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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Many newbie nurses envision themselves swiftly climbing the ranks as soon as they attain their first license, but it takes a lot more than sheer will. While there are plenty of ways you can advance as a nurse, there is a lot of work that goes into it. So, if you want to become a family nurse practitioner or a healthcare executive, then prepare yourself for years of hard work!
Advancing your career means making great connections, getting your education, gaining enough experience, and developing as a person. With so much to achieve, a simple starting point is necessary, so here is your guide to advancing your nursing career.
Master Your Current Role
Whether you are a student, an intern, or a registered nurse, you must first make sure you are good at what you do before you can think about advancing. All nurses start from the bottom, but it’s the ones who excel at the bottom that ends up in the most advanced nursing careers. Of course, many nurses are happy with staying there, but if you are reading this, that probably doesn’t apply to you.
Your experience at the beginning is more crucial than you think, so soak up every last minute of it. Talk to your co-workers, work on your bedside manner, and take in every bit of information about nursing as you can. When you are flying high in your more advanced career, you will still rely on bits of knowledge you acquired in the very early stages.
The better you do as a newbie nurse, the more your co-workers will remember you positively. If you plan on applying to that same hospital or clinic, then this can mean the difference between securing a job or missing out on it.
Find the Correct Course
One of the most important steps when it comes to advancing your nursing career is education. You cannot become an FNP or a Nurse Anesthetist without acquiring the right degree.
When you know what area of nursing you want to go into, then start looking around for courses. You don’t have to limit yourself to what is near – there are plenty of online nursing courses you can apply for. If you are aiming high, then consider pursuing a DNP to enter the more advanced roles.
Take into account how much time you have to spare for studies, how much the fees are, and what is taught each semester. The course you choose will dictate your future, so it’s crucial to pick the one that’s right for you.
Know Your Talents
Different nursing roles require a variety of talents, so make sure you are pursuing a career that makes the most out of yours. Whether you are gifted in conversation, you can handle needles extremely well, or your research skills are impeccable, you should show them off and use them to advance your career. Don’t remember to make it something you enjoy, too!
Write a List of Goals
Those who set their dreams high should always have a list of goals they are aspiring toward. It doesn’t have to be an exhaustive list; a shortlist with all the big goals you want to tick off in the next five or ten years will suffice.
Some goals to include could be: being accepted onto your chosen degree, gaining an internship, or finding the right mentor. Whatever they are, writing them down will help motivate you to work harder to achieve them.
Work Hard Even on the Hard Days
Working hard might sound obvious, but it is easy to forget on the days where everything seems to be falling apart. What will make you stand out from others on days like those is how you handle it. If you start complaining and immediately take a break, others will remember that. If you brush it off and push through, people’s opinions of your work ethic will heighten. When striving for an advanced nursing role, you need people to remember you as a hard worker, no matter the situation.
Make Connections
If you are already in a nursing career, then making connections shouldn’t be too difficult. People in healthcare talk, so if you are a positive, hard-working individual, then people who matter will come to know of it, which will work in your favor.
Start making connections early on, and keep up with them. Not all of them will lead to a job offer, but many will end up becoming lifelong friends, and in the world of nursing, friendships are essential.
Work on Time Management
No matter how skilled of a nurse you are, you will find it difficult to advance if you cannot manage your time. Set yourself a routine that you stick to. If you need two hours in the morning, then wake up to accommodate that, and make sure you leave plenty of time for travel.
Time management doesn’t stop once you get to work on time. Nurses have plenty of tasks to do throughout the day, so you must learn how to prioritize better and use the time you have wisely. While your jobs may change when you advance, you will always be busy, so you will always need great time management skills.
Work on Communication Skills
Advancing as a nurse means your communication skills must be perfected. You should be able to speak and write in a clear, concise manner, altering your tone depending on who you are speaking with. As a nurse, the information you convey is important, so you must master your communication skills early on.
If you struggle with either writing or speaking, then consider taking a course to get better. They are skills that will see you through your whole life, making it a worthy investment.
Show Initiative
Those who stand out in the nursing world are those who show initiative. If you show your managers and peers that you can handle anything that is thrown at you, then they will start seeing you as a natural leader. This means your progression to a more advanced nursing role will feel more natural.
