Becoming an “On-the-Fringes” Trailblazer

Abstract

There are certain nurse leaders who have always been trailblazers. They have taken risks in their careers and been extremely successful. They were out on the fringes of health care, assuming roles in companies that did not even realize they needed a nurse. Fifteen or 20 years ago, on-the-fringes nurses worked in pharmaceutical or medical device companies, for clinical documentation technology companies, or were even nurses who went to the dark side to work for health care insurance or consulting companies. Without those trailblazers leading the way, the next generation of trailblazers would not have been able to push out even further. Now, another generation of smart, bold, and exceedingly talented nurses are blazing new trails into organizations once considered unheard of for nurses. Those nurse leaders are becoming successful entrepreneurs, are subject matter experts in dot com or technology start-up companies, and work for big box retailers, architecture firms, and advertising agencies. They are embracing their valuable nursing knowledge and their unique perspectives on health and health care, raising the visibility of nurses and nursing to entirely new segments of the economy.