March 6, 2025 • 31 mins
There is a lack of clarity when it comes to nursing career goals. The majority of nurses know what they want to do when they join the nursing profession. However, for some, their thoughts about what they want to do begin to change after they've been in the profession for a while. Exposure to more influences their desire to follow a different path. Often, they don't know what that path will be. It is my goal to make you feel like you can make a difference in your career and have the power to navigate further.
During this episode, we provide good examples of nursing career goals and offer practical guidance on how to set achievable goals that can make a significant difference in your nursing career. By the end of the episode, you'll have gained valuable insights into the importance of setting career goals and feel empowered to take control of your nursing career.
As a nurse, it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities of the job. However, it's important to take a step back and think about your long-term career goals.
Whether you're just starting or have been in the profession for a while, this podcast offers useful tips and advice to help you reach your full potential as a nurse. Don't let your career plateau, set clear goals and watch yourself grow as a nurse. Tune in to this episode to learn more about the importance of nursing career goals.
Want to continue the conversation? Send me a text right here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Are you feeling stuck in yourcurrent clinical environment?
Do you want to make a change inyour nursing career but not sure
what to do next?
Exhausted, burnt out, and maybeeven ready for different
leadership?
I'm Bonnie Meadows, a BoardCenter 5 Clinical Nurse
Specialist, Influential Leader,Career Coach, and Well Being
Coach.
(00:24):
Being in the nursing andhealthcare profession since
2004, I have felt stuck andunsure about what was next for
me.
I wanted to be fulfilled in mypurpose, to have a voice at the
table, and to be a resource forothers.
I kept telling myself I wantedmore, but didn't have the
direction I needed.
(00:44):
Until I found Clarity and CareerGrowth Strategies for
Experienced Nurses like Me.
In this podcast, you will findsimple tactical steps that allow
you to gain the clarity you needsolutions for how to grow even
without supportive leadershipand guidelines for setting
boundaries at work so that youcan grow purposefully in your
(01:06):
career as a nurse with agraduate degree who makes a huge
impact in the profession.
So get ready to trade yourscrubs for yoga pants, pop in
those earbuds and let's chat.
Hello everyone.
It is good to be back, thank youfor allowing me to step into
your world, to have theopportunity to just share what's
(01:30):
on my mind and really just beable to help you to advance in
your career.
That is my whole goal with thispodcast.
So today I am talking aboutcareer goals As nurses,
especially as ambitious nurses,we do think about what do we
want to do next.
(01:50):
Sometimes that next is kind oflike a ceiling.
Sometimes we have an ultimategoal and it doesn't turn out to
be what we think that it shouldbe or what we hoped that it
should be.
And I'm not talking about it ina bad way.
I'm talking about even in a goodway.
I've talked to several nurses,coached several nurses recently,
(02:11):
or either those within my circlewho are fellow ambitious nurses
and many of them their careertrajectory has totally changed
since they've come into nursingor they got to a certain level
and they're like, well, this isnot what I wanted.
So that is for anotherconversation.
However, I want to encourage youthat it is important to have a
(02:36):
vision as a nurse and to knowwhere you want to go, and
sometimes it's not necessarilywhere you end up, but what's
important is that you're makingan impact and you are working in
what they call your zone ofgenius.
You've found your niche and onceyou get into that space, you're
now able to work optimally andyou are able to figure out what
(03:02):
matters and what doesn't matter.
You're able to stay in your joblonger because you now have an
understanding that there will bethose work things they just come
to be.
It is what it is as this is whatwe will always see.
Prime example, politics withinthe workplace, and as long as
(03:22):
they are not hindering you orsomeone else because sometimes
it's just a leadership style ofsomeone, or it's just the
culture of that area.
You then now have to figure out,okay, well I like the job, but
do I like the people?
How does this work for myfamily?
There's just all kinds ofquestions that come into that;
so that's not really where I'mgoing with this podcast either,
(03:44):
but I'm really here just to helpyou to understand what a career
goal is.
How do you obtain your careergoals?
How do you figure out what isyour career goal and what does
that look like from a nursingstandpoint?
I had a nurse manager one time Iwas an educator and I was
(04:07):
working with the educators andthe nurse manager said to the
bedside nurses, the educators,she said, I want everyone to set
smart goals.
The bedside nurse said, what isthat?
That's the answer that I wouldactually expect from most
bedside nurses, even from thosewho may be ambitious.
Everyone's not ambitious.
They want career advancement indifferent ways, or some people
(04:29):
just don't want to advance.
I know that goals are important.
That's what we learned innursing school.
Most of the goals, discussionsthough, were centered around
patients.
So now I am centering the goalsdiscussion around your career,
They have generalized goals.
When I came into nursing, Isaid, ah, I have a goal to stay
(04:51):
at the bedside for about seven,eight years, no longer than 10.
My goal was to not stay at thebedside.
It was not to be a lifelongbedside nurse.
Let's be clear, I have noproblems with that.
We need lifelong bedside nurses,but that was not my calling So
in this episode, you'll learnwhy career goals are essential
(05:12):
to your nursing career.
You'll walk away knowing whatgood examples of career goals
are and how to set them for yourcareer.
Every person should have atleast one short-term career
goal, and one long-term careergoal at all times of their
careers.
I want you to feel like you canmake a difference in your career
and feel like you have the powerto navigate further in your
(05:35):
career.
So why are career goalsimportant?
Accomplishing goals helps you tobuild confidence for one.
So as you set goals and youachieve them, then that builds
the confidence for you to domore to set the next goal.
Now, sometimes the higher yougo, especially when we're
setting goals for patients andyou know, you worked hard to get
(05:57):
to that goal and somebody movesthe goal post and they're like,
oh, well if you met this goal,you can do a little bit better,
and you're like, Uhuh, we justwanna sustain for right now, but
that gives you the confidence aslong as you do it the right way,
as long as you don't nickel anddime your way to making your
career goal, then it will helpyou to build confidence to do
(06:17):
more.
For example, just in me, it wasmy goal within my profession, my
state nurses association to beable have a seat on the Board of
Directors.
Well, I accomplished that goal.
I actually went back and lookedat it.
I set that goal back in 2016when I was a part of the North
Carolina Nurses AssociationLeadership Academy.
(06:38):
That was my goal to be on theBoard of Directors for the
nursing association I've metthat goal.
That's where I currently am, andnow it's time for me to set the
bar a little higher.
What will I do next?
We shall see.