Of course, when you need to ask for help, don’t be afraid to. When you have the opportunity to get on with work and show initiative where others might ask for more guidance, however, make sure you do.
Express Interest in Advancement
Sometimes, the way to get people around to an idea is to simply express it. People might not have previously envisioned you as someone in a more advanced nursing role until you tell them that is where you are headed.
By telling your co-workers about your aims, they will start noticing your extra efforts and associate you with a higher role. You don’t need to speak about it all the time; just slip into conversations what you are studying or what your plans for the future are.
Take All Leadership Opportunities
If an opportunity to lead a group of nurses arises, make sure you put your name forward. If there are student nurses doing work experience in your work area, then offer to guide them for the day. The more experience you have in a leadership role, the better you become.
You don’t have to wait for a leadership opportunity to show off your skills. If you work on your leadership skills, then you should use them naturally when working. Once you master this, people will naturally start gravitating towards you and looking to you for help, and this will only reflect on you in a positive light.
Maintain Professionalism at All Times
If you want to be seen as a professional, then first you must act like one. This means dressing appropriately, talking professionally, and keeping on top of all your tasks. Even on a stressful day, make sure you do not lose your cool.
Keep Up with Healthcare Research
If you are serious about your nursing career, then you should already be researching everything healthcare-related. Read articles, pick up books, and listen to podcasts relating to healthcare and nursing to stay on top of the latest news.
In the more advanced nursing careers, research and keeping up with the latest advancements becomes even more important. If you are the person who always knows what is going on, then your credibility will rise, and others will view you as a beacon of knowledge.
Gain Enough Experience
As much as you might want to jump into your preferred career as soon as possible, it is more beneficial to take your time and gain experience in other areas. No matter what specialized area of nursing you are aiming for, you will always need general nursing knowledge to succeed.
The right kind of experience will put you in touch with the right people, perfect your nursing skills, and reassure you that nursing is what you want to do with your life.
Have the Right Attitude
Complaining at work is never a good thing, but it is even worse when you are around patients. No matter how long the hours are or how much overtime you have been given, if you want to succeed, it is important to keep the right attitude. Stay positive as often as possible, and avoid talking negatively about your role.
Not every day will be easier, and understandably, some days it will be hard to keep a good attitude. It takes practice and determination to always keep cool, but if you work on it, you’ll soon be the person other nurses look up to.
Remember to Stay Empathetic
Most people who enter a healthcare career do so at least partially because they wish to help others. If this is what guided you toward nursing, then make sure you keep it with you. Like any career, there will be hard days, but keeping your empathy is necessary as a nurse.
When you are working on advancing, what will push you through the most is how much you want to give the best care. Yes, the higher pay will also motivate you, but at its core, nursing is about compassion and empathy.
Lift Those Around You
Advancing as a nurse is not about leaving other people in the dust. If you are to become a success, then other people will rely on you, and you must be a strong, compassionate leader. That involves lifting others and inspiring people.
When you are at work, do your best to lift people’s spirits and give a helping hand where needed. If there is a new intern at your work, do your best to help them out as much as possible and let them know they can come to you. Not only will you lighten people’s day, but you will also raise your co-worker’s opinions of you.
Keep an Open Mind
In the world of nursing, anything can change. You might start your career knowing for a fact that you want to become a Nurse Anesthetist, only to change your mind when working as an RN and decide your dream lies in midwifery. The important part is to keep an open mind through this. Yes, having set goals is beneficial, but the more experience you gain, the better choices you will make.
Exude Confidence
People can tell when others are nervous, and nervousness isn’t what people look for in a promotion. Focus on building your confidence, and with every task you do, take pride in it. The great thing is, you don’t have to feel confident to appear in it. Learn some tricks to seem more confident, and over time, you will start to feel it, too!
Do Not Hesitate
Many people find they missed opportunities earlier in life due to hesitation – don’t let that be you. When an opportunity arises, grab it with both hands. Be confident in yourself and your goals and take the offers that are given to you. After all, if you don’t take them, someone else will.
Advancing in a nursing career isn’t easy, and nor should it be. With enough effort, skill, and experience, however, you can excel at nursing and pursue the specialized career of your dreams.