When a nurse needs a career change, the reasons can be myriad and multifaceted. However, when we only reach for the money or career “advancement,” we may miss a golden opportunity for a different kind of personal and professional blossoming to take place.
We nurses change the course of our careers based on many factors, one of which may be We, nurses, change the course of our careers based on many factors, one of which may be money or advancement. This is all well and good, but based on my beliefs about the soul work of evolving as a nurse and a human being, money and career development are only parts of a much more intricate puzzle.
The soul work of nursing is that which lies deep within you — it’s the desire to serve, to give back, to contribute, to tend to others. Sometimes that soul work trumps salary and recognition. It just does. And sometimes that just has to be okay for a time.
What Calls You?
Sometimes, a move from one form of nursing to another may feel like a lateral move rather than a vertical one, but there are times when lateral moves make sense due to a calling that runs deeper than the call of your bank account.
It’s often said that nursing is more of a “calling” than a profession, and this may very well be true for many of us. And what “calls” us from one form of nursing to another may be the work we need to do on a deeper soul level, the level at which we fulfill our larger life’s mission.
You may have been working with adults for years but feel that spending time with children is now essential for your personal development. You don’t understand it and want to question it, but the magnetic pull toward this new aspect of your life as a nurse has more power than you realize and is simply undeniable. And if you honor that magnetism, you never know what gifts may lay in store for you down that as-yet-unknown path.
Or maybe you’re not feeling “right” anymore in your current position. You don’t necessarily feel burned out, but it doesn’t feel like it used to. Then, suddenly, a new position makes itself known, but you realize that it will amount to a cut in pay. Do you honor your desire and take the pay cut in anticipation of the gold that may be waiting within this new opportunity? Or do you turn your back simply because of the money?
Your life circumstances may allow you to absorb the financial hit and explore this new career option. But it’s worth exploring how you feel in your gut and heart and considering your options.
Multiple Bottom Lines for a Career Change
Of course, if you have a family, children, or other dependents, your financial bottom line must sometimes take precedence over your desires. However, we can also flip that statement around and see that there are many bottom lines: spiritual, physical, psychic, financial, mental, and emotional.
A few more dollars per hour may make a difference for you and your family, which may be true on a certain level. But what about your spiritual health and mental health? What “tax” will you pay for that slight pay increase? What will the toll be, and will you be able to pay it day after day? Look at a career change from a multifaceted perspective, and the decision may become more clear.
Weighing Your Options, Caring For Your Soul
Reality — especially financial reality — can feel weighty when making career decisions. And let’s acknowledge that there are other realities as well, and sometimes those realities (like the psychoemotional or spiritual) also need to be honored, weighed, and figured into the equation. We must also remember that when we think there are only two paths to choose, there are more often than not more choices than we immediately perceive.
So, if a career change is in your sights, examine it closely, weigh it all, do the math, and allow your heart, gut, and mind to guide you. Allowing only one of those important aspects of yourself to steer the entire ship without heeding the wisdom of the others may not yield the results you deserve.
Career change is exciting and sometimes scary. Use all of your faculties to plot a path, and make a choice that works for your soul, career, family, and who you truly want to be as a nurse.
Minority Nurse is thrilled to welcome Keith Carlson, “Nurse Keith,” a well-known nurse career coach and podcaster of The Nurse Keith Show as a guest columnist. Check back every other Thursday for Keith’s column.
The growth of your career as a nurse can be consciously self-generated or simply a result of happenstance and a laissez-faire attitude toward professional development. Neither of these options is necessarily bad in and of themselves, but a thoughtfully sculpted career is definitely fodder for a much richer, more satisfying, and rewarding trajectory.
Whereas employment can often feel like a means to an economic end (i.e., survival), there is also the notion that work is an avenue to self-awareness, a sense of personal pride, contribution to the community and society, and a full engagement in life.
Work, Fear, and Struggle
It is true that, at specific points in life, work serves a particular purpose. But, especially at a young age, before professional training or advanced education, work is often a utilitarian exercise. Yet, at the same time, it can also feed our sense of pride and purpose—and, perhaps, aspirations for more.
Many work ethics are out there, and many of us may be familiar with the so-called “Puritan Work Ethic,” which espouses hard work and a frugal lifestyle. But, then, there are also the 21st-century pop culture notions of “The Four-Hour Work Week” and get-rich-quick plans.
Meanwhile, fears and anxieties are frequently experienced by those who grew up during the Great Depression.
Since the economic downturn of 2008, many households have struggled to survive, with breadwinners working multiple jobs in the face of a rising cost of living, frozen wages, and increased difficulty finding health insurance (the Affordable Care Act notwithstanding) or planning for retirement.
