Are You a Nurse Job Hopper?
Nurses leave jobs for innumerable reasons, and sometimes circumstances cause those of us in healthcare and nursing to only stay at a string of positions for relatively short periods. Job-hopping has generally been frowned upon in human resources circles, but generational changes and new attitudes about work and careers are slowly altering the landscape. However, job-hopping continues to have its ups and downs, and being a nurse job-hopper still comes with significant career liability.Photo by Gary Bendig on UnsplashThe StatsAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average time employees remain in any...
Source: Digital Doorway - September 10, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career career development career management healthcare careers nurse nurse career nurse careers nurses nursing nursing careers Source Type: blogs
Six Reasons to Love Millennial Nurses
The Millennial generation (those born between approximately 1980 and 2000) are the new majority in the 21st-century workforce (see thisPew research study identifying this cohort as 35% of the overall workforce), and Millennial nurses are on their way to dominating the nursing profession.As one generation wanes and the other rises, power changes hands, and this is happening at this very moment as Generation X and the Baby Boomers reach retirement age and leave the workforce in droves.Every generation is disparaged and criticized by the generations that came before, and Millennials are no exception. However, I hypothesi...
Source: Digital Doorway - September 3, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: healthcare medicine nurse nurses nursing Source Type: blogs
Your Nursing Career and The Skill of Writing
When we think of the skills that make a nurse a nurse, writing is not the first one that may come to mind. PICC lines, wound care, ventilators, IVs, and physical assessment are the kinds of things we think of, but the power of the pen, as it were, is definitely not in the running (except, of course, for basic nursing documentation). However, I ' ll posit that writing is a skill that can serve your nursing career in both mundane and powerful ways throughout the years. What ' s your level of skill as a writer, and do you want to improve?Photo by Thought Catalog on UnsplashCareer Development 101In terms of care...
Source: Digital Doorway - August 27, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career career development careers healthcare careers nurse nurse careers nurses nursing nursing careers Source Type: blogs
Words as a Barometer of Your Nursing Career
At no matter what point you find yourself in your nursing career, the words you use are powerful. How you talk to your patients and colleagues says a lot about you, and how you talk about your career, your work, and your life says even more. And we also need to consider how you talk to yourself. Are you choosing words that are empowering, positive, and indicative of your passion, expertise, and professionalism? Or are you stuck in a negative and defeatist loop?We all have bad days, and we also need to be careful when we ' re at risk of falling into negative language traps that paint us into corners filled with bad feelings...
Source: Digital Doorway - August 20, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career career development careers healthcare careers nurse nurse career nurse careers nurses nursing nursing careers resumes Source Type: blogs
Your Nursing Job: The Same Old Bed of Nails or a Comfortable Old Shoe?
Some of us have nursing jobs that are feel like a bed of nails, and some of us nurses have jobs that feel like comfortable old shoes. Have you ever fallen into either of these categories in terms of your work experience as a nurse? I posit that either one can be detrimental to your career in the long run.The Old Shoe Nursing JobIf you ' ve been working at a decent enough nursing job for a number of years, it can begin to feel like an old worn shoe: comfortable, fraying at the edges, and perhaps less supportive than it used to be.Photo by Christian Ro ßwag on UnsplashPerhaps you ' ve had a work experience th...
Source: Digital Doorway - August 13, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career career development career management careers healthcare healthcare careers job search nurse nurse career nurse careers nurses nursing nursing careers Source Type: blogs
Defining Nursing Career Success on Your Own Terms
Every nurse and healthcare professional has the opportunity to define success in their own way. However, how many of us allow our nursing careers to be defined by someone else. How can we seize control of our careers and define success on our own terms?Photo by Jamie Street on UnsplashBeyond a Cookie Cutter CareerAt this time in your life, your definition of success may mean earning your Masters in Nursing by the time you ' re 35 and your PhD or DNP by the time you ' re 45. For one of your nurse colleagues, success may mean getting a BSN and finding a job that will pay the bills and put a child through colle...
Source: Digital Doorway - August 6, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career career development career management careers healthcare careers nurse nurse career nurse careers nurses nursing nursing careers Source Type: blogs
Making the Case For Your Nursing Expertise
In nursing job interviews and other high-stakes career-related interactions, it ' s your responsibility to make the case for why you ' re an amazing nurse and the perfect fit for a particular position or healthcare organization. How do you make the case for who you are and what you bring to the table?Own Your Personal BrandThe first thing to understand is that you represent your own personal brand. In that context, when you ' re in the nursing and healthcare job markets, you ' re standing up and proclaiming the power and worth of your brand.Every nurse or healthcare professional has a brand whether they know it or not, and...
