Transcript
Ellie Kirkpatrick (00:00)
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Nontraditional Nurse. I am so excited to have a special guest today, Leslie McCoy. Thanks for joining us, Leslie.
Leslie (00:09)
Thanks for having me.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (00:11)
And Leslie transitioned into non-traditional roles early in her career and she’s had multiple roles since then. So, today we’re going to talk about her insight into what might be out there for nurses, as well as some advice in how to get there. Let’s get started.
Leslie, can you start by telling little bit about your journey in nursing and what inspired you to pursue non-traditional roles in the healthcare industry?
Leslie (00:33)
Sure, I started off as a Navy nurse. My background is medical surgical, primarily orthopedics. And my first civilian job was as a clinical trial coordinator. And that was really when I started to transition to non-traditional roles.
That really helped me because I still had an affiliation with the hospital and patient interaction, yet the job gave me exposure to both pharmaceutical and the medical device industries. And then around that time, I started pursuing my MBA and I was talking with a fellow nursing friend of mine who was working for a medical device company. She was sharing her experiences with me. And that’s what prompted me to take my next role, which was clinical marketing for a medical device company. And that was about 20 years ago.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (01:27)
And I think a really intimidating thing for most nurses is thinking about taking that first leap from bedside nursing to that first nontraditional role. So, can you talk a little bit about what that transition looked like, what changed for you, and what you had to adjust for?
Leslie (01:44)
Yeah, honestly, the transition was easier than I thought it would be. I had to adjust to a quieter, slower-paced environment in an office. I had to top up on some new skills like learning Word and PowerPoint and then brush up on other skills like writing because I was doing a lot of writing in my roles.
And then I had to learn how to navigate business travel, which is an art form. And it sounds like a lot that I had to learn, but honestly, it wasn’t insurmountable. And it didn’t take a lot of time or effort for me to become proficient in my new role.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (02:25)
And since that career shift, you’ve worked in several other non-traditional roles. So, can you highlight some of the roles that you feel like were very key in your career and kind of how they led you to your current position?
Leslie (02:36)
Right. Well, my very first role in the medical device company, Clinical Marketing, it allowed me to learn more about IV tubing and disposables than I ever thought possible from all angles. I also was working inside the corporate office, so I got to learn more about sales and marketing strategy. And I also built a lot of really fruitful and strong relationships. And those relationships then led to my next job, which was project management. It was not clinical at all. In fact, I didn’t even know what the job was when I took it, but I felt, yeah, I can do this. And that allowed me to really become an expert in smart pump technology, more than just the clinical features. It was also the technical aspects that support
integrated solutions like: how does your infusion pump send information to the EMR patient record? It also allowed me to hone in on my relationship management skills because I was working with a lot of different functions but also, you know, people at the hospital.
And it also gave me a whole new perspective on the customer experience. And so, I think those two roles that I had were pivotable in leading into other opportunities along the way, but eventually to being able to lead a team that is responsible for commercializing new products with our service and support teams. So, it’s been a really interesting and dynamic career.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (04:11)
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, as nurses, we develop so many skills that I think are overlooked, you know, that are so transferable. So how do you think your nursing background, whether that be clinical skills or some of the soft skills, prepare you for roles in medical affairs or any of your roles?
Leslie (04:30)
Right. Well, all nurses, we are great at time management and prioritization. And I think that’s important because in the business world, you are juggling a lot of different things at once. And also, you need to be flexible as priorities shift.
I also learned a lot about communication. I mean, you’re communicating to patients, families, doctors, and that certainly helped me in the business role because you’re communicating complex information at all different levels of the organization. And the project management role was the easiest job I’ve ever done in my life. And it’s not because it’s easy, but because it was calling on a lot of those skills that I had developed and brought from the bedside. So, communication being one of them, coordinating activities of people communicating and collaborating. I think I already mentioned that as well as risk management. And those are all the attributes of a good project management person. But that was what I did every day at the bedside.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (05:43)
Absolutely. And I think being able to articulate that in a job interview and pull all those great skills is so, important. So, what advice would you give to nurses who might feel pulled to explore a non-traditional role but really isn’t sure what the right fit for them might be?
