What You Should Know About Nurse Coaching Programs
If you are a current or aspiring nurse, you may be looking into a variety of specialties and services. One of the lesser-known options available to nurses is going into nurse coaching. Offering nurse coaching services can provide your patients and clients with a variety of benefits, including more personalized and holistic care. Learn more about nurse coaching in general as well as the training programs available in this field. Then, you can determine whether being a nurse coach is the best option for your career.
Nurse Coaches Can Spend More Time with Clients
Rather than working with patients in the hospital or in acute care situations, nurse coaches tend to work with clients on a regular and extended basis. Spending more time with clients can help to build closer relationships with clients.
Oftentimes in healthcare settings, nurses get limited time to interact with patients. This can lead patients to not follow nurse instructions and to not feel comfortable discussing various aspects of the patient's health with the nurse. Having more time with clients will build that trusting and close relationship, which in turn can lead to better health outcomes.
Nurse Coaches Work with Clients on Health Goals
When a person is in a hospital or goes to their primary care physician when they are sick or injured, the goal of treatment is to resolve an acute condition. However, long-term goals are often lacking in such scenarios. A medical team may advise a person on continued care such as weight loss to avoid increasing blood pressure issues, for example. However, follow-up appointments to check on a person's progress or to discuss goals and strategies further are rarely a part of the treatment equation.
When you become a nurse coach, a major focus of the care you will provide will be on setting goals with your client (rather than for your client). You will work together to set large goals as well as smaller mini-goals along the way. You will work with your client as they work to achieve those goals, addressing any problems or issues that come up along the way. This type of care paves the way for better long-term health and wellness than traditional medical care.
Nurse Coaches Need Training
Now that you know some of the many benefits that you can provide clients as a nurse coach, you may wonder what you need to do to become one. Nurse coaches, first, need to be trained and certified nurses. This gives you the medical background you need to be able to provide clients with sound medical advice and guidance.
However, this is not all it takes to be a nurse coach Being a nurse coach requires specific leadership and coaching skills. There are training programs that nurses can participate in that provide training in specific coaching skills such as how to motivate and better communicate with clients. These courses also offer insight into providing integrative health care and wellness. In essence, you will get an overall understanding of the your job as both a coach and a medical professional.
Knowing these facts about nurse coaching and the training process, you can sign up for a nurse coaching services training program as soon as possible.