Yes, work can feel like something we need to do to survive. But we can also consider how work doesn’t just pay the bills and put food on the table but also how it feeds us on the inside.
The Continuum of Consciousness
Considering these suppositions, where do you fall on the continuum of consciousness vis-à-vis your nursing career? Are you “sculpting” a career that’s truly meant for you to embody? Or, to the contrary, are you gliding along a track that, while more or less acceptable, seems like it was created for you by those who feel they have the right to dictate your professional pathway?
Along these same lines, is your career driven by something akin to the Puritan Work Ethic, or are you driven by fear, whether it be fear of not having enough, fear of losing status, or fear of being without work?
This continuum of consciousness vis-a-vis our nursing career trajectory can frequently change, perhaps even daily. Some days, you may feel completely connected at work, aware of how you make a difference in the lives of others. On other days, work may feel like a total slog, a chore to complete as quickly as possible, with your blinders fully in place so that you go through your day without much sense of connection or purpose.
The larger arc is what we’re after, no matter what happens daily. Even though it’s no fun to survive those problematic workdays that feel like they’ll never end, if the majority of your work life is positive, growthful, and adding meaning to your life, you’re on the right track.
Sculpting A Nursing Career That Fits
When you consciously sculpt your nursing career, you are the driver, and your decisions create the path ahead of you. And if you’re not exactly sure where you’re going, don’t worry; the path can be created with each step of the journey.
Sometimes, we follow our intuition, applying for a job because “something” tells us we should give it a try. At other times, a potential position comes into our awareness, and we “know” that the position is the best step towards a future that we’re creating. Our intuition can guide us, and we can consciously seek out opportunities that we feel are the strongest choices for us at this particular time.
The main question is this: are you consciously creating your career, or is your career just happening to you? While it may be OK to coast along from time to time, a consciously created career is the most potentially satisfying.
Paying Attention to Career Arc
So, dear Reader, pay attention to the arc of your career. Have you made good choices? If not, is there a way to remedy that situation? If your current position has you feeling stuck, what can you do to get unstuck? Who can you turn to for advice or support? What action steps can you take to get back on track?
Paying conscious attention is a powerful way to feel like you’re taking the reins of your career. Others’ opinions don’t need to matter much unless you value their opinions. Do you feel like there’s something you need to do because “they” say you “should”? Well, who are “they,” and why do you need to listen to what they say.
Some people function from that above-mentioned place of fear, and others operate from a place of abundance and grace. Which lens would you prefer to look through?
Take the reins of your career path. Find your place on the continuum of consciousness. Create a career that works for you, and make your nursing career a work of art of which you’re proud.
Water and feed your nursing career with conscious creativity and attention, and it will feed you from the inside out.
Minority Nurse is thrilled to welcome Keith Carlson, “Nurse Keith,” a well-known nurse career coach and podcaster of The Nurse Keith Show as a guest columnist. Check back every other Thursday for Keith’s column.
In the course of your nursing career, you need allies who can support you in elevating and advancing your journey as a professional nurse.
Allies are easier to come by than you think, but many nurses don’t think strategically about this important aspect of nursing career development.
Since many nurses seem averse to consciously and purposefully building a professional network, here are five strategies to do just that.
Find A Mentor
A mentor is often an ally who has your best interests in mind. During your nursing career, you can always hire a mentor for a short period of time and a specific purpose but there are plenty of mentors to go around among your peers and colleagues.
A mentor is often an ally who has your best interests in mind. Of course, during your nursing career, you can always hire a mentor for a short period and a specific purpose (for example, a career coach), but there are plenty of mentors to go around among your peers and colleagues.
Consider yourself very lucky if you’re a newer nurse and have one of those rare employers offering a well-designed mentoring program. Unfortunately, most nurses fall into the camp of needing to seek out a mentor on their own.
A mentor can be an experienced and compassionate colleague willing to meet with you periodically to help you navigate essential aspects of your career. If there’s someone you think is the cat’s meow as a nurse or leader, you can boldly ask them to be your mentor — let them know what you need, and ask if they’d be willing.
You also have the option of simply closely observing and emulating someone who you think is superlative in the areas where you’d like to grow. Silently watch them, practice as they practice, and allow them to be your nurse role model.
For me, my colleague Donna Cardillo is this type of mentor. I never officially asked Donna to mentor me; instead, I observe her career and how she goes about things, and I often use the example she sets to empower myself to move forward creatively.
Start Small and Easy Finding Allies
If you’re an introvert and networking feels scary and intimidating, don’t worry about trying to find like-minded allies and colleagues at big conferences and meetings. Instead, start small, and make this process easy on yourself.
