You have a lot of potential on offer as a nurse, and to fully realize this potential, you must be prepared to put in the hard work required along the way. There are, of course, a lot of nursing professionals out there, but do they offer what you do, and are they as passionate about care and standards as you are? To take your career further, you have to know what you want to achieve, when, and why. When you have this dedication and focus, you can focus all of your time and effort on achieving your goals. Now that you know what you can achieve, how do you go about realizing it all, and what steps should you be taking?
Thinking About What Impact You Want to Have
To begin with, you need to decide what impact you want to have. For example, do you want to impact the level of care on offer, or are you looking to improve standards provided by all hospitals and healthcare settings? Just how ambitious are you, and what would you like to achieve? If you are not focusing on the impact you could potentially have, then you are not focused enough and you need to once again go back to the drawing board. When you know clearly what impact you want to have (and perhaps need to have), you can then start taking the right steps forward.
Are You Content with Your Current Specialism
To push your nursing career forward, you need to look at what you are currently doing. Are you happy with the specialism that you are working within, or are you ready for a change? If you have been in a specialist area or department for several years or perhaps even longer, you may feel that you have lost a bit of your passion. This is, of course, understandable, and it is not something that you will ever be judged for. Passion can be lost when you are doing back-to-back night shifts, or it could be lost when you fail to see the results of your hard work and effort. Just because you may lose your passion for one area of specialism or one area of focus, it does not mean that you have lost all of your drive and passion for nursing. It can sometimes feel like this, and this is why it is important to sometimes take a step back and evaluate just where you are at and what you are happy with.
Looking at New Specialisms
If you want a change, and you feel you are ready for a new challenge, then why not look at new specialisms. You can gain voluntary experience in any specialism as a registered nurse before you pursue any avenue further. This voluntary experience (even if only for a few weeks) may give you an insight into what is involved, and this may help you see what you need to see to make your next decision. If you do not get voluntary experience, then you may find that you could be disappointed with a change or move, and of course, this is not what you want or need. Before you make a change to specialisms, really think about what you want, and think about the impact you can have. When you look at a specialism from all angles, you can be sure that you will get a clear view of what to expect.
Focusing on Personal-Growth
You will never further your career as a nurse if you are not prepared to invest in your personal growth. Being the best person that you can be is important because this will help you be a better all-round nursing professional. When it comes to personal growth, you may be able to see areas for improvement by yourself. Or, you may find that you need the support and assistance of others. Self-evaluating can be tricky, and being critical of yourself and of your actions can be tough, and this is why it is sometimes easier to get the support and help of others.
Enhancing Your Education
When you have turned your efforts to focusing on personal growth, you then have to focus your attention on professional growth. To succeed in a professional capacity, you must focus on your education. Advancing and enhancing your education will allow you to progress within your career, and it will help you to reach any goals you may set. When you are looking at enhancing your education, you need to look at specialist programs, because these will be truly beneficial to your career. For instance, if you are wanting to start working in pediatrics, then you will need to start searching for programs that allow you to be a PNP nurse practitioner. If you are not focusing your efforts on specialist programs, then you will struggle to land the role you want, and you will struggle to compete with other nursing professionals. Professional programs that are offered online are also beneficial because they allow you to study around your existing commitments.
Seek Feedback
Great nursing professionals are built over time, and to ensure that you are the best that you can be, you need to be prepared to seek feedback. Feedback will help you to grow, and it will help you to develop. If you are not receptive to feedback, then you will falter, and you will hit any obstacle that you struggle to jump over. Some feedback can be critical, and it can even come across as criticism. Learning how to handle feedback and learning how to get the most out of feedback is essential. If you do not take feedback well, then start looking at underlying issues. Feedback in any capacity will help you grow, and it will help you take your nursing career further.
Investing your time in your career is essential. If you are not prepared to invest and commit even more of your time to take your nursing career further, then you will come to a standstill, and of course, this is not what you want or deserve.
