9 Different Types of Coaching a Nurse Coach Could Pursue
Whether you're a seasoned nurse or just starting out, there are countless ways to enhance your career, redefine what it means to you to be a nurse, and live a freedom-filled life.
What if you could take your nursing expertise to new heights and make an even bigger impact than working within the confines of our modern-day healthcare system?
Imagine transforming your passion for people and caring for them when they need it most into a thriving business where you guide others, share your knowledge, and create lasting change.
And, because you’re a nurse and jack of all trades, you have a unique opportunity to become a coach in various fields, each offering a chance to shape your own career and help others succeed.
If you’re wondering how to take your nursing career to the next level or achieve greater satisfaction in your work and life, your next chapter as a nurse coach miiight just be the answer.
Finding the Right Nurse Coaching Opportunity for You
1 | Clinical Coaching: Launching Your Own Clinical Skills Practice
Nursing school kind of goes by in a flash and then you’re thrown to the wolves in your first bedside role — at least that’s the way it felt for me. Back then, I didn’t know clinical coaching was a thing. Actually, until writing this very blog post, I didn’t know clinical coaching was a thing. 😅
Now, I feel like I was really lucky in that I had a team of night shift nurses that were absolutely badass and were all looking out for each other. So, when one of us had a question or needed help, you had at least two more experienced nurses by your side.
Obviously, I ended up learning everything I needed to know and didn’t end up dying a slow, painful death via wolf attack.
However, I know that’s not the case for many nurses and that receiving a decent preceptorship is hard to come by (especially with the current staffing ratios across the country). This is where seeking out clinical coaching could be ideal for the nurses wanting more hands-on education in a safe space to learn.
But FYI, this isn’t only for nurses and healthcare professionals!
Clinical coaching can also be for the patient or the patient’s caregiver. As the nurse coach, you’ll be guiding them to excel in their clinical skills and prevent poor outcomes right at home.
A nurse coach in the clinical coaching niche might cover:
Clinical skills: Helping patients and nurses refine hands-on skills like wound care, PICC management, or foley catheter insertion.
Critical thinking: Guiding nurses through real patient scenarios to improve clinical decision-making skills.
Specialty training: Helping nurses excel in specialized patient care, such as critical care, oncology, or labor and delivery.
2 | Leadership Coaching: Guiding High-Achieving Clients to Success
While nurses have tons of transferable skills and can learn to do just about anything, I don’t think nursing school — or working bedside — really prepared us to be leaders, at least not in the traditional “manager” sense. So often I’ve seen nurses who become charge or managers were more or less forced into the position because no one else would do it.
But as I said, nurses can learn to do anything, so I also believe leadership coaching could change the way our nurse leaders lead. It is for the nurses who aspire to take on management roles or enhance their leadership capabilities (or the ones that were forced into it, too).
These nurse coaches are shaping the next generation of nurse leaders, improving healthcare management, and creating a positive impact in the healthcare sector. This type of coaching is all about developing the skills needed to lead teams, make strategic decisions, and drive positive change. And what comes from it is enhanced leadership abilities, better team management, and greater career advancement opportunities.
A nurse coach in the leadership coaching niche might cover:
Leadership development: Guiding nurses to build essential leadership skills such as communication, delegation, and decision-making.
Team management: Coaching on how to effectively lead nursing teams, manage conflicts, and foster a positive team culture.
Emotional intelligence: Training on how to lead with empathy, manage stress, and support the emotional well-being of team members.
Change management: Coaching on navigating and implementing changes within healthcare settings, from policy updates to technological advancements.
Career advancement: Providing guidance for nurses aspiring to move into higher-level leadership roles, such as nursing directors or CNOs (Chief Nursing Officers).
3 | Career Coaching: Guiding Nurses Through Career Transitions
I don’t know about you, but I would have benefitted from career coaching as a new nurse because I had NO idea what specialty would be best suited for me. So I ended up in medical surgical nursing (like so many new grads do) because nursing school taught me I needed med-surg experience to do any other kind of nursing specialty (which isn’t true). If I had had a career coach post-university, I could have saved myself from some long, difficult years in the early stages of my career.
(I know I’m not the only one. 😅)
So if you’ve been a nurse for basically any time at all, I’m just going to assume you’ve had more than one role. That’s the best part about being a nurse after all — y’know, leveraging your current experience to transition to another specialty. And by going through the process of transitioning in your own career, you’re uniquely qualified to help another nurse do the same.
Career coaching helps nurses navigate their professional paths, whether they’re seeking new roles, transitioning specialties, or advancing their careers. This type of coaching helps your clients take control of their professional trajectory and provides clear career direction, actionable goals, and increased job satisfaction.
