Within nursing, you will see the impact of your work, and you will see this through patient care and through feedback too. There comes a time, though, within your career, when you feel that you need more and that you deserve more too. The good news is that you can positively move forwards with your nursing career – realizing your ambitions while still helping and impacting the lives of others. To move forwards, you have to focus on growth and development, and you have to plan out your nursing future as much as possible because this will help to ensure success.
Reflection – Why You Need to Reflect
Stopping and reflecting on your journey so far is always a good thing to do. Having a moment to reflect and pause on what you have achieved will help reignite your passion for nursing and healthcare. When you reflect on the impact you have had so far in your career as a nurse, you can then start focusing on progression. Reflection can help you see where you can make growth, and it can help you see what you need to do. So, do not overlook this key stage in your career development.
Thinking About What You Have to Offer as A Nursing Professional
As a nurse who has perhaps worked on the frontline of healthcare services, you know what you can offer. You can offer care, guidance, support, and treatment to those who need it the most. However, do you know what else you can offer? For example, can you offer leadership and guidance to other nurses, perhaps even new nurses? Can you offer guidance at a regional level? Or can you work towards influencing those who make changes and improvements to care standards? What are you capable of, and what can you bring to the table through your experience, knowledge, and awareness?
Personal Growth is Key
How you act and how you conduct yourself as a nursing professional is important. Focusing your efforts on personal growth, just as much as professional growth, is crucial. When it comes to personal growth, you have to look at what areas you have to work on. For example, do you allow others to have their say and give their opinions? Do you communicate effectively at all levels? What areas do you need to focus on to grow? Evaluate what you have to offer by looking at how you have handled recent situations and scenarios.
Professional Growth and Development are Necessary
To move forward with your career, you will need to focus on professional growth and development just as much as personal growth and development. Professional growth, such as improving your skillset and advancing your education, will put you in a good position for the future. It is going to help you establish what route to take. An online RN/BSN program is a great option if you’re looking to advance your career.
Enhancing Your Education – Looking at New Programs
As part of your professional growth and development, you need to enhance your education. If you do not enhance your education, then you will become stagnant, and you will find growth and change will elude you. When you are looking at new beneficial programs, you need to look at ones that will strengthen your core skillset and offering. For example, if you would like to be a nursing leader, then you have to look at DNP nurse practitioner online programs that allow you to study when it is convenient for you, as you need to think about flexibility. You will want to have the opportunity to study around your work and existing commitments, and if this is not available, it could affect your options.
Connecting With Others – Looking at Networking
You do not have to pursue and chase career growth and development by yourself, and sometimes you will find it easier to have the support and guidance of others. Networking can be a powerful tool that you have at your disposal, and it can allow you to reach out to other healthcare and nursing professionals. This may allow you to make and build connections that you may not have had before. Networking can help you grow your professional circle, and it can help you spot new and upcoming opportunities. When you see the value in networking, you can then focus on making the most out of every networking opportunity.
Creating a Strategy That You Can Follow
To get to the role or position that you want within your career, you need to have a strategy to follow. If you do not have a strategy, then how can you be sure you will achieve your goals, targets, and objectives? When you are creating a strategy, it is important to determine where you are starting from and, of course, where you are looking at finishing. The spaces in between these two different periods will be full of personal growth and development, as well as professional growth and development. Without a strategy, you may find that you lose your direction, and this may mean that you do not achieve any of the career objectives you may have originally set for yourself.
Looking For a Mentor
Career growth does not have to be an isolating period. Yes, taking advantage of networking is good, but so too is finding a mentor. A mentor can help guide you through career changes and help you become the nursing professional you wish to be. Pushing and advancing your career without a mentor can be challenging, but when you have the support and knowledge of someone who has real-life experience, you should be able to find the whole process much easier.
Keeping Sight of Your Goals
When you are moving on with your career, it is important to always keep sight of your goals and your ambitions. When you are busy working or even studying, you can sometimes lose sight of what you want to achieve and why.
Keeping your motivation and drive going at all times can be one of the most difficult things you have to master; however, with persistence and dedication, you will learn to master it.
