Tailor Your Summary To The Career Goal
A qualifications summary should reflect how successful your nursing career has been and speak to your most relevant expertise for positions youre targeting, says Lanzalaco, whose earlier career includes 15 years as an RN for a major health system.
For those new to nursing, she suggests highlighting knowledge and skills gained from the classroom as well as clinical rotations and capstone experiences. If youre a career changer, use the qualifications summary to bring out transferable skills gained from prior work, such as customer service, leadership, and multitasking strengths.
Lanzalaco says nurses should always include their most important credentials in the summary to make it easy for readers to determine if they meet education and certification requirements for the job target.
She also recommends including the highest level of distinguishing information to help you stand out. This could be years of experience specific achievements or leadership in areas like healthcare governance, budget management, quality of care improvements, or accreditation success and key contributions that can be quantified by metrics such as increased patient satisfaction scores, decreased injuries, or improved audit results.
Select words that align with your career goals, Lanzalaco says. Use a job posting to determine the qualification highlights an employer is looking for so you can include those in your summary and show them how you are just what they need.
Set A Goal To Move Up Nursing Levels And Get More Education
For many nurses, success in their career is synonymous with advancing to progressively higher nursing levels. From nursing assistant and nursing assistant II to registered nurse , nurse practitioner, and clinical nurse specialist , you can move up the ranks and achieve greater autonomy and responsibility. Seniority and pay go hand in hand in the nursing profession. As you gain experience, you can also move up the pay scale.
If you want to progress through nursing levels, start by setting goals to get to specific levels by certain dates, including the necessary additional education. With a higher level of education, you can provide more specialized care and assume leadership roles.
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Nursing Goals For Improving Communication
Strong communication skills are vital to improving your nursing practice. As you interact at work, paying attention to different ways you communicate can be helpful.
Strong communication skills can also help you earn extra money in a nursing side hustle. You can polish your skills to become a nurse writer, a nurse educator, or even use your medical terminology knowledge as a transcriptionist. Some nurses even make a career by doing chart reviews or testifying in court.
As you consider what direction you want to take your career, identify the skills that will make the biggest impact on your goals. Do you want to provide more effective patient education? Become a nationally known speaker? Teach nursing students? Something else?
Some communication goals you can consider include improving your:
- Active listening skills
- Specific techniques like asking for a return demonstration or teach-back
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Examples Of Smart Goals For Nurse Practitioners
Scenario: Youre a nurse practitioner, but your monthly salary is not enough since youll be having to pay for your loans and other payable.
So, your perceived solution to this problem is to strive and get promoted in the acute care facility which gives a higher pay than your current position.
SIMPLE GOAL
I want to be promoted to a higher position and make more money.
SMART GOAL
I will work harder so that my chances of getting promoted in the acute care facility would be higher.
This new job pays me an amount of $30 per hour, including a night differential.
I will aspire to be a better nurse practitioner day by day, so that by August 30th, my manager would see my potential, and get me promoted.
Do You Have Any Tips For Those Applying To Study Nursing
The main thing you need to think about is: why do you want to become a nurse? Its a question you need to be able to answer in your personal statement, as well as in your interview. Do some volunteering within the healthcare sector see what it is actually like!Also, try to have an understanding of the specific field of nursing youre applying for, be it paediatrics, learning disabilities, mental health, or adults. Read up about current healthcare issues to understand what is going on. Then think about what will set you apart from the other candidates. Are you compassionate? Tell them why. Are you creative? Show them examples.Your personality is allowed to shine through. Were all different, and that makes the nursing workforce so beautifully diverse.
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Work In A Rural Area Or Be A Travel Nurse
A career as a travel nurse can present many benefits. You will gain valuable experience, while having the chance to explore different areas of the country and world! Travel nurses have unique experience in adaptability, balancing their personal life, and working in specific areas.
Work in an area with limited access to healthcare. By working for organizations like Doctors Without Borders or providing volunteer work through your local Red Cross chapter you can help people get access to quality medical care.
Long Term Nursing Goals
With longer term goals, youre invited to look down the road and decide where youll want to be in five years, ten years, and beyond. Some long term nursing goals could include attending specific types of seminars, joining the American Nurses Association or other professional organizations, and lobbying or becoming an advocate for specific causes within the nursing field. Other long term goals could include advanced degrees and working your way up to other desired positions in your field.