It allows you to distinguishyourself as a nursing
professional.
(06:58):
It helps you to remember thatyou're not just coming to work
just to do your job and go home.
You're coming to work becauseyou have a goal.
You have a career goal.
You have a goal to take care ofyour patients.
You have a goal to make animpact.
So it allows you to do that, andthen it gives you a different
perspective on your careerbecause it forces you to think
(07:22):
outside of the linear trajectoryof your career or helps you to
think outside of when you comeinto nursing school.
And this is just how I think,I'm not sure if other nurses
think like this I'm assumingother ambitious nurses think the
same way.
Okay.
I come in to nursing.
I worked the bedside for severalyears, get some good clinical
(07:44):
experience under my belt, andthen after that I go back and I
get my master's degree andpossibly my doctorate degree,
and somewhere up in there, Iwanna be a nurse practitioner or
I wanna be a CRNA, or I wanna bea nurse manager, or I want to be
something else that I've seen.
That's the linear path that yousee when you come in.
(08:08):
But for me and other nurses thatI've talked to, and even when I
had gotten to the point where Iwas at my seven years and I
said, okay, it's time to moveon.
I had a broad goal of I want tolearn more about the hospital
business.
I knew by then that I lovedquality.
I wanted to do more work inquality improvement, but what
(08:28):
did that look like?
However, I had a goal.
So even if my career goal atthat point in time was I like
hospital quality and I wanna digmore into that to figure out
where I want to go next, that iswhy those goals are important.
To help to give you a differentperspective on your career so
that you don't always feel likeyou're stuck.
(08:48):
There are plenty of options outthere for nurses, and you will
hear me say that over and overand over again.
There are jobs being created allthe time.
I don't wanna say daily becauseI don't know how true that is,
but all the time that you havethe qualifications to walk into
as a nurse going for theirgraduate degree or already has
(09:09):
their graduate degree.
And here's something that youwill always hear me say- the
higher you go with your degrees,more options.
Why get a bachelor's degree?
More options.
Why get a master's degree?
More options.
So if you decide, okay, well Ijust wanna go and get my nurse
practitioner, then you gethalfway through nurse
practitioner school and you'relike, I don't want this.
Guess what?
You still have a master's degreeand you can still do something
(09:32):
else.
Doctorate degree?
More options So just understandthat this is why career goals
are important.
Just gonna throw something elseout here for you, and it's the
nursing code of ethics provisionnumber five.
Yes.
I brought out the nursing codeof ethics.
There's a whole lot of flavor inthe nursing code of ethics.
(09:54):
It really guides you in yournursing career.
Now, I don't sit down and readit as if it's the Bible, but I
reference it a lot as I amdigging into my career coaching
career and helping to understandhow I need to guide other
nurses, because a lot of it iseither what I've experienced or
as I reflect it comes to me.
(10:15):
And so then I reference the codeof ethics to see if my thinking
is lining up with what I read.
So here's the nursing code ofethics provision number five,
that relates to career goals.
Here's what you, the nurse owesthe same duties to self as to
others, so let's stop there.
If we're expecting the patientsto do certain things, then we
(10:38):
need to be doing the same thing.
If we're expecting the patientsto hold themselves accountable
to educate themselves, then weneed to be doing the same thing.
Okay.
That was a sidebar.
The nurse owes the same dutiesto self as to others, including
the responsibility to promotehealth and safety, preserve
(10:58):
wholeness of character andintegrity, maintain competence,
and continue personal andprofessional growth.
Now, nobody said you had to bethe CNE, but you need to have
continued professional growth.
Nurses must maintain competenceand strive for excellence in
their nursing practice.
(11:18):
Is that what you do on a dailybasis?
Whatever role or setting- tomaintain competence and continue
in personal and professionalgrowth requires a commitment to
lifelong learning to includecontinuing education, networking
with professional colleagues,professional reading, specialty
certifications, and seekingadvanced degrees.
(11:39):
This level of competence affectsnot only the quality of care
rendered, but also one'sself-respect, self-esteem, and
the meaningfulness of work,meaning If you do all these
things to maintain confidenceand continue in your personal
and professional growth, youwill have an increased
self-respect.
(11:59):
You will have an increasedself-esteem, and you will have a
meaningfulness to your work.
I e you won't feel like you'restuck.
All right, so next, let's talkabout some examples to some good
nursing career goals.
Getting specialty certification.
We just talked about that in thenursing code of ethics.
(12:20):
Reading books to improve yourcommunication skills listening
to videos, listening to podcastson how to improve your
communication skills.
Developing leadership skills,and that would mean seeking
opportunities for leadershipclasses, reading books on
leadership.
(12:40):
I have an example of that.
When I was preparing to leavethe bedside, I actually did go
and visit.
a career coach.
It was suggested to me by one ofmy colleagues.
We didn't really call her acareer coach at that point in
time, but I pretty much said toher, I wanna do something
different.
And she said, well, why don'tyou go and talk to such and
such?
And so when I went and sat downwith her, she said, well, what
(13:01):
do you want to do?
And I said, well, I wanna be inleadership I love leadership,
y'all.
I do.
I really love leadership, but Ilove leadership from an
influence standpoint and notfrom an operations standpoint.
And I will have another podcastlater on just talking about the
difference.
she said, well, are you readingany leadership books?
Good question.
(13:22):
No, I wasn't.
So she was let me suggest one toyou.
And the book that she suggestedin 2011 was Leadership Gold by
John Maxwell.
It was a phenomenal book.
I actually still have it here onmy bookshelf probably need to
reread it.
but I've been listening andreading his 21 Irrefutable Laws
(13:44):
of Leadership.
John Maxwell is a phenomenalleadership teacher, and the one
thing that he will say isleadership is influence.
And if you don't have influence,then you're not a leader.
And I 100% agree with thatbecause I've been in leadership
positions and not in operationspositions Within nursing, that
(14:09):
can be looked at as, well youdon't have any management
experience.
Okay, well that's fine, butguess what you have to do as a
manager, just like you havecorral people as a leader, you
have to corral people as amanager So what you're really
saying to me is I don't haveexperience disciplining people
and going through the HRprocess, and possibly managing a
(14:29):
budget.
But guess what?
I learned that in my firstmaster's degree program.
Now do I have extensiveexperience with it?
No, but you just want somebodywho's been working like working
with HR So I said all of that tosay, develop your leadership
skills.
That could be a goal.
If you're wanting to be aleader, then work on developing
your leadership skills.
