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Nurses Inspire Nurses is providing a safe space for over 1,500 nurses to connect and share their experiences
March 2021
1,500+ Members
Free Membership
Nurses Inspire Nurses is a free community that provides nurses a safe place to connect, share their stories, and learn and grow with one another.
The Spark: After trying a few different platforms to build a community around her successful merchandise business, Cat Golden found Mighty Networks. It turned out to be the perfect place to bring nurses together all in one dedicated space.
Cat’s Mighty Moment: “So many nurses are joining because so few people understand what we go through. You can have the most supportive partner or family or friends on the planet, but they just don’t get it. And so, we're a safe place to talk about things that nobody else in our lives understands.”
A pediatric nurse by trade, Cat Golden has spent many years working in hospitals alongside some other inspirational nurses.
One thing that she always thought about, however, is the burnout that comes hand-in-hand with nursing, a relatively high-stress profession. “I’d think, ‘I have so many years left to work,” she says. “I can’t keep going on like this.” And so, she started thinking of ways she could solve the issue.
With the hope of making a career in nursing more sustainable, Cat started reaching out to her fellow nurses. Her goal? To create a space for them to talk about their issues and acknowledge when they weren’t feeling okay. That evolved into a coffee talk meet-up event and eventually into her Nurses Inspire Nurses brand. Today, on Mighty Networks, Nurses Inspire Nurses connects nurses in a supportive community where each member understands the unique experiences healthcare professionals go through.
We talked to Cat to learn more about how creating a dedicated online community space for her brand is allowing her to connect with her supporters like never before—from more interactions to new business opportunities and beyond.
What inspired you to launch a dedicated community space?
I’ve been a businesswoman at heart ever since I was a little girl. I’ve always had multiple jobs, I used to have a blog too. Once I saw the demand from nurses looking to support one another I saw an opportunity.
My business started with products, but my heart has always been with the community. I tried a few subscription services where I offered products, but it ended up just costing me money. Eventually, I started a mentorship program for nurses who felt burned out which ran for three years and did monthly meetups with nurses.
Why are people drawn to join your community? What do your members have in common?
For the most part, our community is all nurses. And I think so many nurses are joining because so few people understand what we go through.
“We're a safe place to talk about things that nobody else in our lives understands.”
You can have the most supportive partner or family or friends on the planet, but they just don’t get it. And so, we're a safe place to talk about things that nobody else in our lives understands. It's a safe place to say, "Hey, actually, I'm not okay because nurses are so busy helping everyone else all the time."
How did you find Mighty Networks?
I had learned about Mighty Networks in 2019 but never wanted to dive into it. I just didn't have the bandwidth because I was still working as a nurse in a hospital at the time.
I quit my nursing job in the middle of 2019 and secured a 50,000 t-shirt deal right before the pandemic. That was a huge undertaking and it made me realize that we didn't have a way to connect with people outside of our merch.
I tried a Facebook Group like everybody does and it was just dead. It just wasn't a good interaction. I didn't like it. And then we had used Kajabi for our online courses, which was fine, but it didn't have the community feel. I wanted something where we could have classes but was also a place for nurses to come together and just hangout.
Mighty Networks checked all our boxes as far as community and being able to do what we wanted to do.
Right now, how is your Mighty Network community working into your overall business?
It's where our focus and our energy is going. Our merchandise has always been our main business, but now that we have this platform we’re invested. The really awesome thing is we now have a place to send people who find out about us.
Now, when we're bringing new people in, they have a homebase where they can connect with us and other nurses in the community. Our community is very active and very engaged, it's just been amazing.
The platform is very clear and easy to use, and our members really love that there’s an app.
What’s the Nurses Inspire Nurses community like on a daily basis? And what’s been your role in the community so far?
The motto for Nurses Inspire Nurses is human first, nurse second. So it is our aim to always take care of everyone as a human first. I always say, "Wherever you're at is great."
Some people are so excited about nursing and everything they do, but others are feeling burned out and wanting to quit. So we always kind of want to have something for everyone and then wherever you are in between.
“The motto for Nurses Inspire Nurses is human first, nurse second. So it is our aim to always take care of everyone as a human first. “
We always try to have something funny and light, and then we also always have a ton of questions in there. So a new grad starting out on a Heme/Onc unit can ask for advice or simply post a meme.
Every Tuesday, I’ve started doing videos and answering questions in the community. And then, because we do have the shop, I also do sample sales and stuff.
What are some of your favorite features to use on Mighty Networks that you couldn’t elsewhere?
One really cool thing that I've noticed that's different than a Facebook or another social platform is that because it's only nurses in the community, people are posting a selfie with a caption like, "Going into night shift tonight. Who else is working? Cheers." You might not post that on Facebook for your family and friends, but since you're connecting with other nurses in a private space it feels more natural and supportive. And to me, that's really cool. It makes it a little bit different.
Has there been any surprises since you launched your community? How are you feeling about it now that it's out in the world?
I'm so excited to have this platform and I can't wait to see how it will grow. One thing that’s been great is having options to work differently.
“Often in hospitals nurses and their managers are stuck between a rock and a hard place with communication. There isn’t a great place for them to talk. Our community is providing them a safe place to connect, and that’s been really cool.“
We’ve started working with different hospital systems so their nurses can have their own small groups and that has been amazing. Often in hospitals nurses and their managers are stuck between a rock and a hard place with communication. There isn’t a great place for them to talk.
Our community is providing them a safe place to connect, and that’s been really cool.
Have you seen any notable benefits from creating your dedicated community space?
What I would say is that, from my experience, it has been very elevating for my business, even just from an appearance standpoint. And not that we do things for appearances, but it does matter.
When we launched this community, everyone was so excited about it. It was such a big deal. And it was so much better than just having a Facebook Group. To really have our own community and invest in something like this has elevated us so much.