Long term nursing goals provide the framework for the unfolding of a nursing career, including promotions, desired accolades, accomplishments and association memberships. You can also set your sights on the type of work you would like to be doing for the majority of your career, even if more schooling and experience is required. Setting such goals greatly increases the likelihood of reaching them, and a five and ten year plan are a powerful way to set your course for success and fulfillment as a nurse.
Personal Nursing Goals
Personal nursing goals are as diverse and unique as each nurse is as a person, and this is your chance to put forward your style, beliefs, and inner connection to people and the nursing field. Personal goals should come from the heart and allow a nurse to feel genuinely connected to their work and their clients in a way that goes beyond just specific skill sets or memberships in professional organizations.
Nursing Goals that can set you Apart
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Choose A Nursing Specialty
Like certifications, there are hundreds of specialty areas that can be enriching career paths for nurses. This can include working in an operating room, emergency room, psychiatric care unit, or skilled nursing care in the home, just to name a few examples. Specializing can offer career advancement and/or job satisfaction by helping you find a niche that suits your strengths, likes, and talents.
How: After you choose a specialty, find out what certifications and experience is required. In some cases, you may be able to learn your specialty through on-the-job training and development.
Write And Set Goals That Match Your Ambitions
As an individual, you can reflect on your life experiences and make a list of what you want to achieve during your career and areas to improve on. In addition, you may research and get insights on attainable career goals and choose which one suits your preferences.
Thereafter, you can classify the goals as short-term nursing goals or long-term nursing goals, depending on the timeframe it will take to accomplish them. Goals attained in about a year or less are short-term goals. Those that take longer are typically considered long-term goals.
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Smart Goals For Nursing Educators
Basic Goal:
I want all my students to pass the class
SMART Goal:
Before each test, I will create a study guide to go over with the students in class. This will help students focus on the most important aspects of the concepts necessary for the test.
Basic Goal:
I want students to feel comfortable enough to ask me questions.
SMART Goal:
After each class, I will inform students that my office is open for one hour to discuss and clarify the content presented in class on a one-to-one basis. I will also let my students know that I am available via email at all times. I will try to answer questions within 24 hours, so students dont feel stuck on a problem while studying.
Basic Goal:
I want to improve my teaching and presentation skills.
SMART Goal:
Each month, I will attend a seminar or course to learn about new teaching practices that improve students performance in class. I will introduce one learned teaching method, such as the flipped classroom, each month and ask for feedback after class.
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I Dont Know What To Do With My Nursing Career
If reviewing these nursing career goals still feels overwhelming and you dont know where to start, you dont have to have it all decided at once. A big advantage of nursing is that its never too late to pursue your goals.
One way to figure out the next step in your nursing career is to go back to school. Learning about the latest healthcare trends and developments can expose you to new interests and awaken a renewed passion for nursing. Not only will you broaden your knowledge and skill set, but youll also be able to connect with peers and tenured nurses who can share their experience and professional perspectives on how to shape a healthcare career.
Earning your degree opens the door to countless opportunities, even if you arent sure which nursing career change is right for you. Certifications alone are limiting for those who wish to pursue leadership or specialist roles a degree gives you the flexibility to continue moving forward over the course of your career.
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Nursing Career: 11 Examples Of Professional Goals For Nurses
The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed’s data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.
A medical professional smiles at someone during a conversation in a hospital corridor.
As an individual with a desire to pursue a career in nursing or a current nurse who wants to advance in their nursing career, setting both long-term and short-term professional goals can inspire you to attain overall career success. To achieve these career goals, nurses often need to create a professional development plan, which entails specific career goals and a timeline to define what they desire to achieve by that deadline. After that, nurses can identify strategies to motivate them to work toward fulfilling these goals.
In this article, we go over examples of long- and short-term professional nursing career goals and why it’s important to set professional goals as a nurse.
Enroll In An Advanced Degree
Aspirants with a higher degree are more likely to get hired in any setup. Sit in an advanced Nursing degree program and increase your chances of getting hired. It will increase your skills and abilities and will also increase your earning potential.
If you have an associate degree, go for a bachelors degree. A bachelors degree in nursing will create your chances of being a shift in charge, a unit manager, or advance in administrative roles.
If you have already qualified for your bachelors degree in nursing, go for MSN i.e. master of science in nursing. MSN enables you to get an . Furthermore, you can diagnose, and plan treatment for your patients if you have the license. You can also be a nurse educator or a clinical nurse specialist when you are holding an MSN degree.
Master in the science of nursing brings many other advanced nursing opportunities as well. Hence, some states even allow you to practice.
