The Digital Age of Nursing

Back when I was in nursing school, I had a simple vision for my career, work as a nurse for the next 40 years, figure things out as I went, and maybe go back to school to become a nurse practitioner. Hopefully, I would find a specialty I loved and settle in. That was the plan because that was what nurses did. At the time, the world felt pretty straightforward. It was around 2008, and the first iPhone had just come out, but most of us still had flip phones with actual buttons. If you needed directions, you printed them out from MapQuest. Instagram and TikTok did not exist. If you wanted to watch something, you sat through commercials, and if you needed a ride, you either called a cab or begged a friend. The way we received information, connected with people, and navigated life was completely different. And just like technology has evolved, so have we.

The old-school mentality was clear, get your nursing degree, find a stable job, and if possible, land one with a pension. There was no talk of financial independence, no real emphasis on creating a long-term plan outside of working until retirement age. The idea of nurses leveraging financial literacy to shape their career paths or life trajectories was not a conversation that existed.

Now, we live in a different time. Information is everywhere. If you want to understand your retirement accounts, start investing, or build a career that works for you instead of the other way around, you do not have to wait for someone to teach you, you can find it yourself. And that is exactly why I am here.

For any new grad or seasoned nurse reading this, this is the information I wish I had when I started.

With different seasons of life, the goalposts move. Maybe at one point, the goal was to land your first nursing job, then it became buying a home, getting married, or starting a family. But as life shifts, so should the way we think about money. The key is knowing how much is enough, figuring out what financial security looks like for you and using money as a tool to maximize fulfillment and happiness. Because at the end of the day, financial success is not just about hitting a number, it is about creating a life that actually feels good to live.

That is where having a financial plan changes everything.

Now, all of this is at your fingertips. There is no more guessing, no more waiting until you are deep into your career to realize you could have been setting yourself up for financial freedom all along. This is an actual means to an end.

Maybe we were never meant to do just one thing for our entire careers. Maybe nursing is not just one straight path but a profession with multiple acts. For some, bedside nursing is fulfilling for a lifetime. For others, there comes a point when burnout sets in and the work no longer feels sustainable. But with a solid financial strategy, you gain the freedom to pivot, to go part-time, step away from the bedside, or even start something completely new. Maybe this is the start of your next chapter. And it all begins with taking control of your finances.