Look to your immediate circle of colleagues for your true allies. Who always has your back? Who checks in and asks how you’re doing? Who offers help and is always there for you? Your work friends may be a natural gene pool of natural allies.
It’s easy to keep these types of allies close. Nurture these relationships through reciprocal kindness and mutual support.
Leverage Online Platforms and Resources
Over the years, I’ve met hundreds of nurses and professionals through online nursing communities and social media.
I met my former business partner and RNFM Radio cohost, Kevin Ross, on Twitter in 2011 — we then launched one of the first nursing podcasts around, as well as a growing company. Our other partner, Elizabeth Scala, found me on Twitter in 2012; she was looking for like-minded nurse entrepreneurs and allies.
I also met Dr. Renee Thompson — the internationally known expert on bullying and incivility in nursing — on Twitter around that same time. Our Twitter connection quickly developed into a true offline friendship, and I now count her as one of my closest friends.
Dr. Thompson also unofficially mentors me in terms of growing my speaking business. So although we’re close pals, she also serves as a person whose work ethic and approach to supporting the nurses I seek to emulate.
Meanwhile, I continue to use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to build my network and meet new people with whom I feel aligned. When someone stands out from the crowd, I reach out, and we expand our relationship via phone, Zoom, or FaceTime, and sometimes we have the chance to meet in person, which is truly the icing on the networking cake.
Think Outside The Box
Your allies don’t all have to be nurses; they don’t even have to work in healthcare.
Your most ardent and enthusiastic allies might be right under your nose.
Think about your family and close friends — who among these groups of your most intimate circles are natural allies?
Who cares enough to ask about your career and how you’re doing? Who shows interest in your professional life? Some may enjoy your company by cracking a beer together, enjoying a meal, or playing baseball on Saturday mornings — that’s fine since you need friends like that, too. However, a select few are true allies to whom you could turn for advice or support when you need them most.
And remember: your therapist, counselor, AA sponsor, or faith leader are all natural allies. Look to them for comfort, advice, support, a shoulder to cry on, and a peaceful place to share your deepest worries and troubles.
It’s You
Finally, look at yourself. It would be best if you were your own greatest ally. After all, you’re always there, aren’t you?
If there are ways in which you tend to undermine yourself, seek help from a therapist or counselor to unpack those negative habits and thought patterns. Continue to untangle the stuff that holds you back, and consistently move forward in the interest of being self-respecting, healthy, whole, and balanced.
Allies Are Everywhere
Your allies are everywhere. Look within, look without, look online, and look around you. These allies will get you through the tough times and help you grow when it’s time to be expansive.
Gather your allies and create a circle of support for your nursing career and personal growth. It’s part of your life’s work — make it count.
Minority Nurse is thrilled to welcome Keith Carlson, “Nurse Keith,” a well-known nurse career coach and podcaster of The Nurse Keith Show as a guest columnist. Check back every other Thursday for Keith’s column.
The Magnet designation for hospitals emerged in 1990 under the auspices of the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a strategy for catalyzing and recognizing the highest possible standards for quality nursing care.
Since its inception, Magnet has given ambitious hospitals something concrete to strive for. Magnet has also allowed nurses to identify facilities that deliver optimal patient care while creating positive workplace cultures for nurses who care about their work and what their employers stand for.
Walking the Talk
As of this writing, fewer than 600 hospitals hold Magnet status, and since there are over 6,000 hospitals in the U.S., we can see that Magnet status remains the exception, not the rule.
Magnet standards make sense when we consider what makes a hospital stand out. We can understand why some nurses are drawn to seeking employment at facilities prioritizing achieving and maintaining Magnet status.
From another perspective, while Magnet designation is an impressive achievement, we can be sure there are plenty of excellent non-Magnet hospitals where nurses lead satisfying and robust careers while delivering outstanding care. However, there are Magnet-designated hospitals where things may not be as perfect as they might like us to believe, and much work remains to be done for those institutions to walk their talk.
As boots-on-the-ground professionals, nurses know the inner workings of healthcare employers and facilities. While a certificate from a certifying body is all well and good, nurses want to see the evidence in their day-to-day environment. What aspects of Magnet do nurses want to see and experience? A few might include:
Shared governance
Quality improvement initiatives
Advancement of nursing practice
An emphasis on evidence-based practice
Transformational leadership
Career advancement and a leadership track
No matter where they work, nurses want to feel respected, acknowledged, and rewarded for their dedication. They want a workplace free of incivility and to be treated as more than just cannon fodder on the front lines of the battle against disease.
Hospital organizations that walk their talk hold nurses in the highest esteem. Seasoned nurses are recognized for their expertise and institutional memory, and new nurses are embraced as the representatives of the future that they truly are. Everyone’s place should be valued, and nurses should feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves, but where individual gifts hold meaning.
