First year, how to best advance your career

[mhy12784]

Starting a new job soon, I realize that many new nurses goal is to just stay afloat and deal with all the stress, anxiety, and all that

But I feel that my clinical experiences have made me incredibly comfortable with my abilities, not to mention all of my clinicals have been at the same hospital that I will be taking my first job at so I am used to the environment systems in place and knowing where things are

What suggestions do you have for a new nurse who really wants to get ahead ? I want to get ACLS telemetry training asap, join committees, and really do anything possible to show the manager that hired me that they made the right decision

Any advice/input would be much appreciated !

[eatmysoxRN, ASN, RN]

Clinicals and even externships were very different for me than actually being solo on the floor. Wait until you get started and make sure you're ready to take on extra stuff before you throw yourself in there.

Things like ACLS and EKG courses are a great start. I'm glad to hear you feel confident but don't be over confident. As a new grad there is a steep learning curve.

[mhy12784]

Do they usually offer lots of courses? Or pay for you to take courses ? (I know they pay for ACLS and like Telemetry cert)

And I gotcha, I dont think it will be easy by any means.

I just feel like im in a great position to succeed, as I have no issues using any resources to help get ahead

[llg, PhD, RN]

First task: Focus on establishing your reputation as someone who is clinically competent and enjoyable to work with. That is the key to getting ahead. If you mess that up, you will dig yourself into a hole that can be hard to escape from. If you do that well, the positive relationships you establish with your colleagues and managers will pay off in the long run.

Second task: After you have established a postive reputation for yourself, volunteer to serve on a unit committee or task force. Don't take on too much at first -- don't try to "lead" -- just be a productive member of a group working together to accomplish something. Pay attention and learn from that experience how things get done and improvements get made. Such activitiy will enhance your reputation while also firming up your relationships with the "movers and shakers" in your environment.

Third task (which you should be doing all along): Pay attention! Pay attention to what aspects of nursing you enjoy the most ... enjoy the least ... are naturally good at ... and not naturally good at ... etc. Also pay attention to what the priorities are for the leaders in your environment. What are their goals? What problems to they struggle with? What do they appreciate help with? etc. Use all of that information to help make your choices about where to invest your energy. Identify those things that you are naturally good at and enjoy and that are appreciated by the leaders in your environment. Invest the most time and energy into those things. Don't waste a lot of time, energy, and money on things that don't fit those categories.

I see a lot of people on allnurses recommending to new grads that they take a lot of classes on advanced life support, etc. At my hospital, that doesn't get you anywhere. We provide that kind of training to the people who need it. We are not impressed by people who take a lot of advanced classes they are not developmentally ready to fully benefit from. We are more impressed by people who do a great job within their "age-appropriate" level of practice -- and who are flexible and willing to help out with projects that need to be done. What is most valued in one setting may be different from what is most valued in another. So pay attention and find out about YOUR enviroment before investing in things that may or may not help you much.

Good luck!

[mhy12784]

Thanks so much, really appreciate the advice

I feel like so many of my classmates graduating with me are just worried about failing or messing something up, that it would just help me to be more positive and try to set some goals and figure out what kind of things I can do to be productive and learn.

I just wanna make the transition as positive as possible, and make the most of all the opportunities as you only get one first chance

[sourapril]

You mean like being promoted to a charge nurse or something? That depends on where you are. For some units, after a year or two you will be doing charge, and for others, you can't be a permanent charge for many many years because people don't leave. Same with nurse managers.

[Nurse Kyles, BSN, RN]

You will get unit specific training. My hospital provides ACLS for people in CCU, ER, Progressive Care & Cardiology. We get paid for attending the class. We also have a lot of specific training for our unit, and ongoing training classes every month. Everyone on my unit was also required to complete ECCO (essentials for critical care). All of this training is paid for, so I would just focus on the training provided by your employer. There also seems to be plenty of committees to join. A lot of people don't care to be on committees, so it doesn't seem like it would be hard to join one. Being an actual RN rather than a student in clinical or intern is much different. I would just focus on learning your job. It can be overwhelming when you first get out on your own. Also don't be afraid to ask for help. Good Luck!