Moving up in the Nursing World

[kjcheno]

I feel like I'm at a career fork in the road and I'm not sure where to turn. I have been a nurse for a little over three years.I'm young (26). My first year and a half was a full time night shift RN on a CVCU/ICU floor. When I got pregnant and realized the hospital is not necessarily the life for me, I transferred to the hospitals cardiologists group office. An office nurse is another totally different side of nursing but I feel like its just not enough for me either. But I don't know where to turn. I feel like that where I am not no one every tells me I am valued, I am important to the group- that there is light of moving up and getting more responsibility. I've researched going to NP school- doing a legal nurse consultant thing- but I'm not sure how well either of those are utilized in my area in Illinois either, and don't know if I want to spend all that money to go back to school.

I feel like I am meant to do more in nursing- but how do I get there?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I think it's wonderful that you are thinking in terms of your career goals. The following is based on knowledge of colleagues' and my own experiences....

First of all, you will need to move into an environment that actually has the potential for mobility, and this is probably not in a clinic setting - as you have already observed, clinics have a really flat heirarchy and job growth is very limited. Hospitals offer the best environment for career growth because there are so many levels of responsiblity and many diverse areas in which to practice. Just getting additional education without experience will not work - especially not in today's environment. All those 'great jobs' require practical skills and knowledge that can only be acquired through experience.

Once you are in the right environment, you have to get positive notice by people who have the power to advance your career. There is only one way for this to happen - doing more than you have to. Seriously, volunteer to participate in extra activities - particularly those that are essntial to the organization's most important strategic goals. Talk with your supervisor and make sure he/she knows that you are interested -- you'll probably be knee-deep in a task force before you can blink! If you're interested in education, volunteer to do some inservices or become a BLS/ACLS instructor.

Basically, you have to begin to think like a manager - rather than a task-oriented blue collar worker with a 'that's not my job' attitude. Yeah, a lot of your coworkers will call it sucking up & you may have to deal with that but if you have to choose sides -- you should opt for the one that contributes to your goal.

[NAURN]

I am looking into MSN programs now, you can do NP, Leadership (management), or education. If you already have your BSN, you can work as a manager or director (usually MSN is preferred but not required). So there are ways to move up the ladder, but you have to have an idea of where you wanna be first.