nurse needs to first define a problem and find a solution to it. Once the solution is determined, the next step is to ascertain whether the target consumer is willing to purchase the solution. Carrying out consumer surveys via social media is one way that a nurse can affordably get information from consumers.

Additionally, the interviewee stated that the best approach to starting a business is to start out as a side hustle rather than work it into a stable business. One needs to have a mentor to help in growing the business. The one thing I would do differently from what the interviewee advised is to start a business with other like-minded nurses. Doing so will spread the risk. Also, when I team up with one or two nurses, we will make decisions better and have a lesser individual burden when running the business compared to running it alone.

References

Hong, S. (2017). New nurse entrepreneur: Reflection and guidance. Nurse Leader, 15(5), 352-356.

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Nursing Leadership Interview-Nurse Entrepreneur

Select a nurse leader for an interview.
Formulate five additional questions you will be asking during your leadership interview.

You will conduct an interview (Pretend you are interviewing or if you know a nurse leader) with a leader relevant to the designated specialty role of choice (e.g. Nursing Director, Nursing Professor, Nurse Entrepreneur, OR the equivalent in an organization that would hire a BSN prepared nurse in your specialty.

You will incorporate both the assignment-required questions, as well as critically developed questions of your own creation.

The paper will begin with a brief introduction of the leader being interviewed, and will proceed to the questions asked and answers received. Additionally, the paper will need to conclude with a one (1) to two (2) page summation evaluation of the interview process. This information will address such elements as your critical analysis and evaluation of the interview process, and information about your current personal professional status and resultant plans for professional mentorship.

The paper will be written in 7th edition Professional- APA format.

Leadership Interview Assignment Guide

Introduction (Level Heading) Present an introduction to the interview conducted, including a brief biography of the interviewee and the organization represented. Explain why this individual was chosen for the interview in light of your selected nursing specialty role.

A Learning Conversation (Level Heading) State each question you posed along with the interviewee’s responses. The questions should include (but NOT be limited to) each topical area delineated below:

• What are the mission/vision and goals of the organization?
• What are the expectations for an BSN-prepared nurse in your specialty in terms of meeting the organization’s mission?
• What does it take to succeed in the organization?
• What recommendations would you suggest a BSN acquire to follow in your role in this specialty?

In addition, you are to develop at least 5 (five) additional, relevant questions that serve to further your understanding of critical elements as related to successful specialty role transition within the specific organization.

The conversation should be well organized in terms of categories of questions sharing similar focus and should be presented in such a way as to be helpful to other individuals attempting to transition into new specialty nursing roles within similar types of organizations.

Summary: (Level Heading) Summarize the key points of the conversation as they relate to your chosen nursing specialty role, and successful transition to such a role within the selected organization.

Reflection and Follow-Up: (Level Heading) This is a separate section. Submit a 1 to 2-page summative evaluation of the interview. This information will address such elements as your critical analysis and evaluation of the interview process including (but not limited to) what you would do differently upon reflection,