First off, I’d like to thank you for agreeing to have your real-life story featured on Nursingpreneur. I’m building a high-quality resource platform for all budding nursing and midwifery students. Therefore, your experiences, thoughts, preferences, and suggestions are immensely valuable for Nursingpreneur’s growth.
To that end, I must say that it’s great to have you here.
Now, I’d like you to answer the following questions so that we can shed light on your story and experiences in an engaging way.
Let’s start! Shall we? (Write as much as you want, there’s absolutely no limit)
Could you please tell us a bit about yourself? How has life been treating you?
Hey! My name is Liam Caswell, I am a certified life and career coach for nurses and midwives. I help healthcare professionals manage their minds to create whatever they want in their life! I have been a nurse for over 12 years, graduating in 2011 in Scotland. Since then, I have been working internationally across Scotland, England, Fiji and Australia as a nurse, building my career and my skillset! I’m doing very good thanks!
How did you get into your current field? And do you enjoy doing it? (E.g. of Fields such as nursing, and midwifery)
Well, my story is a bit different, in the sense that in early 2022 having worked in my business (on the side) whilst being a busy Nurse Unit Manager, I made the shift into full-time entrepreneurship. My background is varied and that is the beautiful thing about nursing. It’s so varied with so many options! I am a nurse by trade and have worked across the following areas: MAPU, HDU, ICU, Gen Med, Surgery, Recovery, Agency nursing (public and private sectors), Clinical Education, Tertiary Education, Primary Healthcare, Hospital Leadership and Management, Government Public Health, Digital Health and International Public Health. I have genuinely loved my career and it has allowed me to travel internationally. My favourite speciality – is probably being a leader, influencing culture and empowering staff!
I am really enjoying being my own boss in my business Liam Caswell Coaching. I have created a successful 6 figure coaching business, replacing my nursing income, where I coach nurses and midwives on all things life, career, mindset and entrepreneurship. We help nurses find their next nursing role with confidence, ease and all the options! Being able to use my skills, knowledge and wisdom from nursing and marrying them with business skills has been a thrilling experience. I also have created a top 10 Australian nursing podcast “High-Performance Nursing” where I talk to amazing clinicians globally doing amazing things, as well as provide teachings, training, and coaching to you the listener to help you thrive as a human first, nurse second.
If you’re a student nurse and working towards securing an AIN role – we also have an AIN Application Course that gives your EVERYTHING you need to land your first AIN role! You can learn about it here!
Could you please tell us about your favourite nursing or midwifery moment? (keeping things confidential for clients involved)
Oooh good question – I think I would have to reflect on a time very early in my career when I cared for a patient in the ICU back in the UK. She had been in an induced coma for a few weeks and I cared for her on the day she was awoken from sedation. She and I built such good rapport from the start of the shift, by me just creating space for her to come around and express her needs. Her biggest wish was to get up and out of bed (after having been lying down for 3 weeks) I knew this would be a challenge, but nothing is ever too difficult for nurses to achieve! So I partnered with the MDT and my patient and we made it happen. Her goal was to get into the shower and to have a proper wash for the first time in weeks. Her main priority – washing her long luscious hair, which was matted and knotted from being in a coma. So we got to work and made it happen. Now, it’s worth noting I am no hairdresser – but I did my best and we spent about an hour and a half in the shower, with me gently combing through her hair and chatting, making her feel human again, with dignity and respect. In the moment, my patient was so grateful and felt human again. I will never forget her face and how she expressed her thanks. Fast forward a few years, I received a letter from my old ICU nurse manager (I had moved to Australia by now) and she let me know that during ICU follow-up ( an initiative that provides follow-up to patients post ICU admissions) the patient had expressed her thanks years later to me and had a baby boy who she named Liam. This is a moment I will cherish forever. We have such privilege to care for patients during their darkest moments, and be the light that guides them on their way – it’s your duty.
What is the most striking moment of personal “failure” you’ve experienced in nursing or midwifery?
Early in my career, in my grad year, I made a medication error. I gave QID Piptaz IV to a patient who was due it only BD due to renal impairment. Myself and my checking buddy didn’t notice it and we were rushing to get tasks done. I was filled with immense guilt and fear when it was brought to my attention a day later and I felt such high emotion about my “failure”. My team and educator were lovely about it but the protocol was that I would have to stop doing IVs for a period of time, to re-sit my competencies. I was crushed. I felt like a burden to my peers and It really slowed me down in my daily work for a few weeks. However, It was a great lesson, reflecting that being safe and methodical in using the systems and processes provided – ensures safety for my patients and allows me to retain my registration. In the moment, this was the worst thing that could ever happen, upon reflection today, it was an integral part of my journey and a pivotal lesson. We are human, we all make mistakes – I know have learnt to ensure that I don’t make it mean anything about my capabilities and don’t let my failures define me and my future.
How did you cope with your failure?
Much better today than I did in the past. I have noticed a resistance to failure within healthcare because we have such high stakes. I don’t think that serves us to believe that we are invincible and that we cannot and should not fail. I am not advocating that we should actively seek opportunities to fail, but instead really allow ourselves to get curious about our failures and to increase our failure resilience. Inviting failure in where it’s safe to do so and learning from it, with curiosity and courage. After all, I have learnt that with failure, success is not possible. Now, when I “FAIL” I remind myself that failing means I am trying and that it’s not a requirement that I wallow in the failure, I get to decide what I make it mean about me and my capacity!