A nurse coach in the career coaching niche might cover:
Resume and interview preparation: Offering guidance on building a standout resume and practicing for job interviews to secure new positions.
Career advancement: Coaching nurses on setting career goals, pursuing promotions, and gaining the skills needed for leadership or specialized roles.
Job search strategies: Providing insights into effective job-hunting techniques, including networking, leveraging LinkedIn, and finding the right opportunities.
Burnout recovery: Supporting nurses in recognizing and recovering from career burnout while exploring new paths that align with their passions and strengths.
4 | Wellness Coaching: Prioritizing Health & Well-being
Nurses becoming health and wellness coaches just makes sense, don’t you think?
Wellness coaching is a collaborative process where a trained nurse coach works with individuals to help them achieve their health and wellness goals. It’s a preventative approach to a person’s health. You will be guiding your clients to make positive changes in their lifestyle, such as improving their diet, increasing physical activity, managing stress, reducing burnout, and enhancing overall well-being.
These nurse coaches provide personalized support, motivation, and accountability by helping clients identify their goals, create actionable plans, and overcome obstacles that might be hindering their progress. Health coaching isn’t about telling someone what to do but rather empowering them to take control of their health and make sustainable changes.
A nurse coach in the health and wellness coaching niche might cover:
Stress management: Teaching techniques like mindfulness, meditation, and relaxation exercises to help clients manage stress and prevent burnout.
Work-life balance: Guiding clients on how to create a healthier balance between their demanding work schedules and personal lives.
Resilience coaching: Providing strategies to help your clients build emotional strength and bounce back from challenges.
Nutrition and exercise: Coaching on creating healthy eating habits and personalized fitness plans to boost energy and overall well-being.
Sleep optimization: Offering strategies to improve sleep quality and establish healthy sleep routines, especially for shift workers. (You probably don’t want to become a self-proclaimed sleep-deprived nurse like myself, after all. 😜)
Chronic disease management: Supporting clients in managing conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease through lifestyle changes and personalized wellness plans.
5 | Patient Education Coaching: Enhancing Communication Skills
Patient education coaching can be one of two things: either you’re coaching the healthcare professional who’s doing the teaching OR the patient themselves.
When you’re a nurse coach for a healthcare professional, you’re aiming to improve how they communicate important health information to patients. This type of coaching focuses on simplifying complex medical concepts, enhancing patient engagement, and tailoring communication to individual needs. These nurse coaches can also guide the development of educational materials and teach healthcare professionals strategies for addressing diverse patient populations.
When you’re a nurse coach for the patient, I personally see this as a type of coaching that is more specialized than simple health and wellness coaching. It’s doing a deep dive with your clients, teaching them in-depth details about their illness, the pathophysiology behind it all, and the treatment ordered by their doctor. This type of coaching empowers patients to take an active role in their care, leading to better health outcomes.
A nurse coach in the patient education coaching niche might cover:
Health literacy: Improving your client’s ability to explain medical concepts in an understandable way and teaching them how to build stronger relationships with their patients by fostering trust.
Communication skills: Helping your clients explain complex medical concepts in a way that’s clear, simple, and easy for patients to understand by using plain language, avoiding medical jargon, and tailoring communication to each patient’s needs and literacy levels.
Educational materials: Creating or selecting effective educational materials, such as brochures, videos, or digital resources that patients can refer to at home.
Diverse populations: Addressing the unique needs of diverse patient populations, such as those with language barriers, cultural differences, or varying levels of health literacy.
6 | Life Coaching: Balancing Personal and Professional Lifestyles
Life coaching is a collaborative process where a trained nurse coach helps individuals identify and achieve personal or professional goals and provides support, accountability, and encouragement. It’s about guiding clients to gain clarity on what they want in life, overcome obstacles, and develop actionable plans to reach their objectives.
Unlike therapy, which often delves into past issues, life coaching is forward-focused, aiming to create actionable steps for positive change and personal fulfillment. Life coaching allows you to support others in creating a balanced, fulfilling life, and achieve their personal and professional aspirations.
A nurse coach in the life coaching niche might cover:
Personal growth and development: Helping clients set personal goals, enhance self-awareness, and develop confidence in both their personal and professional lives.
Goal setting and achievement: Guiding clients in defining clear, actionable goals and creating step-by-step plans to achieve them.
Work-life integration: Assisting clients in aligning their career ambitions with their personal values and passions, fostering fulfillment in both areas.
Time management: Coaching clients on how to effectively prioritize tasks and manage their time to reduce overwhelm and increase productivity.
Emotional resilience: Providing support to build emotional strength, cope with stress, and navigate life’s challenges with a positive mindset.
Navigating life transitions: Helping clients manage major life changes, such as career shifts, relocations, or family changes, while maintaining balance and focus.
