How to Make Six Figures as a Nurse Life Coach

Yes. Nurse coaching isn't state licensed clinical practice, so you can work with clients across the country and internationally. You handle it with a disclaimer in your contract.

In a state where you're licensed, you can work as their board certified nurse life coach. In a state where you aren't, your contract says you're working with them as a certified life coach. You decide which role you're in. The client doesn't know the difference, and the service doesn't change. Attorneys have looked at this language, and it's always up to you how you set it up.

You don't have to. Most of our students keep a full time job and start this on the side. Once you have a few paying clients, you can go down to part time or per diem. That's a beautiful path for most nurses, and it's the one that works best.

Nurse coaching falls into the transformation industry, not the medical industry, so it isn't clinical care in the way most of us think about it. That isn't a limitation. It's your protection. You carry a lighter liability and have more freedom than clinical practice allows.

The best protection is knowing when someone isn't a fit. If a client isn't right for coaching, you can tell them therapy might serve them better and offer a refund. That's usually enough, and it's very rare.

We love our LPNs and LVNs. About 15 percent of our graduates are LPNs and LVNs. The one difference is that the RN version of the board exam is for RNs. It doesn't keep you from coaching anyone, charging the same fees or helping people in the same way with the same skills.

With a nationally accredited certification, you can go after many of the same coaching jobs RNs can. The barrier I see most is a higher sense of impostor syndrome. That's a mindset barrier, not a practical one.

For a three month package, most people do nine to 10 sessions. A cadence I like is three weeks on and one week off, with a homework assignment in the week off so there's still action and connection. Some coaches meet weekly for the first six weeks and every other week after that. Busy clients often like 90 minute sessions every other week. There aren't real rules.

I don't advocate weekly for twelve weeks, because it can start to feel like therapy and create dependence. The week off also gives you room for the rest of your business, which is a gift if you're an introvert.

Yes. I get on calls with CNOs and DONs all the time about this. Even a new grad who just finished her sixty hours and got board certified can present, and we give you the playbook. Our team includes coaches who do organizational coaching, so you're taken care of by people who have done it.

Some hospitals working toward well-being recognition already count nurse coaching as part of their program. One way it has worked is to offer to do your sixty coaching hours with staff for free if your organization pays for your certification.

I frame it as an investment in a skill people pay for, and in yourself. You may never open a private practice. You might go through the training, grow, and have another door open for you.

Forty percent of our students already have a paying client by the time they graduate. The ones who finish the business course. Many employers count the certification as professional development, so ask yours about reimbursement. We also have financing options, and our advisors do everything they can so the cost doesn't cause you financial stress.

When you enroll, your name goes on a list, and so do the names of nurses who signed up to be coached for free. About six weeks in, you pick your first few practice clients off that list, so you aren't searching for people to coach while you're brand new. After you've coached a couple of them, you find people in your community.

Anyone can sign up to be a free practice client for our students at any time. The sign up is under Resources on our website.

Plan on about four to six hours a week, a little more in weeks with a lot of live calls. I call the pacing perfectly paced, because there are gates you meet to move on. If you have a vacation, surgery or big plans, tell your lead learning coach and you can work right before and right after.

Your lead learning coach usually replies within 24 hours, and you can text us for anything urgent. Most cohort calls are at 6:30 pm Eastern, 5:30 pm Central, and we have Saturday calls for people who work nine to five. There are enough Saturday calls to graduate on time.