This month’s edition of Nursing Connections^TM focuses on Nurse Entrepreneurs. If you are a nurse entrepreneur, tell me your story (editor@dcardillo.com). I may spotlight you in a future edition of Nursing Connections^TM. If you’d like to explore entrepreneurship, launch a business, or take your business to the next level, I hope to see you at my upcoming seminar in Atlantic City, NJ on March 8 titled How to Start your Own Business or Consulting Practice (see Upcoming Seminars below). And if business ownership is not in your plans, enjoy reading about the innovations of your colleagues.

Donna's Book Pix: Entrepreneuring: A Nurse’s Guide to Starting a Business, 2nd Ed. by Gerry Vogel & Nancy Doleysh This book is a great primer for the nurse entrepreneur whether a novice or experienced. It covers all the basics including identifying your entrepreneurial potential, finding a niche, starting a business, marketing a nursing business, financing your business, and surviving and growing in business. There is an entire section on the nurse as consultant.

Cool Nursing Web Site:
National Nurses in Business Association Member Links
To see what some other nurses are doing in business, visit the member link section of the NNBA web site. Profiles include links to business web sites for more information, inspiration, ideas and networking.

Career Article:
Nurses and Entrepreneurship: Perfect Together
Business ownership is part of the American dream. And why not? It provides the opportunity to be your own boss, make your own hours, and have creative freedom, flexibility of time, and unlimited earning potential. And while the concept of “business” is foreign to many nurses, we actually make great entrepreneurs. Read more.

News You Can Use:
In recognition of Women's History Month (March), the National Women's Business Council has updated its fact sheet, Women Business Owners and their Enterprises. Majority-owned, privately-held women-owned firms number 6.7 million, and account for 30 percent of all businesses in the country. Between 1997 and 2004, these firms grew 23 percent compared to 9 percent of all U.S. businesses. There are an estimated 15.6 million women business owners in the U.S. as of 2002. Further, it is estimated that 15.6 million women have sole or shared ownership of businesses in the U.S.

You'll find the Fact Sheet on the NWBC Web site under Research and Publications/Key Facts.

Quote of the Month:
Sometimes you have to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down. — Indian proverb

Entrepreneur Spotlight:
Fran Lessans, RN, MS is a nurse who sells immunity. . . not the legal type but the vaccination type. Fran is founder and CEO of Passport Health USA (www.passporthealthusa.com), a chain of immunization centers with 55 franchises all over the United States, many of them owned by nurses. Each office provides comprehensive travel counseling and inoculations to business and leisure travelers, foreign exchange students, missionaries, adoption agencies specializing in overseas adoptions, and others. Since it's inception in 1994, the business has expanded beyond travel medicine to include flu clinics, military readiness, bioterrorism response, and clinical trials. Passport Health has done work for the Department of Defense, Health Minister of Singapore, Department of Immigration and Naturalization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and corporations and colleges. During the recent Anthrax crisis, Passport Health was called upon by the CDC to administer antibiotics and immunizations to postal workers.

Fran developed the idea for Passport Health while working in student health administration for several educational institutions in Baltimore. More and more students were going abroad to study, many of them to exotic locations like China, Indonesia, and Thailand. She was referring them to outside institutions for immunizations but realized that they also needed related education about staying healthy and well in a foreign country. Before long, she realized she had the basis for a part time business and started to provide travel health services on the side while continuing with her regular job. Eventually the business became so busy she incorporated and has turned her "sideline" into a multimillion dollar corporation. Fran says, "It was a lot of hard work to get where I am today, but it was totally worth it." In addition to the many nursing franchisees, Fran employs nurses to be travel health consultants and to administer immunizations. The company also offers travel insurance, travel supplies, global phone service, and consulting services. Talk about finding a unique niche! Fran also wants to assure interested nurses that there are still many good territories left for potential franchisees.

Come Meet Donna at:
Conventions/Conferences

March 3 - 4	Labor Management Institute Workforce Conference, Orlando, FL
March 10	So. California Organization of ADN Program Directors, San Diego, CA
March 17	New Jersey Emergency Nurses Association, Atlantic City, NJ
March 19	New York Student Nurses Association, Tarrytown, NY
March 31	American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants, Anaheim, CA
April 12	Nursing Symposium 2005, Mashantucket, CT

Nursing Spectrum Career Fitness^SM Expo

March 2	Los Angeles, CA
March 15	Phoenix, AZ
March 22	King of Prussia, PA
March 30	Seattle, WA
April 28	Chicago, IL

Double Header Seminars in Atlantic City, NJ

March 7	Career Alternatives for NursesTM
March 8	How to Start Your Own Business or Consulting Practice

Career Alternatives for Nurses^TM

April 18	Foster City (San Francisco), CA
April 20	San Diego, CA
May 18	Chicago (Hoffman Estates), IL

Educational Tour of Scandinavia August 7-14, 2005
Join Donna on a fun-filled and educational trip to Norway and Sweden. Visit local hospitals, attend CE sessions on professional writing, speaking, and business ownership, relax and enjoy! If you’ve never traveled with a group of nurses, you don’t know what you’re missing! Find out more at http://events.nursingspectrum.com/Tour/.

For additional program info visit http://www.dcardillo.com/events.html

What’s New at Cardillo & Associates
Donna is celebrating 10 years in business this year! She launched her business in September 1995 with her now trademarked seminar Career Alternatives for Nurses^TM. Today she speaks all over the world, helping nurses at every phase of their careers to be happy and to reach their full potential. Her business has expanded to motivational speaking, professional development training, writing, consulting and career and business coaching.

More exciting news. . .Donna’s popular seminar Career Alternatives for Nurses^TM has been completely revised and updated to bring you all the latest information and resources on the hottest specialties in nursing. If you’ve attended this seminar in the past, it’s time to attend again. This is the only seminar of its type offered anywhere in the country.

Book Donna Today
Planning a Nurses Week celebration, educational conference, or leadership training program? Looking for a speaker for a new graduate orientation program, student nurse luncheon, or recruitment event? Donna has a program to meet your needs. Her 2005 calendar is already filling up so don’t miss the opportunity to bring the country’s leading career management expert and motivational speaker for nurses to your event. Call 800-801-5796 or e-mail at donna@dcardillo.com for rates, availability, and program topics. Fill out an inquiry form if you prefer.

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