Stepping Away

Insights on Taking a Break

Nurse executives may find themselves unemployed due to restructuring or other circumstances that are voluntary or involuntary. The decision to take a break and analyze your future may be considered a detriment to your career. Recruiters and future employers may view a gap in employment history with suspicion. However, the breaks can also lead to new discoveries and opportunities.

The authors of this article all experienced a break in employment that ultimately transformed their career paths. Sandy worked for the same organization for 30 years and now works as a consultant as an interim nurse executive. Kevin left a CNO position to teach for two years, only to realize his true passion was as a nurse executive, leading nursing teams, not students. He is the CNO at a community hospital. Marie was a hospital CEO. She was consumed with the pressure to increase volume and revenue and missed working closely with nurses to influence clinical care and patient safety. After leaving the CEO position, she worked in quality and patient safety for five years and is now the CNO of a pediatric specialty hospital.

Self-reflection

If you find yourself taking a planned or unplanned break, we suggest several actions. Allow yourself to be still. Take time to self-reflect, heal and rediscover what matters most. This self-reflection could very well be hard. We are hardwired to be at work, busy and interacting with other people. An executive role tends to become your identity and may be all-consuming. Finding yourself without immediate tasks, email, meetings and non-stop appointments can be disorienting. Marie spent three weeks wandering her house before she was able to start connecting with others and thinking about her next job. Sandy was surprised to find people at the mall in the middle of the day during the work week. Kevin was suddenly defining everyone’s worth by their employment and his lack of it. The ability to reflect is a necessary step in the process of finding your next path. You must learn to trust yourself and gain confidence in decision-making without fearing you will make a wrong choice. After all, there may not be a wrong choice. Loss, depression and grief are real and may be present in a new way. You may grieve your lost position and work relationships. These feelings are best diminished by action; try to be kind to yourself.

Your inner circle

Do not be afraid to be vulnerable with your inner circle. Your family and most trusted friends will help buoy you up and give you honest advice when contemplating your next role. You may want to reconnect with past colleagues to let them know you are taking a break involving a change in employment or even a change in your career path. Kevin took a full-time position as an assistant professor at a local university. He loved the energy of teaching nursing students. However, it was evident to his colleagues that although the teaching role was a needed change, it was not where his passion lay. Marie reached out to a colleague from graduate school and that connection led to an opportunity as a hospital vice president of quality and patient safety. Sandy also had trusted friends and family to assist her in realizing she had many opportunities. The advice to look outside of her former organization and reconnect with past associates led her to interim nurse executive roles working with organizations across the country.

Overcoming the gap

Recruiters will tell you to stay employed even in difficult circumstances while searching for your next job. Your ability to secure a salary commensurate with your previous position may diminish if you leave your current employer before securing a new position. However, this may not be an option. Be authentic and professional in your response to your employment gap with recruiters and future employers. Use this opportunity to speak about the benefits you gained during your time away and how it will positively affect your future performance. These benefits may include a renewed focus, additional energy and the ability to lead in adversity. This is not the time to dwell on any past negative experiences at your previous job; instead, focus on lessons learned and insights gained that will be valuable moving forward. Build a comprehensive resumé outlining the many accomplishments of your career. This activity is both helpful for potential employers and cathartic in renewing self-confidence. Be ready to explore job opportunities that may not be your first choice. You have more control over your situation than you will be feeling. Be open to opportunities that may not have been on your radar in the past. When the next opportunity comes, be patient in negotiations, making sure the salary and the position are a fit for you.

Taking time

Your situation may allow you the luxury of taking several weeks off or it may be necessary to seek immediate employment. Either way, take the opportunity to make the most of your time away from work. Take inventory of your emotional and physical well-being and make it a priority to nurture yourself. Read a good book, take a class, reconnect with old friends and most of all don’t put pressure on yourself to take the first position offered. This is a time for you to re-energize and find your passion. “I desperately wanted to return to a nursing leadership role and didn’t know how to get there,” said Marie. Exploring opportunities and going on several job interviews helped her narrow the jobs she would be willing to consider. Kevin noted “Taking a job in another state and across the country was never in the plans.” He did just that, however, because he saw the job could be a springboard into future leadership opportunities.

Moving forward

Even in the most positive or difficult circumstances, change is change. Allow this time for change to be a period of self-awareness, contemplation and the beginning of new personal resolutions. As a nurse leader, you have already proven yourself to be trustworthy, professionally capable and emotionally competent. Where you go in your future and just how far will be determined by seeing yourself as the outstanding leader that others—previous supervisors, coworkers, followers—have seen. When the break is over, the time to lead will arrive with new opportunities to excel, adding another chapter to your career.