Get an advanced degree.
(14:50):
That's an example of a goal.
Of course, it's a commonexample, but that's an example.
When I first started thisbusiness and my podcast journey,
I was speaking to allexperienced nurses, but I kept
saying, I want the experiencednurse.
I don't want the nurse who'sjust looking for how do I get my
next job.
Truth be told, any of us can geta job as a nurse.
(15:14):
It's out there.
The harvest is plenty.
The workers are few.
I want to coach the nurse whoknows that this is bigger than
them and they want to make animpact.
Yeah, they wanna make money, butthey wanna make strategic moves
in their careers so that theycan make an impact and be open
to whatever and wherever theygo, as long as they have a
(15:37):
compass of what those roles needto have.
So I've now since changed myposition and not necessarily
change my position, but I'm nowgoing deeper.
And this podcast will now befocused on nurses who want a
graduate degree or who alreadyhave a graduate degree.
And I mainly say that because Ihave two graduate degrees, two
(15:59):
masters in nursing, always opento going back and get a
doctorate degree.
But those who I help the most, Ican help you make a lateral
position with a bachelor's ofnursing, because I've been
there.
But I can also help the graduatenurse, or the nurse who is
pursuing a graduate degree tounderstand what degree is best
based on their zone of genius,what they've learned in their
(16:21):
nursing career and in theirhealthcare career that they do
well and they like doing.
Regardless of whether it'ssomething that they've already
done or something that they'veseen somebody do and they
thought, huh, I'd like to dothat.
Most of the nurses who come tome for coaching, they have
master's degrees or they'renurses with a bachelor's degree
(16:42):
who are looking for their nextand usually their next is I want
to go back and get a graduatedegree.
But what?
So getting an advanced degreecan definitely be a career goal.
Having a balance between lifeand work is actually a career
goal.
It's a career goal.
And what does that look like?
It is, I wanna go deep, notwide.
(17:04):
I don't wanna spread myself toothin.
I wanna have a balance betweenwork and home, and I just want
to grow in where I am and myspecialty and be a speaker or do
podium presentations or posterpresentations, yet having a
balance between life and work.
So that's a goal.
I was talking to a, coachingclient of mine and she has her
(17:27):
doctorate degree.
And she came to me and she said,I wanna do something different.
So then I go through my set ofquestions that I usually go
through, and it depends on theanswers that people give me.
But then from there, wediscovered she loves the work
that she does, but it wasn'tproviding the work-life balance
that she needed.
So the advice that I gave to heris, now time for you to talk to
(17:50):
your boss.
You don't have a dog in thefight if you don't talk to your
boss, have a conversation withthem to give them the
opportunity to say, no, I can'tlighten your workload, or, yes,
I can.
But when you have thatconversation, you gotta be ready
for whatever way it swings andnot be disappointed.
So she went and had aconversation with her boss.
Her boss said yes because shevalues her.
(18:11):
She knows that she's not gonnatake advantage of a reduced
workload, and she knows that shewould get a better product out
of her if she meets her needs.
So it is load to have a goodbalance between life and work
and to have a reduced load soyou can go deep and not be
spread thin wide.
Getting involved in professionalorganizations, that could be a
(18:33):
career goal.
I told you it was my careergoal.
It was one of my career goals tobe on the board of directors,
and so now I'm all in.
Like I was all in before, butnow I'm all in.
I've been a part of the NorthCarolina Nurses Association
since 2012, and I'm pretty muchjust going to be a member from
here on out, dedicating my timeto the organization because I
(18:55):
have joy when I am able to putforth my contribution to the
entire nursing profession.
So that can be a career goal.
Becoming a subject matter expertor specializing.
We actually can't take this forgranted.
Many of us, we work in aspecific area of specialty for
(19:16):
about three or four years, maybefive or six, and then we totally
switch to something else.
And I would encourage you beforeyou switch to something else,
especially if you are in aspecialty where there's not a
lot of resources or not a lotnursing presence.
(19:37):
For example, cardiovascularnursing specialty- within where
I work, it's very heavilyprovider-based.
That's fine.
It's been that way for a longtime But as we grow, they're
finding, okay, we need the voicethat will corral all the other
cardiac nurses because thecardiac nursing practice needs
to be evaluated also.
(19:59):
So because they needed a subjectmatter expert in that area, and
I have a master's degree and Iwas in a position where I was
helping to make those decisionsand I became a clinical nurse
specialist, then here we go.
Now I become one of the go-topeople to speak for nursing
practice.
Now I'll speak for myself.
All of my colleagues will tellyou I do not speak for all
(20:22):
things nursing.
I go back to them and I say, isthis right?
What are you doing?
Here's what the evidence says.
I do all of that, but it isimportant to think about having
a career goal, to be a subjectmatter expert and to specialize.
Being the go-to person for thatthing is actually not a bad
goal.
It's a great goal.
(20:43):
Sometimes we don't stay in itlong enough though, for it to be
our goal.
It wasn't until I left, went toother positions, and then in
those positions realizing thatme having a cardiac surgery
specialty as a nurse was far andbetween to come by and so then I
started to use it for myadvantage.
Getting involved in communityefforts and city and county
(21:06):
boards.
So I learned a lot about thiswhen I was in the Leadership
Academy for the North CarolinaNurses Association about the
importance of just beinginvolved in boards and there's
an initiative with the future ofNursing Action Coalition where
they talk about the importanceof nursing being on boards
because we just have a uniqueperspective and especially when
(21:27):
it comes to our communities andour cities and our counties and
the boards that are within thoseareas.
Yes, they have boards.
They have a park and recreationboard, a transportation board,
they have all kinds of boards,and you don't have to be on the
city council to be effective andto make an impact in your city
(21:48):
and your county.
In nursing, our curriculumprepares us to treat the whole
patient, so our approach focuseson holistic health, knowing that
every person's aspect of theirlife affects their wellbeing.
Affects what they would callhealth.
You know, the environment, thepatient, health.
Most of the theorists, they talkabout that.
Yes, y'all, I'm bringing outnursing theory.
(22:10):
I'm just bringing it all fullcircle.
As nurses, we have a unique viewof how to improve our
communities, counties, ourcities, based on that word
environment and how it affectsthe patient population.
It's our unique perspective thatmakes us equipped participate on
our community boards, and so Iwould challenge you if you don't
(22:33):
have a desire to get involved onanything in healthcare, then one
of your career goals reallycould be getting involved in
your community.
