Hi there! 👋🏼 We share stories from nurses like you about nursing in Arizona. We are out to build a better now and better next for RN and NPs in AZ 🤩

You know that question nurses are always asked by friends, family, and job interviewers? The question it seems someone has trained all people worldwide to ask a nurse, and as a male nurse, is often asked with real curiosity.

Why did you want to become a nurse?

I rarely answer it with complete honesty.

I think we're supposed to say something like, "because I love helping people" or "I want to make a difference in someone's life." All of these are true and added confirmation in my choice to go back to school and get my BSN as a second degree, but deep down, they weren't why I made that choice.

The REAL why behind my nursing choice - I saw nursing jobs as the land of opportunity.

The nursing degree was a direct route to a great job that punched my ticket to an almost endless list of alternative opportunities once I got on board.

Want to practice medicine at a higher level with higher pay? Nurse Practitioner, DNP, FNP, PNP, Nurse Anesthetist(CRNA), and many others are all just around the corner.

Want to trek more into leadership? Master's of Nursing, Master's of Healthcare Administration, or even just nursing leadership roles with a BSN are all options.

Maybe I'd find bedside nursing is exactly the place I loved to be. I'd explore all the specialties, becoming a super nurse with skills in everything from the ICU, NICU, PICU, Oncology, Pediatrics, Cardiac, the ER, Surgery, Wound, and Infection care, Burns, Psych, or any other specialty I could think of. Maybe that would be my place.

I could eventually move away from the bedside and get into something like teaching or nurse education. Wherever life and interests took me, there was an option.

I've been a nurse for over five years now, and I've found that is all 100% true. And, the navigation process isn't as transparent as it seemed through the window from the outside looking in. It's hard.

Figuring out which doors to take and even how to find those doors is a process. For many colleagues and friends, a process not worth the frustration. That first med/surg job meant to be their entry point to this world of opportunity seemed more like the final destination.

In my first years of nursing, the input I got from other nurses was mostly warnings to watch out for things you don't want to get stuck doing.

Watch out for floating - you'll end up in units you hate or with complicated patients and assignments from hell.

Watch our for committees - you'll end up doing stupid busywork and being in pointless meetings.

Watch out for being charge nurse - you'll end up having to take responsibility for the unit, make assignments, and be the person everyone comes to with all their questions.

Yes, all of those things can happen, but all of the "Watch out for"s are also the doorways to start learning and developing skills for that list of possibilities nursing offers.

So how do you do it?

How do you know what you like, what you're good at, or how to find out about the things you don't know?

I will share the one mindset shift I wish I had from the outset.

Everything is an opportunity to find YOUR best place.

• When asked to float or take complicated assignments, use it to find out what you like and don't like in patient care. Complicated assignments mean your nursing knowledge needs to deepen, and you'll spend more time directly interacting with residents, NPs, PAs, and attendings - see what their world is like.

• Experience taking on the charge nurses role and learn what it's like to lead people. Find out if you are a strong leader that enjoys developing others.

• If your unit has committees you can engage in, use it to learn how to take the initiative on projects or begin to impact and make changes to the way your hospital operates. Committees allow you to have the voice to make the changes you wished existed on your unit or in your facility. Learn what it's like to think as an administrator or director.

I almost listened to those well-intentioned voices cautioning me to stay away. Instead, I leaned into taking assignments that "we're not what I signed up for," and took on roles like charge nurse and starting a committee.

And, these were precisely the things that strangely guided me to turn down my acceptance into the DNP program I thought I wanted to pursue and taught me about skills and interest in hospital leadership and people development.

I discovered a natural interest and skill in leading both people and organizations, which led me to take on a unit supervisor's role and obtain my MBA in the process (Which I highly enjoyed and am confident was a much better fit for me than a DNP.)

Nursing truly is a golden ticket, one I am still discovering. Amazing careers stem from this path, but things worth discovering can take some time and effort. Engage in opportunities, even if they seem a little scary. You've got skills and passions you don't even know about yet!

And as you work hard developing yourself, consider joining the community at EARN, where your nursing self-discovery process is honored and accelerated with matched opportunities for what fits you. Start with a free salary assessment for where you are today, and keep following for more help understanding your golden opportunities.

If that encourages you, keep up with the EARN blog for more. They have a vision to precisely match RNs and NPs with the positions and organizations that fit your skills and personality. The right fit means everything.

Let them tailor your experience. Start by talking with the EARN nurse team

👨🏼‍⚕️Hi I'm Caleb; as an experienced BSN, RN, MBA, I'm excited to be a part of building a better way for RNs and NPs to be precisely matched with nursing positions that really fit them. I’m fueled by great coffee, am involved in startups, and love snowboarding.