New York resident and registered nurse Irnise Williams was one of the thousands of nurses who left the healthcare field as a result of the painful challenges wrought by COVID-19.
But she’s still managing to provide help in her new role as the owner of her own law organization.
Williams, a 13-year nursing veteran, is now utilizing her law degree from Howard University, and her background as an attorney, to help other nurses leverage their nursing skills into fresh starts as business owners. Her firm offers former nurses looking to leave the profession legal resources for launching new businesses, as well as important information on successfully navigating and complying with state and federal business regulations.
Williams also offers online classes to nurses and nurse practitioners interested in pivoting from healthcare worker to business owner.
Her website, YourNurseLawyer, provides a trove of downloadable e-books such as “From Struggle to Stride: Building a Sustainable and Profitable Business That You Love,” as well as other resources such as the “Healthcare Business Starter Kit” and the “Documentation Resource Guide for Midwives, NPs, PAs and Doctors.”
Williams cites low pay, burnout and lack of holistic support from employers as reasons why so many nurses are opting out of the field.
“Five hundred thousand nurses are supposed to be leaving in the next year, and people are saying, ‘What they’re gonna do?’” she told Scrubs magazine. “They’re gonna take the skills that they were using and not making any money for, to actually make money and have a schedule that is beneficial to their life.”
Aside from their health care skills, nurses are also adept at building relationships, navigating multiple caseloads at once and utilizing the latest healthcare technology. Nurses are excellent communicators, effective leaders and critical thinkers, and these skills, says Williams, can be used to make a real impact beyond the bedside.
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