promotion

• Follow the rules where you work.
  
• Have a positive attitude. The management doesn't want to work with people who criticize or fight their system.
  
• Volunteer to be on committees. That puts you shoulder to shoulder with people in upper job positions and helps you get noticed. When you are a staff nurse they may recognize your face, but they don't really know who you are or how you think.
  
• Volunteer for special projects.
  
• Join professional nursing organizations, attend their workshops and conventions and share what you learn with coworkers in inservices you volunteer to give.
  
• Let management know you are interested in promotion.
  
• In other words, kiss butt.

One thing I learned after I was promoted was why I was promoted. I was pretty much doing many of the things on the list above except that I wasn't interested in promotion. I was just enjoying spreading my wings and experiencing being as professional as I could be. I never really thought much about being in supervision or management. In fact, it kind of scared me. When I was approached about it I refused at first, but when I finally did accept I found that many staff nurses were extremely negative and critical of the facility and never showed up for staff meetings. It was difficult to get any staff nurses involved in any activities beyond what they were required to do from the time they clocked in to the time they clocked out each day. The director of nursing wanted a management staff who was going to work with her and help her get her agenda accomplished. Who wouldn't? When you have the ability to choose from over 500 nurses to fill a hole in your management team you can be pretty picky.