It could be to continue youreducation without getting
another degree/ certifications.
This goes along with being asubject matter expert, getting a
certification and then justcontinuously learning about
(22:54):
different things.
You say, okay, well I wannalearn about leadership, so I'm
gonna set a goal to read thismany books on leadership.
I wanna learn aboutcommunication, so I'm gonna find
a conference on how tocommunicate better.
And you can set that as a goal.
You can become an advocate fornursing and patients, which
means getting involved in thelegislative process.
I didn't know how much ourprofession relied so much on the
(23:18):
legislative process.
Staffing, legislative process;how many visitors we have,
legislative process, believe itor not; insurance, legislative
process.
Can you as a nurse practitionerprescribe or have a supervising
physician, legislative process.
There's a whole lot that theyhave power over.
And that has become now mylifelong mission, one of them,
(23:40):
you know, I got several, but nowthat I've come into this
knowledge, I have decided that Iwant to be a voice at the table
to help nurses understand thepower that they have in the
legislative process and how theycan advocate for nurses and
patients within the legislativeprocess.
These people are electedofficials who might have been a
(24:01):
real estate agent or you mighthave been a pharmacist, or you
own a farm, or you own your ownbusiness, or you worked in
corporate America at a financialinstitute.
They don't know anything abouthealthcare.
They're only going by thelobbyists, and the policy makers
that they interact with.
Now, don't get it twisted.
All lobbyists are not bad.
(24:23):
Every nursing organization has alobbyist working for them, to
try to make an impact on thelegislative process and to have
a voice at the table so thatthey're not making decisions for
nursing.
Again, when I was in theleadership academy with North
Carolina Nurses Association,they had a lobbyist come and
talk to us because we werelearning about the legislative
process.
(24:43):
And one of the things that shesaid that really stuck to me was
they have no idea what you do ifyou do nothing else.
Your purpose should be toeducate them on what you do.
Period.
Point blank.
Well, and vote you can startsmall by voting, reaching out to
(25:04):
them saying, Hey, I'm a nurse inyour area.
and just let me know if you needanything or I'm a nurse working
in this particular specialty.
I know you have concern aboutour patients just like I do.
You want the optimal care forour patients just like I do.
Let me know if you have anyquestions about any work that we
do in the hospital.
(25:24):
Just that easy to let them knowthat you're available.
You want to provide them witheducation about what we do so
that they can make appropriatedecisions where they are
regardless of the party.
So with that being said, as I'mtalking about these things, your
career goals should always bestructured as smart goals.
Smart is specific, attainable,achievable, R is for relevant,
(25:48):
and T is for timely.
An example of specific would be,I wanna get my education.
Okay, well, in what?
Which one?
What's attainable?
Sticking with the same thing.
Oh, I wanna get my certificationin cardiac medicine with the A C
N.
Okay, well you work on a cardiacstep down unit, cardiac
telemetry unit.
(26:09):
Okay.
Well that would mean you need togo and work in the I C U or you
could go for your C V R Ncertification.
So that's attainable for you.
It's relevant.
Now, timely would be by thirdquarter of 2023.
So that would be a shortsentence.
I would like to get mycertification in cardiovascular
nursing by third quarter of2022, October of 2023.
(26:33):
So now that we've gone throughall of this, of how it should be
structured, what are someexamples of career goals, why
it's important, then we need todetermine what are your career
goals?
So how do we do that?
I have a few suggestions of somethings that you can reflect on
to think about how to determineyour career goals.
If you're feeling stuck, youhave the answer within you.
(26:54):
You may be in denial of whatyour career goal is.
You may have said it to someoneand they told you, I don't see
you doing that.
Or why would you want to dothat?
It's within you though.
So how do you determine your owncareer goals?
Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Do you need more time?
Is money a factor?
Is time a factor?
Is home a factor?
(27:15):
If all of that is settled, or ifthere's one of those things in
there that is like, uh, wellthis is an issue.
Uh, well that is an issue...
then you work around that andmaybe your career goals are just
a little bit more bite size thanjust going straight to the mark.
You work around that.
What interests you?
Just write it down, reflect,think about those things really
(27:36):
perk your interests as a nurseor what you saw.
And if you're reflecting, youcan't think of anything, start
to look, start to notice.
Take the time for the next threeto four months to really start
to look around and see if thereis something that you do see.
Look in journal articles nursingmagazines to see if there's
(27:57):
something that perks yourinterest.
You determine your career goalsbased on your work setting too.
What's going on in your worksetting?
Is there a project that youwould like to work on, or an
area that you'd like to get moreexperience in?
What are your ambitions, youraspirations?
What's your big goal in life?
You need to take bite-sizedsteps to get there, and then
(28:18):
just remembering that at anypoint in time, you should have
no more than three to four goalsto work towards at once.
Otherwise, you're spreadingyourself too thin.
Once you set those goals, thenit's the habits and the systems
that you develop and put inplace to then achieve your
goals.
So you put a system, a routinein place, and then you attach a
(28:38):
habit to that system, a routinethat will help you to get to
your goal.
Lastly, I wanna leave you withthis quote from James Clear.
He is the author of AtomicHabits.
I love that book.
Life Changing.
He says, five years is a longtime.
It's much slower than most of uswould like.
If you accept the reality ofslow progress, you have every
(29:02):
reason to take action today.
If you resist the reality ofslow progress five years from
now, you'll simply be five yearsolder and still looking for a
shortcut.
Keep that in mind.
When you don't have a goal, youend up in a job longer than you
should, feeling miserable andstuck because you don't have a
(29:25):
plan.
It makes you a better person andit does not help the work
culture.
I hope this episode was veryhelpful for you in understanding
your career goals, where youshould start, or maybe some of
you have had career goals andyou now need to evaluate what
your next step is.
(29:46):
I've had to reevaluate my careergoals several times in my career
as an ambitious nurse becausewhat I thought was the goal
really wasn't the goal.
And guess what?
That's okay.
It's about making progress.
It's not perfection.
And at the end of the day, youwant to make an impact.
That is the goal.
So however it works out, and aslong as it's something that you
(30:08):
enjoy, then if there's a hiccuphere or there, if there's a
reroute here or there, it's justbecause you weren't supposed to
go down that route.
And it's okay because whateveris the hiccup is just not for
you, but whatever else is aroundthe corner, it's for you.
So I hope this was encouragingfor you.
