Can I Build a Startup If I’m Just a Nurse? (Spoiler: Yes!)

Can I Build a Startup If I’m Just a Nurse? (Spoiler: Yes!)

Let’s cut to the chase: Yes, you can build a health startup even if you're “just” a nurse. In fact, being a nurse might just be your superpower. You know what patients need, you know how the system fails them, and you definitely know what it’s like to run a ward when the doctor’s disappeared to “check something.” As the Nigerian saying goes, “The river that forgets its source will soon dry up.” Nurses are the source—and now, they’re also becoming the solution.

Nurses Are Already Doing It

Take Clafiya for example—founded by Nigerian nurse Ndidi Nwuneli, it connects patients to home-based primary care. No white coats and big egos—just real care, delivered by real people (https://www.clafiya.com). Or look at Zoie Health, co-founded by Dr. Nonhlanhla Sitole and Thato Schermer in South Africa, offering virtual women’s healthcare with empathy and ease (https://www.zoiehealth.com). Spoiler alert: They didn’t wait for permission.

In Kenya, nurses are part of the Maisha Meds network, dispensing medications and collecting data to improve access in underserved regions (https://www.maishameds.org). Are these not innovations? Are these not startups? Are these not nurses?

What Nurses Bring to the Table

• Lived experience: You don’t need to “user test” your idea—you are the user.

• Empathy in code: While some folks build for profit, you’ll be building for people.

• Clinical wisdom: While others rely on surveys, you already know what kills patients and what saves them.

And no, you don’t need a PhD in software engineering to innovate. If you can learn how to cannulate a dehydrated toddler, you can learn how to use Canva, WhatsApp Business, and basic no-code tools like Glide (https://www.glideapps.com) or Bubble (https://bubble.io).

But I Don’t Know Business!

Neither did Elon Musk at 19, but here we are. Business is learnable. Sign up for a free online course like:

• Entrepreneurship in Healthcare (Coursera): https://www.coursera.org/learn/healthcare-entrepreneurship

• Foundations of Business Strategy (University of Virginia): https://online.virginia.edu

• Or check out African platforms like StartUp Africa Roadshow or Future Africa (https://future.africa)

Remember: You already know how to triage patients. Now learn to triage ideas.

Tools to Get Started

• Canva – Design like a pro nurse designer: https://www.canva.com

• Miro – Map your patient journey: https://www.miro.com

• Notion – Organize your brilliant chaos: https://www.notion.so

• Google Workspace – Because “Dr. Gmail” will be your first investor: https://workspace.google.com

You also don’t need to quit your job overnight. Start small. Solve a pain point in your hospital. Digitise a paper-based checklist. Build a WhatsApp triage system. That’s still a startup. That’s still innovation.

Final Words from the Ward

Being “just a nurse” is like saying you’re “just a heart.” Nurses hold the pulse of Africa’s broken health system. If anyone should be building the next great African health startup, it’s you.

So, go ahead—put on your entrepreneur scrubs. And remember, “Even the best cooking pot will not produce food.” Ideas are great, but action is what feeds the people.

References

Clafiya. (2024). Connecting Nigerians to primary healthcare at home. https://www.clafiya.com
Zoie Health. (2024). Virtual and in-person women’s healthcare. https://www.zoiehealth.com
Maisha Meds. (2024). Smarter medicine access in Africa. https://www.maishameds.org
Glide. (2024). No-code app builder. https://www.glideapps.com
Bubble. (2024). Build software without code. https://bubble.io
Future Africa. (2024). Funding Africa’s boldest innovators. https://future.africa