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Teach Others About Your Favorite Healthcare Specialty Area If It Interests You
If teaching is something that interests and excites you, consider becoming an instructor for continuing education classes or seminars on medical topics of interest to other nurses so they can increase their career prospects. Many nurses are committed to lifelong learning and this is a way to pay it forward.
Goals Help You Build Your Resume And Develop A Strong Competency Base
When you set professional nursing goals, you don’t just make your career more focused you also improve the content of your resume. Taking classes, attending workshops, and participating in conferences increase your knowledge base and give you credentials that will typically make you more marketable to future employers. When you take a career-focused approach to build new skills, earning qualifications, and gaining experience in new areas, youâll overcome resume gaps to enable you to take the next steps in your career.
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Importance Of Smart Goals
Setting SMART goals will give you a much better chance of advancing your career and reaching new heights. Additionally, setting these goals can help you provide better care for your patients because you will be motivated to progress as a nurse. Taking classes on technological advances in medicine or the need for bilingual nurses are great examples of how to better serve your patients. Learning ever changing best practices is critical!
When you are incentivized internally it makes everyones job easier and improves overall nursing care.
Nursing Goals For Advancement
Some nurses spend their entire careers in one role others look to change directions and advance. If you are interested in advancement in your career, research to see what opportunities are available. Find out what is required to advance to your desired next level or role. There are tons of career resources available for nurses.
Healthcare is always changing, and achieving your goals for communication and skill improvement may open future doors that dont even exist today. For example, telehealth and remote work have become much more common since 2020.
Working towards your nursing goals may have up-front costs, especially if you return to school. However, improving your skills opens opportunities for you to earn more money in the long run. As you decide on your goals, its important you understand the costs of pursuing them and the benefits youll get when you achieve them.
Only you will know what career path is right for you. As a nurse, some examples of some advancement goals would be:
- Your nursing degree
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Gain Experience During The Training Period
Most training periods take over four months and during this duration, nurses ought to be curious to get clarity on how things work. This period is exceptional as it’s a mark of transition from studying to practicing the taught skills, which provides an opportunity for recent graduates to showcase their skills early in their nursing careers. This short-term goal acts as a base for eventual long-term goals.
Motivated To Care: Holistic Nursing
Nurses are an important part of nursing care and more intricate than is perceived. Understanding what motivates and drives most nursing careers will open a new world of understanding of the core values that drive the profession. Nurses draw inspiration from mentors such as family members, friends, educators and those great people such as Florence Nightingale whose passion for nursing care has made nursing the revered career it is today. Building off these values as a nurse is very important because nursing is always revolving, and it is important to have personal values and beliefs which drive ones career to ensure that we are impacting the nursing field positively. Nursing care should involve a more wholesome approach to ensure that patients are empowered to get better and live the best life they possibly can and as nurses, we can grow in our careers while enriching our careers as we have, the lives of many we have touched.
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Raise Your Competency Level
Almost every unit in the hospital has a specialization, so it’s essential to familiarize yourself with your work unit’s procedures and aim to become a specialist. Attending classes can help you advance your skills in specific techniques and increase your competency level. Improved competency contributes to patient safety and overall satisfaction.
Examples Of Smart Goals For Nurse Practitioner Students
Scenario: Youre a nurse practitioner student whos failing in his/her exams and got the lowest grade in your class.
You know to yourself that something is wrong with your study methods because even if you study hard, you dont see the fruit of your labor.
SIMPLE GOAL
I want to learn the other nurse practitioner students study methods.
SMART GOAL
I will improve my study methods by asking my fellow nurse practitioner students how they prepare for tasks and exams.
Today, I will talk to one of my fellow nurse practitioner students, and ask them if we could have a group study together as we prepare for the upcoming examination.
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Career Goals As A Nurse
Theres never been a better time to be a nurse. A national nursing shortage has put nurses in high demand, meaning now more than ever nurses can chart an exciting, rewarding career with endless opportunities.
When deciding next moves in your nursing career, there are several different paths to consider:
Take And Pass The Nclex
This is one of the main graduate nurse goals since most employers require it before approving a hire. Passing the NCLEX-RN test is compulsory to propel forward in your nursing career and get certified. Several bodies give certifications to nurses, one example being the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses .
Afterward, individuals can update their resumes and apply for nursing position jobs. Applying and getting your first job as a registered nurse is motivating for most people. Thereafter, you will progress and change positions as time goes by through gaining experience. Still, it is a significant step in your nursing career.
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