I try my best not to be a DebbieDowner or a hand slapper, but I
(30:28):
wanna encourage you and empoweryou to take ownership of your
career, and don't let lifehappen to you, but you make life
happen within the fines of whatis in your control.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
If so, would you take 30 secondsand share it with another nurse
who may be unsure of where to gonext in their career, or maybe
(30:52):
need some career clarity?
Also, please leave a quickreview for the show on Apple
podcast.
It brings me so much joy and somuch encouragement to know this
podcast is helping you.
Now go get the career you wantand not the one you settle for.
And I'll meet you back here nextThursday for another episode.
(31:13):
See you soon!
Are you feeling stuck in yourcurrent clinical environment?
Do you want to make a change inyour nursing career but not sure
what to do next?
Exhausted, burnt out, and maybeeven ready for different
leadership?
I'm Bonnie Meadows, a BoardCenter 5 Clinical Nurse
Specialist, Influential Leader,Career Coach, and Well Being
Coach.
(00:24):
Being in the nursing andhealthcare profession since
2004, I have felt stuck andunsure about what was next for
me.
I wanted to be fulfilled in mypurpose, to have a voice at the
table, and to be a resource forothers.
I kept telling myself I wantedmore, but didn't have the
direction I needed.
(00:44):
Until I found Clarity and CareerGrowth Strategies for
Experienced Nurses like Me.
In this podcast, you will findsimple tactical steps that allow
you to gain the clarity you needsolutions for how to grow even
without supportive leadershipand guidelines for setting
boundaries at work so that youcan grow purposefully in your
(01:06):
career as a nurse with agraduate degree who makes a huge
impact in the profession.
So get ready to trade yourscrubs for yoga pants, pop in
those earbuds and let's chat.
Hello everyone.
It is good to be back, thank youfor allowing me to step into
your world, to have theopportunity to just share what's
(01:30):
on my mind and really just beable to help you to advance in
your career.
That is my whole goal with thispodcast.
So today I am talking aboutcareer goals As nurses,
especially as ambitious nurses,we do think about what do we
want to do next.
(01:50):
Sometimes that next is kind oflike a ceiling.
Sometimes we have an ultimategoal and it doesn't turn out to
be what we think that it shouldbe or what we hoped that it
should be.
And I'm not talking about it ina bad way.
I'm talking about even in a goodway.
I've talked to several nurses,coached several nurses recently,
(02:11):
or either those within my circlewho are fellow ambitious nurses
and many of them their careertrajectory has totally changed
since they've come into nursingor they got to a certain level
and they're like, well, this isnot what I wanted.
So that is for anotherconversation.
However, I want to encourage youthat it is important to have a
(02:36):
vision as a nurse and to knowwhere you want to go, and
sometimes it's not necessarilywhere you end up, but what's
important is that you're makingan impact and you are working in
what they call your zone ofgenius.
You've found your niche and onceyou get into that space, you're
now able to work optimally andyou are able to figure out what
(03:02):
matters and what doesn't matter.
You're able to stay in your joblonger because you now have an
understanding that there will bethose work things they just come
to be.
It is what it is as this is whatwe will always see.
Prime example, politics withinthe workplace, and as long as
(03:22):
they are not hindering you orsomeone else because sometimes
it's just a leadership style ofsomeone, or it's just the
culture of that area.
You then now have to figure out,okay, well I like the job, but
do I like the people?
How does this work for myfamily?
There's just all kinds ofquestions that come into that;
so that's not really where I'mgoing with this podcast either,
(03:44):
but I'm really here just to helpyou to understand what a career
goal is.
How do you obtain your careergoals?
How do you figure out what isyour career goal and what does
that look like from a nursingstandpoint?
I had a nurse manager one time Iwas an educator and I was
(04:07):
working with the educators andthe nurse manager said to the
bedside nurses, the educators,she said, I want everyone to set
smart goals.
The bedside nurse said, what isthat?
That's the answer that I wouldactually expect from most
bedside nurses, even from thosewho may be ambitious.
Everyone's not ambitious.
They want career advancement indifferent ways, or some people
(04:29):
just don't want to advance.
I know that goals are important.
That's what we learned innursing school.
Most of the goals, discussionsthough, were centered around
patients.
So now I am centering the goalsdiscussion around your career,
They have generalized goals.
When I came into nursing, Isaid, ah, I have a goal to stay
(04:51):
at the bedside for about seven,eight years, no longer than 10.
My goal was to not stay at thebedside.
It was not to be a lifelongbedside nurse.
Let's be clear, I have noproblems with that.
We need lifelong bedside nurses,but that was not my calling So
in this episode, you'll learnwhy career goals are essential
(05:12):
to your nursing career.
You'll walk away knowing whatgood examples of career goals
are and how to set them for yourcareer.
Every person should have atleast one short-term career
goal, and one long-term careergoal at all times of their
careers.
I want you to feel like you canmake a difference in your career
and feel like you have the powerto navigate further in your
(05:35):
career.
So why are career goalsimportant?
Accomplishing goals helps you tobuild confidence for one.
So as you set goals and youachieve them, then that builds
the confidence for you to domore to set the next goal.
Now, sometimes the higher yougo, especially when we're
setting goals for patients andyou know, you worked hard to get
(05:57):
to that goal and somebody movesthe goal post and they're like,
oh, well if you met this goal,you can do a little bit better,
and you're like, Uhuh, we justwanna sustain for right now, but
that gives you the confidence aslong as you do it the right way,
as long as you don't nickel anddime your way to making your
career goal, then it will helpyou to build confidence to do
(06:17):
more.
For example, just in me, it wasmy goal within my profession, my
state nurses association to beable have a seat on the Board of
Directors.
Well, I accomplished that goal.
I actually went back and lookedat it.
I set that goal back in 2016when I was a part of the North
Carolina Nurses AssociationLeadership Academy.
(06:38):
That was my goal to be on theBoard of Directors for the
nursing association I've metthat goal.
That's where I currently am, andnow it's time for me to set the
bar a little higher.
What will I do next?
We shall see.
It allows you to distinguishyourself as a nursing
professional.
(06:58):
It helps you to remember thatyou're not just coming to work
just to do your job and go home.
You're coming to work becauseyou have a goal.
You have a career goal.
You have a goal to take care ofyour patients.
You have a goal to make animpact.
So it allows you to do that, andthen it gives you a different
perspective on your careerbecause it forces you to think
(07:22):
outside of the linear trajectoryof your career or helps you to
think outside of when you comeinto nursing school.
And this is just how I think,I'm not sure if other nurses
think like this I'm assumingother ambitious nurses think the
same way.
