The other morning, I was walking around the lake before work with the sun beaming, ducks gliding with their ducklings across the water, the air calm and warm. I take that walk almost every day before my shift. It’s my way to breathe and ground myself before spending ten hours in an emergency department full of alarms, questions, and unpredictable needs.
As I walked, I started reflecting on Nurse Practitioner Week and realized this marks 17 years for me in this profession. Seventeen years of long days, laughter, lessons, and resilience. It feels both fast and full.
After nearly two decades, one truth keeps surfacing: this work is beautiful and brutal all at once.
A Quick Reality Check
Let’s be honest: this work is not easy.
The hours are long. The pressure is real. Some days, you leave wondering if anyone noticed how much you gave.
You’re short on sleep, always multitasking, running on caffeine, and still expected to show up with grace, patience, and compassion.
But I have learned that joy in this profession isn’t something that just appears. It’s something that you have to build, one intentional choice at a time.
That doesn’t mean ignoring the hard parts or sprinkling positivity over burnout. It means finding small, sustainable ways to make the work more manageable and to remind yourself that you matter in the process.
My Journey as a Nurse Practitioner
My first role as a nurse practitioner was in outpatient pediatric gastroenterology. It wasn’t my first choice, but it taught me a lot about patient care, collaboration, and finding confidence in my own voice.
Later, I transitioned into the emergency department, and it just fit. The pace, the variety, the challenge – I learned how to care for everyone from newborns to teens, from minor injuries to life-threatening emergencies. It deepened my confidence and reminded me how capable we really are as nurses when we have the right tools and support.
Then came leadership, which you can read more about here. While I learned to advocate at the table and build teams I was proud of, and still take care of patients a few times a month, it eventually left me drained. I told myself, I’m done with patient care. I can’t go back.
But life has a way of redirecting us.
When I stepped away to start my entrepreneurial journey, I still needed income, and I stumbled onto vaccine clinic work during COVID. To my surprise, I loved it. Short-term contracts, flexibility, and connection it gave me space to do meaningful work without losing myself in it.
That’s when I realized: part-time clinical work was my sweet spot.
It kept me connected to patient care but gave me room to pursue other passions like consulting, content creation, and helping nurses redesign their own lives.
From there, I began working in telemedicine part-time. It was beautiful, especially in pediatrics. Being able to reassure parents and care for kids through a screen felt like modern nursing at its best: accessible, compassionate, human.
In addition, for the past almost 20 months, I have been back at the bedside working across 3 pediatric emergency departments, mostly in a community setting. I see patients, give my best, and leave knowing I made a difference.
Yet, If I’m honest, these current part-time clinical roles aren’t forever.
It’s part of a transition — a bridge between what was and what’s next.
I’m grateful for what it gives me right now: steady income, clinical connection, and a chance to keep sharpening my skills while building the life and business I truly want.
But I also know it’s not where I will stay. Some days, I feel the pull to something new, and instead of fighting it, I have learned to see it as proof that I’m growing.
That’s what this new era feels like: showing up fully where I am, while making space for what’s coming.
Here are five lessons that have helped me keep joy alive in this profession even on the hardest days.
Five Ways to Keep Going (and Still Care) in Your NP Career
1. Remember Your Why and Let It Evolve
Early in my career, I was a young NP finishing my first role in gastroenterology. One day, the physician and I went to see a patient in the emergency department. The patient’s mother, after hearing I was leaving, turned to the doctor and asked, “Well, who am I going to call now?”
The doctor said, “You’re going to call me. I’m your doctor.”
But that moment stopped me. Because whenever that family had questions, flare-ups, or worries, they called me first. It made me realize that I had built trust and connection. My role mattered. I mattered.
That reminder has stayed with me all these years. Every time a patient thanks me, every time a parent breathes easier because I listened—that’s my why.
It started with helping kids, but now it has expanded. Today, my bigger why is helping nurses rediscover their own voice and joy. Because when nurses thrive, patients thrive.
2. There’s More Than One Way to Be a Nurse
If there’s one thing my career has proven, it’s that there’s no single path to fulfillment. I have worn many hats: GI NP, ER NP, educator, leader, consultant, and entrepreneur. Each pivot taught me something new about who I am and what I value.
