Reinventing Yourself For The Tough Times Ahead
By Cliff Ennico
www.creators.com
"Having just read your recent columns on career management, I was wondering if you had a suggestion as to what courses I could take to make me more employable. I am a 65 year old woman who retired as a Registered Nurse due to health concerns, but must go back into the workplace due to financial constraints. I am computer literate, bright (Mensa member) and articulate My finances and time are limited. I have an Associate's degree in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management."
I'm getting a lot of e-mails like this one lately, which should come as no surprise to anyone. Technically this isn't a column about career management, but what this reader wants to do is reinvent herself in a new career, which is what this column ultimately is all about.
First of all, unless you have surrendered your state license to practice nursing, there is no reason why you can't continue as a nurse part-time. While at the age of 65 you probably no longer want to work the grueling hours that a hospital or private clinic would demand of its nursing staff, there are plenty of other options for nurses that would give you some "flex time" to pursue other interests and perhaps "branch out" into other areas.
For example, you could join a local "private duty" nursing agency, such as The Greenwich Nursing and Health Care Registry in Greenwich, Connecticut (www.bluebooks.com/pages/greenwichregistry). These folks provide nurses on an hourly or temporary basis to elderly people in the community. You provide the requested services in the customers' homes, the customers pay the agency for your services, and the agency pays you #150; just like any other temporary employment agency.
Far from being a disadvantage, your age may well be a benefit in this field, as many older people prefer dealing with a private duty nurse they consider a "peer". To find private duty nursing agencies in your area, go to
www.privatedutyhomecare.org
or search "private duty nursing agency [your state]" on the Web.
If joining an agency isn't practical, you can set up your own private duty nursing business out of your own home. "Private Duty Today" (
www.privatedutytoday.com
) is a free biweekly e-mail newsletter offering tips and resources for home health care entrepreneurs. Contact your state licensing department to make sure your license is broad enough to cover home health care services, and contact your professional liability insurer as you may need additional coverage to operate your own business.
Another possibility is to reposition yourself as a "patient advocate" #150; someone who interfaces on behalf of the patient with doctors, hospital staff and administrators to ensure that medical treatments are being performed correctly and efficiently, costly and life-threatening mistakes are avoided, and bureaucratic "red tape" is kept to a minimum. Many patient advocates are former nurses and hospital staffers who know what really happens "behind the scenes" in our health care system. For more information, check out the Patient Advocate Foundation's website (
www.patientadvocate.org
).
One warning #150; your clients often will be hiring you because they aren't strong enough or persistent enough to get the results they need, and many doctors and hospital staffers will not view your role kindly. You will need to be persuasive, thick-skinned, and sometimes abrasive to be successful in this field.
If you want nothing more to do with nursing, then you will have to reinvent yourself. Generally, the easiest way to do this is to take what you know best (in this case, nursing) and "widen the lens" to a related but much broader field (for example, "health care administration"). Your degree in Organizational Management is especially helpful here, as it sends a signal to people that you understand the business of health care.
With an aging population that will place increasing demands on existing health care services, and an incoming Administration in Washington that wants to expand health care coverage to all Americans while at the same time controlling health care costs, there will be plenty of career opportunities over the next several years for "health care administration professionals".
Here are some ideas. Consider becoming:
A management consultant specializing in hospitals, clinics and health care facilities #150; you help these folks figure out the most economical way for them to use their staff resources, and charge by the hour;
A medical billing expert for local doctors and health care providers #150; you make sure these folks are billing the insurance companies properly, and mediate billing disputes with the insurers so the providers can focus on what they do best;
A business/career coach for nurses and other health care professionals.
One more thing: while it is certainly an achievement to be proud of, I would not mention your "Mensa" membership on your resume. When looking to reinvent yourself in a new career, your experience, people skills and "emotional intelligence" count for far more than your ability to solve Sudoku puzzles in five minutes.
Cliff Ennico (
cennico@legalcareer.com
)is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS televisionseries 'Money Hunt'. This column is no substitute for legal, tax orfinancial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualifiedprofessional licensed in your state. To find out more about CliffEnnico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit ourWeb page at
www.creators.com
.COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE,INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