Okay.
I come in to nursing.
I worked the bedside for severalyears, get some good clinical
(07:44):
experience under my belt, andthen after that I go back and I
get my master's degree andpossibly my doctorate degree,
and somewhere up in there, Iwanna be a nurse practitioner or
I wanna be a CRNA, or I wanna bea nurse manager, or I want to be
something else that I've seen.
That's the linear path that yousee when you come in.
(08:08):
But for me and other nurses thatI've talked to, and even when I
had gotten to the point where Iwas at my seven years and I
said, okay, it's time to moveon.
I had a broad goal of I want tolearn more about the hospital
business.
I knew by then that I lovedquality.
I wanted to do more work inquality improvement, but what
(08:28):
did that look like?
However, I had a goal.
So even if my career goal atthat point in time was I like
hospital quality and I wanna digmore into that to figure out
where I want to go next, that iswhy those goals are important.
To help to give you a differentperspective on your career so
that you don't always feel likeyou're stuck.
(08:48):
There are plenty of options outthere for nurses, and you will
hear me say that over and overand over again.
There are jobs being created allthe time.
I don't wanna say daily becauseI don't know how true that is,
but all the time that you havethe qualifications to walk into
as a nurse going for theirgraduate degree or already has
(09:09):
their graduate degree.
And here's something that youwill always hear me say- the
higher you go with your degrees,more options.
Why get a bachelor's degree?
More options.
Why get a master's degree?
More options.
So if you decide, okay, well Ijust wanna go and get my nurse
practitioner, then you gethalfway through nurse
practitioner school and you'relike, I don't want this.
Guess what?
You still have a master's degreeand you can still do something
(09:32):
else.
Doctorate degree?
More options So just understandthat this is why career goals
are important.
Just gonna throw something elseout here for you, and it's the
nursing code of ethics provisionnumber five.
Yes.
I brought out the nursing codeof ethics.
There's a whole lot of flavor inthe nursing code of ethics.
(09:54):
It really guides you in yournursing career.
Now, I don't sit down and readit as if it's the Bible, but I
reference it a lot as I amdigging into my career coaching
career and helping to understandhow I need to guide other
nurses, because a lot of it iseither what I've experienced or
as I reflect it comes to me.
(10:15):
And so then I reference the codeof ethics to see if my thinking
is lining up with what I read.
So here's the nursing code ofethics provision number five,
that relates to career goals.
Here's what you, the nurse owesthe same duties to self as to
others, so let's stop there.
If we're expecting the patientsto do certain things, then we
(10:38):
need to be doing the same thing.
If we're expecting the patientsto hold themselves accountable
to educate themselves, then weneed to be doing the same thing.
Okay.
That was a sidebar.
The nurse owes the same dutiesto self as to others, including
the responsibility to promotehealth and safety, preserve
(10:58):
wholeness of character andintegrity, maintain competence,
and continue personal andprofessional growth.
Now, nobody said you had to bethe CNE, but you need to have
continued professional growth.
Nurses must maintain competenceand strive for excellence in
their nursing practice.
(11:18):
Is that what you do on a dailybasis?
Whatever role or setting- tomaintain competence and continue
in personal and professionalgrowth requires a commitment to
lifelong learning to includecontinuing education, networking
with professional colleagues,professional reading, specialty
certifications, and seekingadvanced degrees.
(11:39):
This level of competence affectsnot only the quality of care
rendered, but also one'sself-respect, self-esteem, and
the meaningfulness of work,meaning If you do all these
things to maintain confidenceand continue in your personal
and professional growth, youwill have an increased
self-respect.
(11:59):
You will have an increasedself-esteem, and you will have a
meaningfulness to your work.
I e you won't feel like you'restuck.
All right, so next, let's talkabout some examples to some good
nursing career goals.
Getting specialty certification.
We just talked about that in thenursing code of ethics.
(12:20):
Reading books to improve yourcommunication skills listening
to videos, listening to podcastson how to improve your
communication skills.
Developing leadership skills,and that would mean seeking
opportunities for leadershipclasses, reading books on
leadership.
(12:40):
I have an example of that.
When I was preparing to leavethe bedside, I actually did go
and visit.
a career coach.
It was suggested to me by one ofmy colleagues.
We didn't really call her acareer coach at that point in
time, but I pretty much said toher, I wanna do something
different.
And she said, well, why don'tyou go and talk to such and
such?
And so when I went and sat downwith her, she said, well, what
(13:01):
do you want to do?
And I said, well, I wanna be inleadership I love leadership,
y'all.
I do.
I really love leadership, but Ilove leadership from an
influence standpoint and notfrom an operations standpoint.
And I will have another podcastlater on just talking about the
difference.
she said, well, are you readingany leadership books?
Good question.
(13:22):
No, I wasn't.
So she was let me suggest one toyou.
And the book that she suggestedin 2011 was Leadership Gold by
John Maxwell.
It was a phenomenal book.
I actually still have it here onmy bookshelf probably need to
reread it.
but I've been listening andreading his 21 Irrefutable Laws
(13:44):
of Leadership.
John Maxwell is a phenomenalleadership teacher, and the one
thing that he will say isleadership is influence.
And if you don't have influence,then you're not a leader.
And I 100% agree with thatbecause I've been in leadership
positions and not in operationspositions Within nursing, that
(14:09):
can be looked at as, well youdon't have any management
experience.
Okay, well that's fine, butguess what you have to do as a
manager, just like you havecorral people as a leader, you
have to corral people as amanager So what you're really
saying to me is I don't haveexperience disciplining people
and going through the HRprocess, and possibly managing a
(14:29):
budget.
But guess what?
I learned that in my firstmaster's degree program.
Now do I have extensiveexperience with it?
No, but you just want somebodywho's been working like working
with HR So I said all of that tosay, develop your leadership
skills.
That could be a goal.
If you're wanting to be aleader, then work on developing
your leadership skills.
Get an advanced degree.
(14:50):
That's an example of a goal.
Of course, it's a commonexample, but that's an example.
When I first started thisbusiness and my podcast journey,
I was speaking to allexperienced nurses, but I kept
saying, I want the experiencednurse.
I don't want the nurse who'sjust looking for how do I get my
next job.
Truth be told, any of us can geta job as a nurse.
(15:14):
It's out there.
The harvest is plenty.
The workers are few.
I want to coach the nurse whoknows that this is bigger than
them and they want to make animpact.
