3 Things You Can Do to Progress in the Field of Nursing

If you work hard and dedicate enough of yourself to the field, there’s no telling how far you could go as a nurse. There are always ways to progress in this industry; it’s just down to you to devote your time to the profession in order to pull yourself up the career ladder. More importantly, it’s down to you to take every opportunity for growth that comes your way.

Nothing is going to be handed to you as a nurse — the rewards that you get will be all down to you, and the effort that you put in. This doesn’t mean that you can’t accept a bit of help along the way, though. Rest assured, such assistance can be found below in the form of guidance.

To find three things you can do to progress in the field of nursing, make sure to read on.

Earn an advanced degree

To become a nurse in the first place, you had to devote years of your life to education. If you truly want to progress in the field, you’re going to have to seriously consider devoting a few more going forward. When it comes to climbing the nursing career ladder, having an advanced degree on your resume will open up so many more doors for you in comparison to not having one. Going back to college or university and enrolling on such a course should, then, be one of your main priorities in the foreseeable future.

When it comes to choosing the advanced degree that is right for you, it’s important to take your schedule into account and how much of your time you can realistically devote to studying. As a working nurse, what with the number of hours you work each week, time is likely to be at a premium for you, which is why you have to consider taking a remote degree in this instance. By going down this route and taking an ADN to BSN online course, you will be able to fit your learning into your schedule. You’ll be able to learn and revise in your own time and at your own pace, simply because you won’t have to go out of your way to head to a classroom — whenever you get some free time away from the hospital or surgery that you work at, all you need do is simply connect to the web and take your lessons. The end result? You can better your tomorrow without having to fall behind with regards to today’s responsibilities.

Get certification

Certification is one of the aforementioned doors that earning an advanced degree will open up for you. By getting certified in a specific subject area, you will show yourself to be an expert in that particular strand of nursing. As a result, you will put yourself at the forefront in the race for employment whenever you apply for promotions.

When it comes to getting certification, you should consider the following prosperous areas of nursing:

• Family nurse practitioner
• Midwifery
• Anesthetist
• Specialist nursing

If you ever come to a point in your career where you want to try something new without leaving the nursing field behind altogether, you should consider becoming a legal nurse consultant. This will see you move away from the hospital and into the courtroom. Specifically, you will be tasked with lending your medical expertise to lawyers, attorneys, judges, and juries who deal with medical malpractice claims. It will be your job to deduce whether or not somebody is making a false claim or not based on your nursing knowledge.

Work on your skill set

The field of nursing is constantly evolving, and you have to evolve with it if you’re serious about progressing in your professional life. To ensure that this is the case, you have to resolve to work on your skill set to ensure that you are capable of facing all of the day’s biggest challenges. Whether this means pitching in with different areas within your hospital, or whether this means listening to healthcare podcasts in your spare time — whatever you can do to learn something new about nursing, do it. As a result, you will transform into the well-rounded nurse you need to be in order to be able to tend to the biggest healthcare problems of the day.

Some of the general skills you should to seek to work on this instance include:

Compassion

If you aren’t compassionate or empathetic towards your patients, you will only make them feel more scared with regards to their health issues. This will result in them being uncomfortable during their stay in hospital, which could then hold them back from recovering.

Positivity

Your patients will look to you whenever they have worries about their health, so the more positive you are, the better their experience in hospital will be.

Communication

You are often going to act as your patient’s advocate, which is why you need to become well versed at communicating with a number of different people. From the people that you treat to the Chief of Surgery, you must be able to speak the figurative language that each individual understands (don’t use too much jargon with patients, for instance).

Critical thinking

You will often find yourself facing tasks that require you to think outside the box, which is why you need to hone the skill of critical thinking. By being able to make the smartest decisions at the most appropriate times, you will be sure to improve the healthcare services that you provide.

Adaptability

As stated, the field of nursing is always evolving. It is important, then, that you are able to adapt to any changes that befall you. This could be the difference between you providing a solution to your patients that is befitting of the day, and you providing a service that is outdated.

Stamina

Nurses are expected to work long, arduous hours. This makes building your stamina, in both a physical and mental sense, an absolute must.

If it is your goal to progress in the field of nursing, then it is essential that you put the three pieces of advice laid out above into practice.