What in the world is a consultant? We asked around to see what our family and friends came up with and here are a few highlights:
• You give advice to people and help them figure stuff out
• You used to boss around the patients and now you boss other people around
• You make sure that people don’t die
• You make people’s brains seem smarter
• You work in your pajamas (those are scrubs…)
While there is a grain of truth in all of those statements…our loved ones didn’t exactly hit the nail on the head. Miriam Webster defines the word consultant as “a person who provides expert advice professionally”. We feel like this is also a pretty big under representation of the role. Other resources use synonyms like guide, navigator, advisor, specialist, expert…and the list goes on. What if you add another noun into the mix? A word whose profession represents advocacy, leadership, empathy, education, and holistic care? What if a consultant is also a nurse? The role of a nurse consultant is so much bigger than advice…so much more impactful to healthcare as a system. What are the benefits of hiring a nurse consultant? Here is what we think:
• You get an outside perspective! There is nothing quite like a fresh set of eyes, those that are free of biases, to come in an assess your organization.
• You can avoid the blame game and hurt feelings between departments and disciplines by allowing a third-party to come in an evaluate your current state.
• You don’t really have the bandwidth…do you? That is where we come in….we can do the leg work and make you look good 😉
• You get a nurse’s point of view…those who have empathy and a shared experience for what your organization is going through!
• You get two decades of nursing experience in a variety of healthcare arenas.
We look at every day as an opportunity to make an impact…whether we are helping to train and educate nurses on the use of life saving technology, preparing nurses for a disaster, or guiding young students toward a career in the healthcare industry. While we understand that our knowledge and expertise is why our clients hire us as consultants, our dedication and desire to truly facilitate change is why they keep us around….that and our awesome dance moves!