Like Attracts Like
When we consider the nature of a magnet, we think of how a magnet attracts objects with similar properties. In contrast, those unlike the magnet are repelled or completely unattracted by the magnet’s force.
Imagine being a fly on the wall of the brainstorming sessions that occurred in the late 1980s when the ideas that led to Magnet status were still gestating. The concept of magnetism may have yet to emerge immediately during those conversations. Nevertheless, many ideas may have been floated in those early days, and who knows how the process eventually resulted in magnetism bubbling to the surface.
These days, we’re accustomed to the notion of a Magnet hospital. Acute care facilities want their nurses to be the best, and savvy patients aware of the Magnet designation may seek care at facilities holding such status.
Focus on Quality Nursing Care
If approximately 10 percent of American hospitals are Magnet-designated, what are the remaining 90 percent focused on, and what do their nurses experience? Do they feel that something is missing? Perhaps. Are there non-Magnet community hospitals without the resources to dedicate to pursuing Magnet status that still shines like healthcare stars? Without a doubt. Are there facilities where satisfied patients receive optimized, high-quality care from incredible nurses devoted to doing their best every day? Absolutely!
We all know that certification is no panacea — institutions are bureaucracies made up of people, and human beings (and many bureaucracies) are inherently flawed. Still, doing one’s utmost to achieve a worthwhile goal can give meaning to our work, and a collective dedication to Magnet certification can empower everyone.
If you work at a Magnet facility, consider whether it meets your expectations. And if you work at a non-Magnet hospital, how does your hospital show up on the positive side of the quality equation? Hopefully, your employer sees you for who you are, values your contributions, recognizes your gifts and pays you well for your dedicated service.
You can be a human magnet for positivity, excellent nursing practice, high-quality patient care, and a happy, satisfying career. And if the Magnet process is part of making your career successful, all the better.
Minority Nurse is thrilled to welcome Keith Carlson, “Nurse Keith,” a well-known nurse career coach and podcaster of The Nurse Keith Show as a guest columnist. Check back every other Thursday for Keith’s column.
We’ll be at the 2022 ANCC National Magnet Conference® October 13-15 at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. Stop by booth 2018. We look forward to seeing you there!
My nursing education journey began when I received my BSN in Nursing at Rutgers College of Nursing in 2011. During my time there, I met some strong, professional women professors. They took such a personal interest in me that, over a decade later, I think of them with much gratitude. Their strength helped me to see myself as a strong but caring nurse.
A Strong Caring Nurse
My education gave me the confidence to care for my patients competently. I had a tough clinical practice specialist on the Med/Surg/Tele unit I first worked on. When she asked me questions on the spot, I almost always knew the answer. I credit Rutgers and fellow student nurses who supported each other through nursing school.
Prisca Benson, MSN, RN is a a nurse navigator for the neuroscience department at The Valley Hospital
While there was a lot to learn on the job, the education I received provided a foundation I used to excel clinically. It was not long before I started picking up per diem job opportunities to explore and broaden my horizons as a nurse. I worked in home care as an intake nurse, home care nurse, and infusion nurse for different companies.
In 2014, I got a job as a neurology nurse at my dream hospital, NYP-Columbia University Hospital. While per diem there, I joined committees I was interested in and disseminated the information to the staff in my unit to improve our practice.
I also noticed that some patients lacked a basic understanding of their medical history and medication. So I used the principles I learned in school to educate them effectively so they could be more knowledgeable about their health and care.
A Life’s Passion Realized
I soon realized that my passion was teaching.
I began searching for nursing opportunities to give me more time to teach patients. I applied for a position as Neuroscience Nurse Navigator at The Valley Hospital, which allowed me to create and develop the role to support the patients during their admission and help them maintain outpatient follow-up.
This was a dream come true! I finally had the time to sit at a patient’s bedside, teach them about their new diagnosis and answer all their questions.
While working this job, I received my MSN in Nurse Education at Chamberlain University. The modalities taught have allowed me to be a better peer and patient educator. It encouraged me to start with the other person’s understanding as a foundation for effectively educating someone. I participated in my organization’s student nurse externship by teaching skills, theory, and even creating an educational game to increase knowledge retention.
Love and Desire to Educate
My love and desire to educate led me to start a personal finance and health blog, Our Green Life, during the pandemic. The fear and misinformation were very unsettling, so I wanted to provide a reliable but approachable space for information. I use what I have learned through my education and experience to make the information easy to grasp and to demonstrate how it could be applied.
My nursing education helped shape my career, goals, and values, and I will be forever grateful for it.
