Why did you get into nursing? For most nurses they will tell you that they wanted to help people. But what happens when you get into the down and dirty day-to-day of nursing and it doesn’t feel like you’re necessarily helping people? Or if you feel like you’re downright harming them with all the medications they’re given that come with those lovely things known as side-effects. ​

For too many nurses, this is their story. I know it was mine. I got tired of dealing with the rude doctors and demanding managers. I got tired of seeing the same things over and over and just offering a pill for that thing too. I grew weary of not really seeing real healing, but mere existing going on within my patients.

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Not to mention the sh!t-show that the last two years has been in healthcare. 

2020 – You’re my hero! Here’s a parade and free coffee for you! There’s a pandemic, but we can make Tik-Tok videos! 

2021 – You won’t get this experimental jab? Then, I guess you’re fired. 

I mean, it’s hard to keep up on all that has happened. Not to mention the lack of accountability and rampant malpractice going on. I’m glad I got out of that circus a long time ago. Or shall I say, forced out?? 

Maybe you’ve been forced out too? Good for you for being an advocate for yourself and standing up for your beliefs and rights. But now you’re likely asking yourself “what’s next for me“? It’s hard to know what to do when you planned on this being your career for the long haul and now you’re having a mid-life more like a mid-career crisis. 

Let me tell you, there are many nurses who have found a way to use their knowledge and skill set to do something they believe in and enjoy doing. For me, that was nutrition. Here’s how you can go from nurse to nutritionist. 

Why Nutrition

​Nutrition is a bit personal for me because it was the thing that helped my daughter with her eczema and food allergies, but it also revolutionized the way I looked at health. The more I learned about nutrition, the more I realized that nutrition (or lack thereof) has a huge impact on overall health and vitality

In 2016, the U.S. spent nearly twice as much on health care as other high-income countries, yet had poorer population health outcomes.

You don’t have to look far to see things like obesity, allergies, eczema, asthma, ear infections, and even type II diabetes and heart disease in our children. (Did you know many of these are actually listed as side-effects of vaccines?!?). 

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But also when you go to the grocery store, take a look at the carts passing by you and what they are filled with. Most of them are full of food that is stripped of its nutrients, cooked, fried, dyed, and then created into food-like product that is not only unusable by our bodies, but is wreaking havoc on them. 

Working in nutrition means that you truly get to help people either prevent or reverse some of these health issues. It’s especially exciting to see when they’ve been through the ringer with “modern medicine” and haven’t found the answers or help they’re looking for. 

Food truly has the ability to heal people from the inside out. I’ve seen it happen over and over in my own practice. From depression to eczema, to infertility, I’ve seen the amazing, life-changing impact that food can have on one’s life. 

Consultin in nutrition is also has a good prospect for job growth. In 2022, the health coaching market is expected to grow by 5.4% or roughly 1.7 Billion dollars! This would bring the health coaching services market to 7.85 billion total. That’s a lot of money. 

There are more and more people who are tired of the “pill for every ill” model and who truly want to change their health for the better naturally by using food and supplements. This is evidenced by the rise in Integrative Medicine services and alternative health options being covered by insurance. 

Working in nutrition gives you, as a nurse, a great job prospect and a way to help people using the knowledge and skills you’ve gained as a nurse. Being a nurse also gives you credibility as it’s been ranked as the highest trusted profession for 20 years in a row now. 

Many people will also love the fact that you can understand the medical terminology and their medications that they are taking. They appreciate that you have insight to their health struggles from both a medical and a holistic perspective. If you’re looking for a way to help people that will also utilize your skill set well, nutrition may be a great fit for you! 

Training

As a nurse, you already have a great foundation to draw from. You have a good understanding of anatomy and physiology, microbiology, and pathophysiology. These are going to do nothing but help you on your way to working in nutrition. 

More than likely you have some knowledge of mediations, their side-effects and interactions, and some labs as well. This will really help you to thoroughly understand what you study in nutrition. 

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Before you get studying in nutrition, it’s important to note that you are likely going to have to do some unlearning of some (or many) of the things you learned in school. Much of what we were taught in school is  not as holistic as they led us to believe in our nursing programs. And the nutrition that you learned, if any, is very lacking on scientific and clinical evidence. I’m guessing you already know this or have this hunch and that’s part of why you’re here. I’ll mention too that this is also the reason that I didn’t choose to go the route of becoming a dietician. Did you know their curriculum is written by companies like Coca Cola? Yea, no conflict of interest there. . .

Out of all the nutrition programs out there, and there are a LOT now, the program that I feel is best is the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition program. This program is a comprehensive nutrition program that will not only teach you the foundations of nutrition, but also teach you how to use labs from a functional perspective. 

(Save $200 by checking out with this special link)​

 

The program is 100% online and will give you the tools you need to help your clients naturally utilizing food and supplements. The FDN has an outstanding reputation among the functional nutrition community as well. 

If you’re considering taking the next step in pursuing becoming a nutritionist and you’d like to talk to someone first or get some coaching, you can book a Power Hour Coaching Session with me. I’m happy to chat through your options and give you some direction on what may be a good fit for your goals.