Source: Digital Doorway - July 30, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career career development career management healthcare careers nurse nurse careers nurses nursing nursing careers Source Type: blogs
When Nurses Receive Their Due
Most nurses will readily admit that they didn ' t choose nursing because of the astronomically high paychecks. Sure, nursing can be a relatively remunerative career, but there are plenty of other professions that are significantly more financially rewarding (and free of some of the challenges that nurses face on a daily basis). So, what if nurses were paid a whole lot more in exchange for saving ---and otherwise improving---the lives of a grateful public?Photo by Thought Catalog on UnsplashMultimillion Dollar PlayersWe all know that entertainers and athletes make a lot of money, whether it ' s deserved or no...
Source: Digital Doorway - July 23, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: healthcare nurse nurses nursing Source Type: blogs
Nurse, What's Your Personal or Professional " Everest " ?
(Source: Digital Doorway)
Source: Digital Doorway - July 16, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career career development career management careers healthcare careers nurse nurse careers nurses nursing nursing careers Source Type: blogs
APRNs and 21st-Century American Healthcare
Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) are an increasingly important fixture within the 21st-century American healthcare system and nursing profession. Full practice authority is a central key to APRNs ’ ability to fulfill the needs of the American public, and it’s time for such authority to be granted nationwide.My APRN StoryIn my own experience as a nurse, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses have figured largely. In the early years of my nursing career in Western Massachusetts, I was lucky enough to work with several teams of gifted nurse practitioners. These particular NPs were blessed to work alongside physici...
Source: Digital Doorway - July 9, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: APRN APRNs family nurse practitioners healthcare healthcare careers healthcare delivery healthcare policy nurse practice nurses nursing Source Type: blogs
Should I Quit This Darn Nursing Job?
Have you ever wondered when it ' s time to quit your nursing job and move on? Are you stuck in a job, uncertain where to go next as a nurse? Or do you just need a change of scenery? It ' s all about timing, self-care, finances, lifestyle and workstyle, career development, and other factors that impact how long you stay and when (and why) you go.Photo by Bernard Hermant on UnsplashReady to Move On or Not? Making the choice to move on from a nursing job you ' ve had for a while is not always an easy choice. There are multiple reasons to move on, just as there may be a myriad of reasons to hang in there.Wh...
Source: Digital Doorway - July 2, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career career development career management healthcare careers nurse nurse careers nurses nursing nursing careers Source Type: blogs
Nurses: Come Out of the Woodwork
Although Nurses Week is long over, the public face of nursing still needs a regular shot in the arm so that the public knows what nurses actually do. As nurses, do we describe our work in a way that gets the point across? Does the public know that we ' re more than the media makes us out to be?Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on UnsplashA few years ago, I reviewed the documentary, "The American Nurse" on this blog, andthat post (and our interview with the filmmakers onRNFM Radio) affirmed that this film contributes greatly to broadening the view of who nurses are and what they do. From birthing to home care, from ho...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 25, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: healthcare healthcare delivery nurse nurses nursing nursing identity Source Type: blogs
The Tapestry of Nurse Collaboration
Collaboration among nurses and other healthcare professionals is central to the delivery of patient care. According to Merriam Webster ' s online dictionary, collaborate is defined "to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor " . This particular definition is perfect for our purposes where the work of nurses is concerned.Collaboration and cooperation are a hallmark of human society. While many of us humans don ' t exactly play nice, many human endeavors couldn ' t possibly happen without collaboration.Could a skyscraper be built if the carpenters, plumbers, and welders didn ' t ...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 18, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: nurse nurse collaboration nurse-doctor relations nurse-nurse relationships nurse-patient relationships nurses nursing Source Type: blogs
Non-Traditional Nursing Careers: Where There Is No Box
Ask just about anyone what a nurse does and where a nurse works, and the general response is, "Oh, she works in a hospital. " Apropos of that statement, when I tell someone I ' m a nurse, they generally say, "So, do you work at the hospital? " I have nothing against hospital nursing, but there ' s more to our profession than meets the eye, and many of us are waking up to the multiplicity of non-traditional opportunities just waiting to be grasped by the savvy nurse.Non-traditional nursing careers are multifaceted, and in this new century many nurses are realizing that they can leverage their skills in myriad ways. Whether ...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 11, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: business nursing career nurse nurse entrepreneurs nurse entrepreneurship nurse identity nurse professionalism nurses Source Type: blogs
Nurses, the Best Selfie is Internal
At a time in history when " selfies " are dominant in the depiction of our lives (and the potential measurement of our worth), the most important selfie for a nurse to take is on the inside, not the outside.Selfies are part of our 21st-century culture, and there ' s no denying their popularity. In essence, it ' s our way of presenting a self-portrait to the world just like Van Gogh or Rembrandt would, except we can effortlessly make dozens per day that can potentially be seen by hundreds or thousands of people. We can instantly photos of ourselves having dinner with friends, walking on the beach with our dog, or rela...
Source: Digital Doorway - June 4, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: career nurse nurses nursing self development Source Type: blogs
