You’ve done all the tough work in school for tens of years and are now ready to explore the nursing industry with open expectations.
While a career in nursing promises some fair share of challenges, especially for new entrants, you can still enjoy a successful career with efficient planning.
If you’re starting and worried about progressing your career in the short and long term, you’re at the right place. Below, we’ll look at the three most practical career progression tips to improve your chances of success.
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Think About and Own Your Career
The first step towards positive career progression is to consider where you currently stand and determine if you’re still in control of your career. As a beginner nurse, you may lose track of your career goals along the way and not know what to do to get back on track. Just hoping that things might change by themselves or opportunities will fall onto your lap can mess up your growth potential.
When you start facing career setbacks, it’s crucial you reevaluate your decisions and find ways to take ownership and responsibility for your career. Even if you’re happy where you are, exploring other growth opportunities can help you climb the ladder of success faster than your peers. You can think about courses to explore for growth, like online MSN FNP programs, and consider pursuing them while you still have some free time.
Join Professional Nursing Forums
Joining a professional nursing forum offers you the best chance to network with experienced professionals in the industry. You’re more likely to be up to date with the industry’s latest news and initiatives that will help you make important career decisions for your growth. Depending on the nursing niche you’re specializing in and the organization you work for, you can enjoy various professional benefits like:
- Free or subsidized educational programs
- Mentorship opportunities
- Networking opportunities with leaders in your niche
- Clinical and leadership development advice
Every professional nursing forum differs from the other, and the more niche-specific your forum is, the better it is for specialized growth. You can always join more than one forum to optimize your chances for growth.
Build Your Communication Skills
Nurses need effective communication skills to build strong relationships with colleagues at work and in professional organizations and to handle patients’ needs perfectly. If you’re just starting your nursing career, chances are you may not understand industry jargon and some industry-specific communication cues that will help you excel.
To bridge this gap, you need to build your communication skills by spending more time with your seniors and learning how they communicate. As you progress in your career, you’ll need to master different types of communication skills for nurses, such as:
- Verbal communication: Mastering verbal communication will help you speak with confidence, clarity, and honesty, ensuring there’s no room for confusion.
- Written communication: When closing your shift, you’ll need to write a detailed nursing report about the patients’ conditions so the next nurse can seamlessly continue from where you stopped. This and other job roles require a mastery of written communication.
- Nonverbal communication: Master different nonverbal communication cues, such as eye contact, smiling, tonal variation, and facial expression, to communicate effectively with patients and colleagues.
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While this list isn’t exhaustive, it contains the most important tips for boosting your career growth strategies for a positive nursing experience. Always ensure you’re making significant inputs to your career progression goals so you don’t miss out on any growth opportunity that might come your way.
