I Thought I Had Lost My Passion for Nursing Leadership
Part of the From the Hive Guest Perspective Series. RN Hive™ invites nurse leaders to share experiences that can help other leaders reflect, grow, and lead with greater intention. In this guest perspective, Brooke Hall shares what stepping away from nursing leadership taught her about boundaries, empowerment, family, and finding her way back to the work she loves.
I convinced myself I had lost my passion for nursing leadership.
About six months ago, I stepped away from a nursing leadership role because I had convinced myself that I no longer had a passion for it.
It's funny, because before that, I had defined myself as a nurse leader. It's what I did, and it was part of who I was.
But something had taken a toll.
As I became a new mother, it felt like I couldn't be both. I felt like I was failing at motherhood and failing at leadership, so I stepped away.
A few months away taught me something important:
What I despised was the lack of boundaries I had been unable to set for myself at the time.
Setting boundaries was a skill I didn't have, and I was waiting for someone else to set them for me. What I failed to realize was that I had to create those boundaries for myself. My inability to do so was affecting both me and my family.
The boundaries I was waiting for someone else to create had to come from me.
Time away also taught me a few other things.
What I learned
Empowering your team and allowing them to handle the curveballs their jobs throw at them isn't lazy or weak. It's trust.
Allowing your team to make mistakes isn't failure. It's a path to growth.
The weight of the world is not on your shoulders.
Work emails don't have to be the last thing you look at before you close your eyes at night and the first thing you check before you get out of bed in the morning.
Many times, the pressure we feel — and some of the unrealistic expectations we experience — are self-made.
It's okay to take a moment to prioritize yourself, your health, and your peace, just as you prioritize your team.
And most importantly:
My heart missed leading nurses.
The world has a way of forging a path for you that not only teaches you lessons professionally but also puts you in the right place to grow as a person.
My last few months away have been refreshing, but my heart missed leading nurses.
So here I am, getting back into it.
It may not be at the same level I stepped away from, but it is where I want to be: supporting my team and providing the best care to our patients every time.
This time, I have a new outlook.
And I am a better leader for it.
I hope my unconventional journey inspires you to do some soul-searching of your own — to prioritize yourself, to believe that you can be both a good leader and a parent, and, most importantly, to remember:
I am a nurse leader.
You don't have to carry everything to prove that you care.
Your team needs your leadership, but they also need opportunities to think, make decisions, make mistakes, and grow.
The people waiting for you outside of work deserve a version of you that hasn't been completely consumed by leadership.
Ask yourself:
You don't have to become less committed to become a more sustainable leader.
Brooke's story reminds us that leadership growth does not always mean moving upward.
Sometimes growth means stepping away long enough to understand what isn't working.
Sometimes it means setting a boundary.
Sometimes it means trusting someone else to solve the problem.
And sometimes it means returning to leadership with a different understanding of the leader you want to be.
Growth is not always linear. But it is still growth.
Leadership, boundaries, and finding your way back to purpose.
Sisterly Advice™ explores the conversations nurse leaders often need but don't always have a place to talk about — from leadership pressure and difficult decisions to growth, purpose, and learning when not to carry everything yourself.
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