Yeah, they wanna make money, butthey wanna make strategic moves
in their careers so that theycan make an impact and be open
to whatever and wherever theygo, as long as they have a
(15:37):
compass of what those roles needto have.
So I've now since changed myposition and not necessarily
change my position, but I'm nowgoing deeper.
And this podcast will now befocused on nurses who want a
graduate degree or who alreadyhave a graduate degree.
And I mainly say that because Ihave two graduate degrees, two
(15:59):
masters in nursing, always opento going back and get a
doctorate degree.
But those who I help the most, Ican help you make a lateral
position with a bachelor's ofnursing, because I've been
there.
But I can also help the graduatenurse, or the nurse who is
pursuing a graduate degree tounderstand what degree is best
based on their zone of genius,what they've learned in their
(16:21):
nursing career and in theirhealthcare career that they do
well and they like doing.
Regardless of whether it'ssomething that they've already
done or something that they'veseen somebody do and they
thought, huh, I'd like to dothat.
Most of the nurses who come tome for coaching, they have
master's degrees or they'renurses with a bachelor's degree
(16:42):
who are looking for their nextand usually their next is I want
to go back and get a graduatedegree.
But what?
So getting an advanced degreecan definitely be a career goal.
Having a balance between lifeand work is actually a career
goal.
It's a career goal.
And what does that look like?
It is, I wanna go deep, notwide.
(17:04):
I don't wanna spread myself toothin.
I wanna have a balance betweenwork and home, and I just want
to grow in where I am and myspecialty and be a speaker or do
podium presentations or posterpresentations, yet having a
balance between life and work.
So that's a goal.
I was talking to a, coachingclient of mine and she has her
(17:27):
doctorate degree.
And she came to me and she said,I wanna do something different.
So then I go through my set ofquestions that I usually go
through, and it depends on theanswers that people give me.
But then from there, wediscovered she loves the work
that she does, but it wasn'tproviding the work-life balance
that she needed.
So the advice that I gave to heris, now time for you to talk to
(17:50):
your boss.
You don't have a dog in thefight if you don't talk to your
boss, have a conversation withthem to give them the
opportunity to say, no, I can'tlighten your workload, or, yes,
I can.
But when you have thatconversation, you gotta be ready
for whatever way it swings andnot be disappointed.
So she went and had aconversation with her boss.
Her boss said yes because shevalues her.
(18:11):
She knows that she's not gonnatake advantage of a reduced
workload, and she knows that shewould get a better product out
of her if she meets her needs.
So it is load to have a goodbalance between life and work
and to have a reduced load soyou can go deep and not be
spread thin wide.
Getting involved in professionalorganizations, that could be a
(18:33):
career goal.
I told you it was my careergoal.
It was one of my career goals tobe on the board of directors,
and so now I'm all in.
Like I was all in before, butnow I'm all in.
I've been a part of the NorthCarolina Nurses Association
since 2012, and I'm pretty muchjust going to be a member from
here on out, dedicating my timeto the organization because I
(18:55):
have joy when I am able to putforth my contribution to the
entire nursing profession.
So that can be a career goal.
Becoming a subject matter expertor specializing.
We actually can't take this forgranted.
Many of us, we work in aspecific area of specialty for
(19:16):
about three or four years, maybefive or six, and then we totally
switch to something else.
And I would encourage you beforeyou switch to something else,
especially if you are in aspecialty where there's not a
lot of resources or not a lotnursing presence.
(19:37):
For example, cardiovascularnursing specialty- within where
I work, it's very heavilyprovider-based.
That's fine.
It's been that way for a longtime But as we grow, they're
finding, okay, we need the voicethat will corral all the other
cardiac nurses because thecardiac nursing practice needs
to be evaluated also.
(19:59):
So because they needed a subjectmatter expert in that area, and
I have a master's degree and Iwas in a position where I was
helping to make those decisionsand I became a clinical nurse
specialist, then here we go.
Now I become one of the go-topeople to speak for nursing
practice.
Now I'll speak for myself.
All of my colleagues will tellyou I do not speak for all
(20:22):
things nursing.
I go back to them and I say, isthis right?
What are you doing?
Here's what the evidence says.
I do all of that, but it isimportant to think about having
a career goal, to be a subjectmatter expert and to specialize.
Being the go-to person for thatthing is actually not a bad
goal.
It's a great goal.
(20:43):
Sometimes we don't stay in itlong enough though, for it to be
our goal.
It wasn't until I left, went toother positions, and then in
those positions realizing thatme having a cardiac surgery
specialty as a nurse was far andbetween to come by and so then I
started to use it for myadvantage.
Getting involved in communityefforts and city and county
(21:06):
boards.
So I learned a lot about thiswhen I was in the Leadership
Academy for the North CarolinaNurses Association about the
importance of just beinginvolved in boards and there's
an initiative with the future ofNursing Action Coalition where
they talk about the importanceof nursing being on boards
because we just have a uniqueperspective and especially when
(21:27):
it comes to our communities andour cities and our counties and
the boards that are within thoseareas.
Yes, they have boards.
They have a park and recreationboard, a transportation board,
they have all kinds of boards,and you don't have to be on the
city council to be effective andto make an impact in your city
(21:48):
and your county.
In nursing, our curriculumprepares us to treat the whole
patient, so our approach focuseson holistic health, knowing that
every person's aspect of theirlife affects their wellbeing.
Affects what they would callhealth.
You know, the environment, thepatient, health.
Most of the theorists, they talkabout that.
Yes, y'all, I'm bringing outnursing theory.
(22:10):
I'm just bringing it all fullcircle.
As nurses, we have a unique viewof how to improve our
communities, counties, ourcities, based on that word
environment and how it affectsthe patient population.
It's our unique perspective thatmakes us equipped participate on
our community boards, and so Iwould challenge you if you don't
(22:33):
have a desire to get involved onanything in healthcare, then one
of your career goals reallycould be getting involved in
your community.
It could be to continue youreducation without getting
another degree/ certifications.
This goes along with being asubject matter expert, getting a
certification and then justcontinuously learning about
(22:54):
different things.
You say, okay, well I wannalearn about leadership, so I'm
gonna set a goal to read thismany books on leadership.
I wanna learn aboutcommunication, so I'm gonna find
a conference on how tocommunicate better.
And you can set that as a goal.
You can become an advocate fornursing and patients, which
means getting involved in thelegislative process.
I didn't know how much ourprofession relied so much on the
(23:18):
legislative process.
