It takes a special person to care enough about improving the lives of others, and thus choosing to become a nurse. But it is important to remember your own career satisfaction and progressing in your profession in the process. Nursing is a thrilling career choice that provides individuals with many different opportunities for advancement.
Are you looking to advance your nursing career, or to discover ways in which you can stand out in your scrubs? At Total Medical, we understand that the thought of nursing advancement can be overwhelming, and difficult to start. We enlisted some veteran nurses to help us identify 5 ways you can achieve your nursing advancement goals.
There are many ways to accomplish this such as planning, continued education, networking, mentorship, and experiencing different units.
- Take the Time to Create a Plan for Nursing Advancement
The first step in advancing your nursing career is to discover where you want to go. We want to encourage you to spend time planning out your future. So, grab a pen and paper, and start jotting down your responses to these questions.
- Where do I see myself in five years?
- What are you naturally good at?
- How do I behave when under pressure?
- What experience do you have that can help you become successful in other positions?
- If you could do anything in the medical field without fail, what would it be?
- What would I like my eventual role in the medical field to be?
- Does the way I spend my current time match my futuristic goals and priorities?
- Am I attuned to changes in the medical field that could potentially require a shift in how we work?
Now, keep these goals handy because you will want to use them to help you shape your plans for advancement.
- Advance Your Nursing Career with Continuing Education
The healthcare industry is constantly evolving and staying up to date is an important part of any nursing career. When you strive to continue your education covering new advancements, techniques, and practices, you are setting yourself up for success. Our big takeaway for you when it comes nursing advancement is not to limit your continuing education to just the states requirements. Instead, seek to learn and grow continuously. Earn certificates in specialized areas that will help you gain the skills you need for career advancement.
- Network Your Way to Nursing Advancement
The concept of networking is not generally something people get excited about, but it is critical for growth in any field. One of the best ways to advance your nursing career is to attend nursing conferences. Not only will you learn from experts in your field, you will also be able to build relationships with other nurses who are in attendance.
Please note, that if typical hospital run networking events such as conferences aren’t your cup of tea, there are alternative networking events you may want to consider, many of which can be found online with just the click of a mouse.
Here are some alternative networking options:
- Join a professional nursing organization.
- Look to your former classmates to begin your nursing network.
- Attend local meetups for nurses.
- Choose to network outside your specialty.
- Seek out volunteer work that give you the opportunity to showcase your medical skills while helping others in your community.
- Network outside your specialty.
- Collaborate with communities of faith that need medical help and consider going on a medical mission trip with these communities to grow your skills while helping others.
- Participate in nursing events.
- Find local charities and organizations that align with your cause and goals, then work wit them to host events and fundraises so that you can rub elbows with people in the industry you want to become a part of.
- Join nursing boards/committees in the facilities in which you work.
- Boost Your Nursing Career with Mentorship
Have you ever had a nurse manager who was a good nurse, but not a good leader? This happens more often than we would like to admit. In turn, we want to encourage you to find a mentor who is excelling in their role to learn from.
There are two different types of mentorship we want to discuss with you. The first is formal mentorship and the other is informal. Neither form of mentorship is better than the other, but it is important for you to know the difference.
- Formal mentorships take place in the form of a residency program, preceptor, teacher, or a structured way to guide you through a program on a timeline.
- Informal mentorships can be long or short-term, and guidance and mentorship occur through simple conversation and experience sharing.
No matter which route you take, we want to encourage you to make an effort to establish mentors in your life, focusing on choosing mentors who host qualities you wish to have.
- Choose to Advance Your Nursing Career by Experiencing Different Units
Soak up all the nursing experience you can by working in as many units as possible. When you do this, you are gifted the opportunity to discover what you like and dislike. Experiencing different units will also make you more marketable in the job market because you have the ability to fill needs with census changes.
It is not just about gaining experience in different units that will help you ensure success, it is about who you use this experience in your line of work that will help you set yourself apart from others in your field.
In conclusion, there are so many different ways to further your nursing career, all of which rely on you taking the necessary steps while keeping your goals in focus. At Total Medial Personnel Staffing, we want to encourage you to not be afraid to reach out to those around you and ask for help getting started. Please know that we would love to be your nurse advocate and help you discover the steps you need to take to advance your nursing career. Contact us today to get started advancing your nursing career!