A Nurse Coach is a Registered Nurse who has additional training in coaching and holistic care. The Nurse Coach uses their expertise alongside each patient, and their individual health story, to help guide the patient towards reaching their health and well-being goals.
Nurse Coaching is a professional board certification through the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Association (AHNCC).
Registered Nurses who become Certified Nurse Coaches also improve their professional qualifications, which leads to more opportunities in their careers.
Professional Nurse Coaches:
- Are Registered Nurses with additional training and expertise
- Follow evidence-based practice
- Help individuals and communities reach their full health potential
- Practice in all clinical and community settings, including critical care and private practice
- Help patients navigate chronic conditions, illness, aging, health maintenance, end of life, and more
- Are Board Certified by the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation (AHNCC)
How does Nurse Coaching Improve Patient Care?
Nurses are already highly trained in how to put a body into a state of health, but patients are the experts in their own experiences and desires. Nurse Coaching is a structured conversation that adds the dimension of coaching to the art and science of nursing practice.
The nurse coach creates a safe space for the client. Their job is to be curious about another person’s goals, desires, and dreams without judgment and with nothing on their mind except to listen deeply and ask powerful questions.
Nurse Coaching Involves:
- Building relationships
- Identifying patient issues
- Understanding where each patient is in their health story
- Developing goals with the patient
- Empowering patients to reach their goals
Ultimately, Nurse Coaching enhances health outcomes and job satisfaction for nurses.
Nurse Coaches are Excellent Listeners
Many people believe they are good listeners, but most are not. In coaching, we listen for what is being said beyond the words.
Nurse coaches are skilled at helping people uncover insights and gain clarity for their next steps. Insight is the outcome of all coaching. Insight is the difference between a health plan and innate health realization.
Clients decide what they want to explore. The coach brings presence, holds space, and walks beside and a little behind the client to support and witness their transformation.
What career opportunities are there for Nurse Coaches?
Nurse Coaches work anywhere nurses work and can either enhance current positions or be better positioned for leadership roles. Nurse coaches can also teach other nurses how to coach their patients.
Here are some of the places nurses can find rewarding employment:
- Insurance companies
- Private businesses
- Hospitals
- Case management positions for various employers
- Opening a coaching business
This certification gives nurses recognition of their skills. It is magnet recognized (designation for an organization to promote nursing goals for better patient outcomes) and counts for clinical ladder advancement at institutions.
How do I get started in Nurse Coaching?
The first step in the career path of a Nurse Coach is to become a registered nurse (RN).
*International nurses are welcome! Please message us.
Becoming a Board-Certified Nurse Coach through the AHNCC requires 60 hours of holistic CE and 60 hours of supervised coaching practice from an approved provider.
Our 4-course program, Advancing Nurse Coaching’s “Healing the Whole Person” Series, is 100% online and self-paced and is a sponsored program by AHNCC to meet the requirements to sit for the certification exam.
Learn more about the certificate requirements at AHNCC.org
Message us at any time to schedule a free consultation.
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