Staffing, legislative process;how many visitors we have,
legislative process, believe itor not; insurance, legislative
process.
Can you as a nurse practitionerprescribe or have a supervising
physician, legislative process.
There's a whole lot that theyhave power over.
And that has become now mylifelong mission, one of them,
(23:40):
you know, I got several, but nowthat I've come into this
knowledge, I have decided that Iwant to be a voice at the table
to help nurses understand thepower that they have in the
legislative process and how theycan advocate for nurses and
patients within the legislativeprocess.
These people are electedofficials who might have been a
(24:01):
real estate agent or you mighthave been a pharmacist, or you
own a farm, or you own your ownbusiness, or you worked in
corporate America at a financialinstitute.
They don't know anything abouthealthcare.
They're only going by thelobbyists, and the policy makers
that they interact with.
Now, don't get it twisted.
All lobbyists are not bad.
(24:23):
Every nursing organization has alobbyist working for them, to
try to make an impact on thelegislative process and to have
a voice at the table so thatthey're not making decisions for
nursing.
Again, when I was in theleadership academy with North
Carolina Nurses Association,they had a lobbyist come and
talk to us because we werelearning about the legislative
process.
(24:43):
And one of the things that shesaid that really stuck to me was
they have no idea what you do ifyou do nothing else.
Your purpose should be toeducate them on what you do.
Period.
Point blank.
Well, and vote you can startsmall by voting, reaching out to
(25:04):
them saying, Hey, I'm a nurse inyour area.
and just let me know if you needanything or I'm a nurse working
in this particular specialty.
I know you have concern aboutour patients just like I do.
You want the optimal care forour patients just like I do.
Let me know if you have anyquestions about any work that we
do in the hospital.
(25:24):
Just that easy to let them knowthat you're available.
You want to provide them witheducation about what we do so
that they can make appropriatedecisions where they are
regardless of the party.
So with that being said, as I'mtalking about these things, your
career goals should always bestructured as smart goals.
Smart is specific, attainable,achievable, R is for relevant,
(25:48):
and T is for timely.
An example of specific would be,I wanna get my education.
Okay, well, in what?
Which one?
What's attainable?
Sticking with the same thing.
Oh, I wanna get my certificationin cardiac medicine with the A C
N.
Okay, well you work on a cardiacstep down unit, cardiac
telemetry unit.
(26:09):
Okay.
Well that would mean you need togo and work in the I C U or you
could go for your C V R Ncertification.
So that's attainable for you.
It's relevant.
Now, timely would be by thirdquarter of 2023.
So that would be a shortsentence.
I would like to get mycertification in cardiovascular
nursing by third quarter of2022, October of 2023.
(26:33):
So now that we've gone throughall of this, of how it should be
structured, what are someexamples of career goals, why
it's important, then we need todetermine what are your career
goals?
So how do we do that?
I have a few suggestions of somethings that you can reflect on
to think about how to determineyour career goals.
If you're feeling stuck, youhave the answer within you.
(26:54):
You may be in denial of whatyour career goal is.
You may have said it to someoneand they told you, I don't see
you doing that.
Or why would you want to dothat?
It's within you though.
So how do you determine your owncareer goals?
Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Do you need more time?
Is money a factor?
Is time a factor?
Is home a factor?
(27:15):
If all of that is settled, or ifthere's one of those things in
there that is like, uh, wellthis is an issue.
Uh, well that is an issue...
then you work around that andmaybe your career goals are just
a little bit more bite size thanjust going straight to the mark.
You work around that.
What interests you?
Just write it down, reflect,think about those things really
(27:36):
perk your interests as a nurseor what you saw.
And if you're reflecting, youcan't think of anything, start
to look, start to notice.
Take the time for the next threeto four months to really start
to look around and see if thereis something that you do see.
Look in journal articles nursingmagazines to see if there's
(27:57):
something that perks yourinterest.
You determine your career goalsbased on your work setting too.
What's going on in your worksetting?
Is there a project that youwould like to work on, or an
area that you'd like to get moreexperience in?
What are your ambitions, youraspirations?
What's your big goal in life?
You need to take bite-sizedsteps to get there, and then
(28:18):
just remembering that at anypoint in time, you should have
no more than three to four goalsto work towards at once.
Otherwise, you're spreadingyourself too thin.
Once you set those goals, thenit's the habits and the systems
that you develop and put inplace to then achieve your
goals.
So you put a system, a routinein place, and then you attach a
(28:38):
habit to that system, a routinethat will help you to get to
your goal.
Lastly, I wanna leave you withthis quote from James Clear.
He is the author of AtomicHabits.
I love that book.
Life Changing.
He says, five years is a longtime.
It's much slower than most of uswould like.
If you accept the reality ofslow progress, you have every
(29:02):
reason to take action today.
If you resist the reality ofslow progress five years from
now, you'll simply be five yearsolder and still looking for a
shortcut.
Keep that in mind.
When you don't have a goal, youend up in a job longer than you
should, feeling miserable andstuck because you don't have a
(29:25):
plan.
It makes you a better person andit does not help the work
culture.
I hope this episode was veryhelpful for you in understanding
your career goals, where youshould start, or maybe some of
you have had career goals andyou now need to evaluate what
your next step is.
(29:46):
I've had to reevaluate my careergoals several times in my career
as an ambitious nurse becausewhat I thought was the goal
really wasn't the goal.
And guess what?
That's okay.
It's about making progress.
It's not perfection.
And at the end of the day, youwant to make an impact.
That is the goal.
So however it works out, and aslong as it's something that you
(30:08):
enjoy, then if there's a hiccuphere or there, if there's a
reroute here or there, it's justbecause you weren't supposed to
go down that route.
And it's okay because whateveris the hiccup is just not for
you, but whatever else is aroundthe corner, it's for you.
So I hope this was encouragingfor you.
I try my best not to be a DebbieDowner or a hand slapper, but I
(30:28):
wanna encourage you and empoweryou to take ownership of your
career, and don't let lifehappen to you, but you make life
happen within the fines of whatis in your control.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
If so, would you take 30 secondsand share it with another nurse
who may be unsure of where to gonext in their career, or maybe
(30:52):
need some career clarity?
Also, please leave a quickreview for the show on Apple
podcast.
It brings me so much joy and somuch encouragement to know this
podcast is helping you.
Now go get the career you wantand not the one you settle for.
And I'll meet you back here nextThursday for another episode.
(31:13):
See you soon!
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