Leslie (05:59)
Right. I think start with talking to your family, your friends, fellow nurses. You may learn that there’s someone in your network already that’s doing something nontraditional, and you can learn more from them. If you happen to meet any of the vendors that are coming into the hospital, talk with them. They may be willing to share some of their experiences. You may learn that they started off as a nurse. Go to LinkedIn, follow companies on LinkedIn.
Look for the people working at those companies. Ellie, you know more than anyone how willing people are to give an informational interview if you just ask them. And I think, yeah, definitely. And I think also if there is a project in the hospital and there’s always a project, raise your hand and volunteer. You’re going to learn something. You’ll expand your network and that might help you kind of figure out where you want to go.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (06:37)
Yeah, absolutely. I have done plenty of cold calls in my days and you would be so surprised how many people are willing to chat with you and especially if they’re doing something they love. So, for somebody that might not be very familiar with medical affairs, can you give us a little insight into what the medical affairs field is and how it might intersect with product development and clinical studies?
Leslie (07:02)
Absolutely, I can talk about my experience at a medical device company. Medical Affairs is really critical to informing product design. A Medical Affairs individual will kind of bring that clinical lens so that products are designed with the end user in mind so that they fit into, in my case, nurses’ organic workflow. They’ll also look at the product and make sure that it’s not introducing safety hazards, and if it is then working with the teams to mitigate that through acceptable product design or other means. And then from a clinical studies perspective, you when you design a product you’re trying to solve a problem. Well you want to be able to claim that you can solve that problem and to make that claim you have to have clinical evidence and so med affairs will often champion with customers or even independent labs to conduct clinical studies to generate that evidence to support product
claims. It’s a pretty fun role. I might be partial, but I think it’s pretty interesting.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (08:23)
Yeah, absolutely. And I think one of the biggest take-homes is that there are nurses behind the scenes making these decisions and helping decide, you know, what’s going to make our bedside nurses lives easier. So, if that’s interesting to you, you know, you can be that voice. If you think you always are thinking of process improvement and things like that.
Leslie (08:44)
Absolutely.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (08:46)
And then finally, do you have any final advice to nurses who might be looking to make a career shift into medical affairs or really any non-traditional career path?
Leslie (08:55)
Yeah, my advice would be just do it. Like don’t let the fact that you’re a nurse hold you back. You have so much that you can offer to these companies. Clinical knowledge is in demand. And if you don’t like it, you can always go back to the hospital. And I’ve worked with clinicians over the years who’ve been in medical devices for as long as I have, but they still take shifts at the hospital. So they’re staying clinically relevant. That gives them whatever comfort.
It is that they, you know, get from that, but it’s always there for you. So if you have the opportunity and you think you’re the slightest bit interested, just take it. There’ll be no regrets.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (09:37)
Absolutely. And really the doors that can open from getting that first non-traditional role, even if that was not your perfect fit, it can open doors to the future of amazing other roles.
Leslie (09:42)
Absolutely. mean, I had no idea when I took that first job that 20 years later, I would have done all of these things. I mean, I’ve launched products, I’ve named products. It has been so rewarding and fun and I just am so grateful that I took that step. So don’t be afraid. Just jump in and go for it.
Ellie Kirkpatrick (10:10)
Yeah, thank you, Leslie. And I think, you know, any nurse that’s thinking about non-traditional roles, you are such an inspiration because you took that leap and then you just kept going with it and look how far you’ve come. So that is wonderful. And thank you so much for your time today and all your insight. For any of our listeners, make sure to subscribe if you want to see more interviews with nurses that have found their calling in non-traditional roles. And thanks, everybody. We will see you next time.
Leslie (10:23)
Thank you.