When I taught NCLEX prep with Kaplan, my first class was a disaster—150 students, brand new instructor, pure chaos. But I learned, adjusted, and got better. Eventually, students started returning to tell me they had passed their boards. That feedback meant everything. I realized that teaching was just another form of caring.
Later, when I moved from outpatient care to emergency medicine, I found joy in learning general pediatrics, understanding the difference between the mildly sick and the critically ill. When I transitioned into leadership, I discovered what it meant to have a voice at the table—to advocate not just for patients, but for staff.
Every change stretched me. Every role deepened my understanding of nursing. There are endless ways to make an impact. The key is to stay open, to keep nursing fresh, to keep learning, and to keep your curiosity alive.
3. You Can Take Breaks (and You Should)
I will be honest: my sabbatical saved me.
Before I took it, I was exhausted. Wednesdays were the hardest. I remember waking up on Wednesdays, staring at the ceiling well after the alarm clock went off, just trying to muster the energy to get off the bed. I loved being a nurse, but I could not keep going like that.
So I took a break. I stepped away. And in that space, I reconnected with myself.
Sometimes we forget that we are allowed to pause. But rest is not failure. It is wisdom. It is the only way to return with clarity and strength.
If you are feeling like you cannot keep doing this, please pause before you walk away completely. Let’s talk. Let’s find a way for you to use your skills differently—maybe part-time clinical work, maybe something outside of traditional nursing that reignites your energy.
You do not have to burn out or keep doing something that you dislike just to prove you care or that you are a dedicated nurse.
4. Be True to Your Season
I have stayed in roles past their expiration date, and I have learned from each one.
In GI, I helped with research and quality improvement, but after a while, I realized I was not learning anything new. I was irritable, restless, ready for growth. Some people love stability and familiarity, which is so beautiful. However, I realize that I am not built to do the same thing for years on end.
Each season of life has asked something different from me. At one point, I wanted a 9-to-5 schedule with no weekends. Later, I craved flexibility and days off during the week.
And that is okay. Knowing your season helps you make choices with peace instead of guilt.
When I competed in a pitch competition for a mobile app idea, we won third place—and I remember thinking, this is what alignment feels like. I realized that I loved innovation, creativity, and finding new ways technology could support clinicians.
It reminded me that joy comes when we listen to what excites us, not what the world expects of us. Sometimes work feels different when we have young kids, or a family member who is ill, or as we get older.
That is nothing to be ashamed of; it is a sign of a change in season, and you need to get out there and explore how work can support you best during this time. That may look like changing your hours, trying a different specialty, new organization, a part time role in an area of new interest, or maybe even a mission trip. The possibilities are endless!
5. Craft a Career That Fits You—Not the Other Way Around
For years, I felt pressure to earn another degree. Everyone around me had their DNPs and PhDs, and I respect that deeply. Yet, if I had to be honest with myself, I did not want another degree just to prove I was capable.
Yes, I joke that I want a PhD for the puffy hat, but what I really want is a life that feels aligned, peaceful, and purposeful.
If a new credential gets you closer to the life you want and the things you want to do, do it wholeheartedly.
But if it does not, it is okay to say no. In my opinion, success is not about the letters after your name, it is about the life those letters allow you to live.
The truth is, you can design a career that fits your values, your goals, your health, and your happiness. You can be an excellent nurse practitioner and still redefine what that looks like for you.
Keep Choosing Joy
After seventeen years, here’s what I know for sure: nursing will stretch you, sometimes even beat you to the ground, but it can still fulfill you.
Finding joy isn’t about ignoring the hard parts. It’s about noticing the small wins, the laughter in the chaos, and the grace to keep showing up with heart.
So this NP Week, whether you’re five years in or twenty, here’s what I hope you remember.
Keep your why close.
Rest when you need to.
Stay curious.
And never forget — you’re allowed to find joy here, too.
If you’re in that in-between season, wondering what’s next or how to find your passion for work again, I would love to help you explore it.
You can book a free 15-minute clarity call at The Nurse Sabbatical or send me a message.
Here’s to purpose, peace, and the courage to create a career that feels good again. Happy Nurse Practitioner Week. 💙
Take care, Take Breaks
Amy
