I renewed my nursing license for the ninth time in the ragged weeks of 2025. Nursing has been my sole professional identity, but change is on the horizon. Once my articles end, I will be joining another regulated profession.
My New Year’s realization is to make room for a new professional “hat.”
My perpetual desire to do something different spurred me to take the leap of faith into law. Before summering and articling, I had very little idea what practicing in law entails, least of all litigation. Now, I have at least a fledgling sense of what is to come. Rather than looking back at nursing moments I will miss, I can reflect on the new skills I have added to my toolbelt along the way.
Nursing is where I honed my soft skills, including engaging with clients and colleagues, balancing workloads, and adapting to change. It was a demanding practice physically, mentally, and emotionally. No day was ever the same; I didn't take work home with me, and most issues demanded on-the-spot decisions. Compare this to the life of an articling student/lawyer. I can attest that: my chair remains occupied for most of the day, most work done contributes to a much bigger and longer-running picture, and many hours are spent alone with one’s work product. In short, the daily life of a nurse and a lawyer could not be more different, but the underlying, necessary qualities remain the same: work hard, stay nimble, and keep learning.
On the topic of learning, every day of articling has brought with it new revelations. While the Ontario Courts Public Portal has provided many lessons in patience and perseverance, the most memorable assignments, coincidentally, have involved fellow nurses. I’ve had the chance to explore professional liability insurance, particularly the representation of nurses covered under such policies. Admittedly, I found it difficult not to place myself in their shoes. It was all too easy to slip into the mode of “if I were that person, practicing in that environment, I think this is what I would have done.” On one hand, I find this might be a worthwhile reflection; knowing, from professional experience, what a nurse should or should not have done has its advantages. However, I can also see this becoming a distraction from the task at hand.
A goal from this reflection is to delineate when to keep my nursing cap on and when to hang it up. As I progress into the latter half of articles, I've learned that changing hats does not mean abandoning the old one forever. Rather, it means carrying forward the experiences that shaped me, while embracing what comes next.
by Joseph C.