Coaching and Nursing perfect for patients

Wow, I had never considered "coaching" as a nurse. Your post has motivated me to look more into this concept and possibly even going through the training. I work in staff development, so that would be more my focus, but I do still pick up hours at the bedside in ICU, so it could be beneficial either way.

If you would like a recommendation on programs or if you begin to look and would like help just let me know. One of my goals is to see RN's at all levels, including training and management use coaching skills. Thank you for your note. Look up the International Coach Academy as they offer two tracks and one of them is coaching that you add to your own profession so it is not as expensive but gives you the skill you need. Hope this helps

Hi VirtualRn, what a great post. I really loved it and the way you opened up a peep into this business. I too am a coach, little over a year and I think its a great opportunity especially now in this economic environment. I practice FirstLine Therapy, a type of therapeutic lifestyle counseling. I am very interested in any further training recommendations you have. In the last year I've seen a few coaching firms focusing exclusively on RNs but they seem primarily for proprietary weight loss and smoking programs. I'm really looking for skills I can apply to multiple situations. Thank you in advance !Jen

Hi Gingilly, What I liked is similar to what you mentioned on your post. Niches for nurses might be health and wellness which is huge and can be done as a part of your nursing or in addition. But we do not need to be limited to that. I have friends that are nurses and are gifted in so many ways outside of the traditional role. For me Coaching offered me an independent practice and I work from home. Yet, I use the nursing process with nearly every client. Nursing has it down to a science. There are large companies that hire nurses to do health coaching which is really more like disease management but the pay is typically hourly. One RN that I've been friends with for 20 years or so trained as a coach and now works with parents of children with ADHD. She already had the experience of ADHD and added coaching to it, now has a private practice and works part time in Pediatrics. Now that is what nurses can do!! I am curious as to what motivated you to get into Firstline Therapy from nursing?

Hello VirtualRN and thank you for replying. Firstline Therapy is a behavioral based coaching program for obesity, htn and metabolic syndrome. It combines coaching with nutrition, diet and medical foods/ pharmaceuticals. I like it because of the dietary emphasis which is largely in pts control. I've been happy with the results so far but sorely miss my peers. FLT is done largely by physicians and I get referrals from them. I have been looking for other RN's for mutual support and networking. I'd really like to see how others are doing as this is largely an individual type of practice. Are you still doing the glycemic coaching? I'm very curious about how youre handling the logistics of that. I understand that you have a group supporting self employed RN coaches- is that right? I hope I've answered your questions.....if not , pl. ask again! Thanks,Jen

Virtualrn,Thanks for the wonderful post! I just recently signed up for a heath and wellness coaching program. I am interested in working from home as well with an emphasis on corporate wellness. What suggestions do you have for syarting your own business? Can I really work exclusively from home?

I have actually considered this but have not pursued it yet. I am in psych and take naturally to techniques such as Motivational Interviewing, which expresses a philosophy closely related to coaching. Clients need more than just treatment delivered to them - they need to be part of their own team. Thanks for supporting the cause!D

Thanks for your post. I am 55 and I'm in the middle of a two year accelerated RN/BS program in Puerto Rico. Before I embarked on this program, I seriously considered becoming a Life Couch, but couldn't figure out how to sell the concept here in Puerto Rico. It was also tough to discern which of the programs are good, and which are scams. I would love to know if anyone has suggestions on both points: 1. Can you be a life coach long distance? 2. Which programs are for real?I know that I would be very good at this, and I'm excited at the idea of mixing it with nursing! Thanks for any input

Thank you for the intersting post. Can you discuss how long it takes to get certified and the costs involved please? Also, are there certain schools or institutes that you recommend? Thanks again.

Hi all,Loving this post. I have thought about coaching for awhile now, it seems more solution and now focused than other modalities used for behavioral change. Does International Coach Academy or any other recommended institutions teach one the business end of coaching? getting referrals, setting up a practice? Thanks!

Coaching is not an official, government-regulated industry. The certification is to help with the resume and, if from a reliable source, to help promote acquisition of basic skills. I put in some links below that I have run across in my own investigation - the first one is especially useful for an overview:Life Coaching Certification ExplainedDSome other useful links:Certification and Education, health care professionals, grief counseling, legal nurse consulting, case managementInternational Coach FederationWelcome to Coach ULife Coach Training - Mentoring, Ipec Coaching offers executive coach and life coach certification.Life Coach Training - Life Coaching CertificationCoaching - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for shedding some light on this area.