Creating sustainability for a nursing career.

[anonymurse]

There are many angles to the concept of sustainability, but in a nutshell, I believe that, applied broadly and consistently, it solves a host of other problems posted here. That is, we can do everything so as to further continuity in occupation, unit, and personal life. Far from being a matter of circumstance, I believe it's something every nurse can engineer for themselves. Here's how I applied it to my situation:

1. PICK RIGHT JOB. I wanted an occupation that was sustainable. Looked over the job market as a military retiree and found that nursing had the least ageism, was recession-proof, was in a severe manning shortage, was globally portable. Avoided extreme specialties where I risked losing general nursing skills.

2. PICK RIGHT FACILITY. I wanted an employer whose values would create a sustainable relationship. Noticed over the years that one facility in the area gave my family clearly superior service. Decided if I had to work in a hospital, that would be the best place. Later learned other places pay more. I guess they have to.

3. COMMIT IN DEPTH: I wanted to create sustainability in my particular situation. Went to school at the hospital previously mentioned. Worked as aide and unit secretary there to learn the environment and relationships. Hired onto the unit with the strongest learning/teamwork environment where zero backstabbing was noted in clinicals. Create goodwill by coming in on little notice during staffing crunches and help out when other nurses get crunched.

4. PICK A MOTIVATION NOT DEPENDENT ON CIRCUMSTANCE: I wanted to create personal internal sustainability. Decided nursing had enough depth to allow for endless personal spiritual development and satisfaction to get me over the inevitable rough spots. Made that my primary motivation for staying. Avoid any discussions that are judgmental of patients or others. Look for things to admire in co-workers, thank them for their advice and support.

5. ESTABLISH AND SUSTAIN FAMILY SUPPORT. Way back when nursing was just an idea, I sought family buy-in. Maintaining the family's willingness to support my nursing is a daily investment. Always I give heartfelt thanks for family support, because it involves sacrifice. I always talk about the things that made me feel good on the shift, sometimes the challenges, but never complaining or making it look bad, because family must feel good about what they're supporting.

Please add to this thread by posting how you create sustainability for yourself.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Wow! Great idea for a thread. I have begun teaching about nursing career planning and have thought a lot about some of the ideas you raise in your post, anonymous. However, I never used the word "sustainability" in terms of a nursing career nor approached the topic from quite the same angle. Thank you! I am sure I will add that perspective to my future thinking and classes. (It's so a pleasure to find a post that really adds to my thinking. You've made my day!)

Now ... Hmmm ... what sustainability principles will add to your list. I'll add a couple now and check back later to see what other have posted.

1. Know thyself. It's important to be honest with ourselves about our particular strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. We are better-suited for some jobs than for others and we are much more likely to succeed if we choose jobs that suit us. It's silly to keep banging our heads against the wall trying to succeed in jobs that don't suit us well. For me, that means avoiding straight management jobs and focusing instead on jobs that involve the investigation of issues, developing solutions, and designing new programs and projects. I am not well-suited to running those programs on a daily basis once they are well-established. It helps me to know that so that I can develop something and then let it go as I move on to the next thing.

2. Keep learning new things. To remain successful over the long term, we all need to keep up with changes in the environment, new knowledge, etc. Also, on a personal level, I knew I would never be satisfied long term doing the same job tasks every day for years and years. So I went back to school twice and have continuously upgraded my knowledge.

3. Avoid stagnation. This relates a lot to both #1 and #2 above. I like to keep things fresh by working on new and different projects periodically. My need for that "newness" might be greater than most, but I think a lot of people need some of that to stay fresh and stimulated in their careers.

4. Be proactive in assessing the status of your career and your needs. Don't wait for a career crisis to think about things and make plans. By planning ahead, we can address little problems before they become big ones and we can look for good opportunities that might appear. Waiting until a crisis forces us to make a quick decision that might not be the best possible path to follow.

That's a start to my list. I'll check back later. I hope lots of people respond to this thread.

[dianacs]

This is a really thought-provoking thread. I hope we see some different points of view. For me, sustainability involves:

1. Getting out of my nursing comfort zone and trying new things. My "comfort zone" is my staff nurse job in a hospital. Now, I have just started teaching nursing students part-time and I am involved in my nursing school's honor society. I am also a student again myself. I get to meet new people, learn new skills, and discover other ways of being a nurse. Yes, it is stressful sometimes, but it is important to me to be able to develop in different ways. And even at the hospital, I am always learning new things. It can be stressful there too, but it's a familar stress. Plus, now that I have these other things going on, I have more options if I want to leave the hospital--or if I want to stay.

2. Accepting that nursing is always changing. For example, moving from paper to computer charting. I could grumble and complain about how frustrating this could be or I could embrace it and get on with it. Change happens whether you like it or not and I have found that expecting things to remain as they are is counterproductive.

Hope to hear what others have to say!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Great topic. I hope you don't mind if I move it out of "First Year In Nursing" to the General Nursing forum where more experienced people can give some input, as well as new nurses can see it.

I've been in nursing for 16 years. Here's my take on my own sustainability:

1. To thine own self be true: I try to take care of myself first and foremost. Some days are better than others, but getting adequate sleep, exercise and eating well makes me better able to handle the stresses and strains of nursing. I say no to overtime if it would be physically too much or tire me unnecessarily.