Okay! Let’s have a little insight into your entrepreneurial life.
First things first, what comes to your mind when you think about entrepreneurship, in general?
I believe everyone has an entrepreneurial bone in their body, entrepreneurs have big ideas and unshakeable visions for what they want to create. Entrepreneurs are open to taking risks and failing until they succeed. They take massive action to create value in their mind and then bring it to life in the world through their actions and offerings.
I have created a > 6-figure business by using my skills gained as a clinician/educator and manager to help over 200 nurses and midwives globally to land their next nursing role. I help everyone from student nurses looking to land their first nursing graduate role, to those looking for a promotion, to those who want to find a new path mid-career, to those who are senior and want a new senior role. We use coaching to help nurses and midwives understand who they are, and what they TRULY want and we help make it happen through application support and interview coaching. If you are a nursing student (national or international) and you are worried about landing your first role and you want expert help to achieve it – come and check out and join our Graduate Career Launch Program – make sure you join the waitlist!
Regardless of where you are at in your nursing or nurseprenuer journey – you should consider joining our HPN membership – where nurses and midwives get coaching to achieve their life, career and business goals with ease and confidence!
And, what comes to your mind when you think about entrepreneurship in relation to nursing/midwifery?
I believe nurses and midwives are entrepreneurial in nature, most typically intrapreneurs. Where we use our unique skills, experiences, insights and wisdom to influence change and to create new ways of working and tools within our roles to solve complex multi-layered problems. I believe NursePrenuership is a growing field and provides an opportunity for nurses and midwives to monetise their skills and nurse on their terms.
If I can create a business from my experience- so can you. Find a gap, create a solution, market it to others and sell! This year in 2022, I travelled Europe for 2 months, working from my laptop and making money – replacing my full-time nursing income whilst having an impact! It’s called nursing on your terms and it’s soo exciting! I can now work from ANYWHERE in the world. Time and place freedom! It’s a beautiful thing to gift yourself. Got the itch? I’m always happy to chat with anyone who wants to explore a similar path! My vision and career why: to be an example of what’s possible for nurses in their life, career and business.
How do you think entrepreneurship or business per se is associates with a nurse’s/midwife’s life? (Influence on midset/expansion of opportunities, etc.)
Entrepreneurship for nurses and midwives requires us to shift our identity and to level up in our mindset, abundance, failure tolerance and open up to receiving new levels of insights, skills, knowledge and income. When you commit to creating something that doesn’t exist in the world, you challenge your internal beliefs about what is possible for you as a nurse/midwife in your life. This in itself is quite challenging to work through and navigate. If you are a nurse/midwife with an idea or concept that you want to offer to others to solve a problem, you open yourself up to opportunities, abundance, income, people, and networks but you also have to deal with and manage imposter syndrome, lack of confidence, changing identities, beliefs and ongoing management of your mind! Your brain’s job is to keep you safe and being an entrepreneur rarely feels safe!
Now, let’s get into the most asked questions.
How did/do you maintain consistency in your doings?
I think this is a work in progress for all, however, my main strategy is firstly knowing and understanding that unless I plan ahead of time what I am doing and when I will not complete it. When we wait until the moment of doing to decide what we will do, we leave it to our primitive instinctive brain that always wants to take the path of least resistance. I like to sit down on a weekend, map out my next week of tasks, schedule them all in my calendar ahead of time, making space for the things I need to do personally and professionally, and then from there when the time comes, I get a notification and I complete the task. Regardless of how I feel about it. Our brains will always want to buffer and avoid doing the task – it’s our job to do it regardless to get to our goals!
How do you set priorities in your work?
I plan ahead of time and I use my calendar to map it out. I take a big goal and break it down into bitesize chunks. I schedule it and get it out of my brain so that I can make clear decisions at the moment, when it’s in my calendar it’s as good as done. When the time arises, I make it happen. I always make decisions in alignment with my values and with my future self. I always think about what would my future self who has achieved this goal think. What would they think is the priority? This helps weed out all the buffering and the tasks that I am doing to procrastinate. #human.
If you had one piece of advice to give an aspiring nursing and midwifery student, what would it be?
Learn how to manage your mind and your life will transform over time. Nursing is complex, challenging and full of negativity to be frank. Learning how to manage your mind, will help you see that you are in control and that you do not need to conform with the “pack”. When you learn to manage your mind, you understand that external things that happen have no power over you and that your thoughts (when chosen intentionally) create the feelings you have, the actions you take and the results you attract in your life. Most people don’t succeed or thrive in nursing because of this.
Also – sample! Do all the things. Try all the specialities. Move around, Explore. Give yourself permission to be curious about what’s possible for you and available to you. You shouldn’t expect to know where you want to go at the start. Give yourself space to expand and explore. You got this!
The most important question coming your way.
Caffeine or not caffeine for shift work?
COFFEE! Lots of it! #immunetoitseffects
Where can people reach out to you? (social media and email)
Email: liamgcaswell@gmail.com
Instagram:@highperformancenursing
Facebook – High Performance Nursing
TikTok: Highperfomancenursing
Podcast: High Performance Nursing – www.liamcaswell.com/hpn-podcast
Free Resources for students: www.liamcaswell.com/free-resources
Want coaching and support? – Join our High Performance Nursing Coaching Membership – www.liamcaswell.com
Website: www.liamcaswell.com