7 | Business Coaching: Navigating the Entrepreneurial Spirit
I have to admit — prior to starting my own business, I was fully unaware of how many nurses become entrepreneurs. There are sooo many opportunities and profitable businesses nurses can start, and naturally, once you’ve been through it yourself, you can teach others how to build a successful business, too.
Business coaching focuses on helping clients who want to start or manage their own businesses (healthcare-related or not) and is a collaborative partnership that focuses on driving success, boosting performance, and helping businesses thrive. It's all about providing guidance, strategies, and support to improve and grow a business.
A nurse coach in the business coaching niche might cover:
Starting a business: Guiding clients through the steps of launching their own business, from setting up a practice to managing finances and legal considerations.
Entrepreneurial mindset: Coaching on developing the confidence and resilience needed to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Marketing and branding: Teaching clients how to market their services, build a strong brand identity, and effectively use a website and social media.
Client acquisition and retention: Offering strategies for attracting new clients, maintaining strong relationships, and building a loyal customer base.
Business growth strategies: Helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses, set financial goals, and develop long-term growth plans.
8 | Financial Coaching: Empowering Clients To Manage Their Finances
Now, nurse coaches who become financial coaches are really interesting to me because it’s not the first thing you think of when you think of a nurse, right? I think this is probably because people often equate money to being evil.
But money doesn’t have to be evil or have any sort of negative connotation to it at all. Money is most simply a tool, and tools can be used for both evil and GOOD.
Good people deserve money, wealth, and financial freedom, too, and I’ve seen several nurse coaches who have very successful businesses coaching clients (some who coach nurses specifically) about finances. 🤑
Financial coaching is about helping clients take control of their financial lives, reduce financial stress, achieve their financial goals, and build long-term wealth. Whether it's budgeting, saving, investing, or planning for retirement, financial coaching empowers clients to make informed decisions about their money, leading to greater financial security and peace of mind.
You may need to pursue additional training or certification in financial planning, investment advising, or coaching. Consider enrolling in courses or programs offered by reputable institutions or obtaining a certification like the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to provide expert financial advice to your clients.
A nurse coach in the financial coaching niche might cover:
Budgeting and saving: Teaching clients how to create and stick to a realistic budget while setting up effective saving strategies for short- and long-term goals.
Debt management: Guiding clients in managing student loans, credit card debt, and other financial obligations, with strategies to reduce and eventually eliminate debt.
Investment education: Providing clients with basic knowledge on investing, retirement planning, and building wealth over time.
Financial goal setting: Helping clients set clear financial goals, from buying a home to retirement planning, and creating actionable steps to achieve them.
Workplace financial benefits: Educating clients on how to maximize their workplace benefits, such as 401(k) plans, health savings accounts (HSAs), and other employer-provided financial perks.
Side hustle and income diversification: Coaching on exploring additional income streams, whether through side businesses, freelance work, or other entrepreneurial ventures.
9 | Spiritual Coaching: A Journey of Self-discovery
You can become a spiritual coach even if you aren’t “religious” because spiritual coaching focuses more on helping clients connect with their inner selves, find meaning, and align their lives with their spiritual beliefs.
You can provide your clients with powerful tools for self-discovery, personal growth, and alignment with their true selves. It helps them overcome mental barriers, understand their unique strengths, and live more authentically, both in their personal lives and their careers.
A nurse coach in the spiritual coaching niche might cover:
Mindfulness and meditation: Guiding clients in practices that enhance self-awareness, reduce stress, and promote inner peace through meditation and mindfulness techniques.
Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP): Helping clients reframe their thoughts and behaviors to overcome mental blocks, build positive habits, and achieve their goals by using specific language patterns and mental exercises.
Purpose and alignment: Helping clients discover and connect with their deeper sense of purpose, aligning their personal and professional lives with their core values.
Energy balancing: Providing coaching on balancing energy systems, such as chakras, to enhance physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Human design framework: Helping clients understand their unique energetic blueprint and deepen their self-awareness, empowering them to live in alignment with their true nature and purpose.
So, what type of nurse coach will you become?
Starting your own thriving coaching business as a nurse opens up a world of possibilities for you to redefine what it means to be a nurse, live a freedom-filled life, and drive meaningful change in the world.
Whether you’re interested in clinical skills, leadership, career development, wellness, patient education, life balance, entrepreneurship, or other types of coaching, there’s a coaching niche that fits your passion and expertise! Embrace the opportunity to become a nurse coach and make a significant impact in your community while building a rewarding and fulfilling business along the way.
Aaand when you’re ready for a connection-worthy website that works for you (even when you aren’t working), you know where to find me. 🤑
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