2. Don't sweat the small stuff: I try not to blow things out of proporation or allow people to rent space in my head. This means I can't mind read. It also means that little things are going to wrong constantly and I can't let it get to me. We're going to be understaffed, patients/family members are going to be demanding. I deal and move on without creating too much drama about it all.

3. Confront when confrontations need to occur. This does not mean aggression. This means speaking quietly and truthfully with the person it needs to be spoken to, not to coworkers and not to management, but to the person directly. 99.999% of my issues with other people have been solved this way.

4. Choose battles carefully: Some things are not worth time and space in my mind. Other things are worth fighting for.

5. Sleep on it. If I'm stressed, angry and ready to quit, I don't do anything rash, I sleep on it and see how I feel the next day. There have been times when I've decided to stick things out and other times when I've needed to make a change.

6. Embrace change. Change is good and keeps me on my toes. Don't hold on to sacrid cows.

7. Learn and teach. I'm constantly taking classes (just finished my BSN), reading journals, and learning new things. I'm also at a point in my career where I can precept students and new grads and be a mentor. I enjoy this role tremendously and no, I do not eat my young.

8. Take vacations. I try to take two vacations a year. I'm currently writing this from the North Carolina Mountains on a balcony enjoying the nice weather (yeah I'm a geek with a laptop on vacation, what can I say, but I enjoy it like some bring books, I bring books and a laptop.)

[leslie :-D]

none of the aforementioned is possible if you do not take care of yourself.

nursing stressors can and will take their toll on you.

keep your mind open, curious and receptive.

keep your body strong, able and enduring.

keep your spirit energized and embracing.

continue to reach out and touch the stars.

aspire to your personal best.

today is a new beginning, whether a new grad or vet of 30 yrs.

keep it fresh.

keep it simple.

as tweety said, don't sweat the small things.

embrace whatever comes your way.

you can do this.

leslie

[anonymurse]

Reading over your posts, I see I left out lots of things, things I do and things I ought to do, and some ideas I ought to pursue that are in apparent opposition to others I ought also to pursue. Thanks for your thoughtful reflections. It's good to see how others, not leaving their fate to chance, are stacking the deck in favor of their own survival.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I should have also included in my previous list:

6. Seek spiritual renewal periodically. I don't mean "religion" necessarily -- but we need to remind ourselves WHY we are nurses and WHY our work is important in order to renew our committment periodically. When times get tough, we need to remember those reasons for our careers that make the struggles worthwhile.

7. Have some fun with it. If you can't smile and laugh at work ocassionally, you need to make some changes. Work should involve some happiness, pleasure, humor, etc. If it's not there, you need to put it there or perhaps you are in the wrong job for you. Nobody can sustain themselves for long if there is no pleasure in it.

[Diary/Dairy, RN]

Wow, what a fantastic thread from people who have been doing this for a lot longer than me!! I need this thread!! Thanks for the helpful info all!

[llg, PhD, RN]

Wow, what a fantastic thread from people who have been doing this for a lot longer than me!! I need this thread!! Thanks for the helpful info all!

Thanks.

I think this is one of the most important topics in nursing today -- one that isn't getting enough attention from practicing nurses. We tend to talk about long-term careers in terms of what the employer can do to keep nurses happy and improve retention. However, we rarely if ever talk about what each nurse should be doing to improve her chances of having a long and satisfying nursing career. We shouldn't be putting it 100% on the shoulders of the employers to "make" us happy and satisfied. We play a role in that ourselves, too.

I wish more people would add to this thread. I'd love to read what they had to say on the topic.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

7. Have some fun with it. If you can't smile and laugh at work ocassionally, you need to make some changes. Work should involve some happiness, pleasure, humor, etc. If it's not there, you need to put it there or perhaps you are in the wrong job for you. Nobody can sustain themselves for long if there is no pleasure in it.

I totally agree. It can't be all drugery for me.

I'll also add to my list: Play well with others. I'm not one of these people who goes to work, works silently not caring about those around me. I'm with these people 40 hours a week, some of them for years, so it's important to cultivate some type of friendly, yet professional relationship. I say good morning, ask how their day is going, how was their weekend, plan luncheons for births, graduations, and the other week bought everyone lunch to show my appreciation for their hard work (cost me $147.00 the greedy pigs....LOL). I works for me. Recently during a survey of long-term employees it was asked "what keeps you here so long"....the number one answer was not the pay, the benefits, the working hours, but "I like the people I work with"

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

What a wonderful thread...I've been an APN for one year, an RN for 13 years and an LPN for 2 years before that. Here's what keeps me going:

1. The ability to challenge myself. I try not to get stagnant. I take advantage of and seek out learning experiences.

2. Accountability - owning up to your mistakes. I know I don't know everything.

3. Continuing to seek out new off-the-job opportunities. I am active in my local fire dept and love that as a change of scenery from the nephrology stuff I do daily.

4. Appreciate your family. DH and I have been married over 27 years now and we still are together - lol! Invest the time and energy needed to keep a relationship going...

[leslie :-D]

4. Appreciate your family. DH and I have been married over 27 years now and we still are together - lol! Invest the time and energy needed to keep a relationship going...

i especially appreciate this sentiment.

it's imperative we enjoy our time away from work.

whether it is w/family, friends, hobbies, we must pursue our personal interests.

it will inevitably keep us tolerant, flexible and with hope.

leslie