My Story as a Nurse in Business
New Rules: The rules of nurse entrepreneur have changed. There are new rules and new opportunities. My goal is to cover them all in this blog. Talk to me. Make comments. Let’s get the word out.
Who I am: My name is Patricia Bemis. I am a registered nurse certified in emergency nursing and licensed as a healthcare risk manager. I am currently the corporate president of the National Nurses in Business Association, Inc. This role allows me to provide continuing education and support for nurses in business and promote and sell my products and services.
My business idea: During my years as a clinical emergency nurse, I found that the traditional way of studying by the body system was not an effective way for me to continue my education in emergency nursing and become certified. I searched for a better way and developed my own complaint-based emergency nursing process. I wrote a book covering the process for each individual complaint seen in the emergency department. The process and step-by-step method focused my knowledge and greatly improved my skills. I was determined to publish the book and share my knowledge with other nurses.
I needed help: During my search for information on how to publish, print, distribute, and sell the book, someone referred me to the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA), a professional association providing continuing education and support for nurses in business. The president Laura Gasparis Vonfrolio provided me with the information I needed to self-publish the book and reap the rewards of my work. In 1999, I started a small press publishing company. My journey as a nurse entrepreneur began.
Where I am now: My book Emergency Nursing Bible is in it’s fifth edition and translated into Korean. My book Self-Employed RN is in it’s third edition. I have written chapters for others and online education programs for others, such as Becoming a Nurse Entrepreneur for Sigma Theta Tau and Forensic Science for Nurses for the University of Florida. I continue to learn and develop new ideas to make a nurses’ business ideas obtainable and long lived. I present live seminars and conferences for emergency nurses and independent nurses. I enjoy sharing with other nurses interested in starting a business. And yes, I am still having fun and enjoy my work.
