Transition into the Professional Nursing Role
I live and school in Florida State (FL). However, after graduation, I will be seeking employment at California State (CA). The California Board of Registered Nursing sets the following criteria for meeting an RN licensure requirement. First, the nursing student has to graduate from an accredited nursing program from an accredited institution by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) and the Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Second, the student has to submit an application to the California Board of Registered Nursing at 6-8 weeks before graduation. Third, the nursing school of the student has to submit the transcripts of the student to the California Board of Registered Nursing (American Nurses Association, 2020). As a BSN nurse in California, I will have a broad range of career options. First, I could work as a Critical Care Nurse in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and managed care centers. The motivation behind this is that I am a problem solver who can be able to perform complex patient assessments while remaining calm in chaotic and life-threatening situations. The detractor for this is that, in addition to BSN, I might be required to have certification in certain types of critical care such as Critical Care Nursing. Second, I could work as a Nurse Case Manager in hospitals, clinics, hospice care and insurance firms. The motivation behind this career is that, I have competency in good communication, organization and management of complex projects. However, the need to have certification in fields like social work and behavioral health could be a detractor. Third, I might work as a Public Health Nurse. Due to the interest I have in advocacy, activism and education, I believe that I am adequately motivated for this career. However, the certification and credentials in Public Health could be a detractor.
Holistic Life Balance
Nurses deal with serious medical emergencies like patient death and long-working hours that can cause a lot of strain leading to burnouts (Allen, Fiorini & Dickey, 2015). Therefore, it is critical for nurses to balance their professional and personal lives. Striking a balance between professional life and personal life will help the nurses to lead a normal type of life. In the first year, I will come into terms with the stress factors, define my purpose in the career and live a healthier life. Accepting that there are some things that cannot be changed will help me cope with the stress. Eating healthier foods and exercising will also be a key strategy in the maintenance of a good work life balance. By the fifth year, I will have learnt conflict management and will be able to deal with conflicts immediately using most appropriate and fair approaches. I will make sure that I engage in necessary conversations to resolve the conflicts so that both conflicting parties get contended with the solutions that I will have arrived at. It is important to note that conflicts need to be resolved at a tender stage before it escalates t a fierce or contentious stage. For instance, for nurses, conflicts that have been left to escalate to higher stages are likely to affect service delivery to patients and cause heated exchanges in public amongst nurses which will ultimately portray a negative image and reputation of the institution as a whole.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Stressors and Challenges
Even though nurses love their professional careers, there are challenges and issues that can cause a reduction in job satisfaction and change of career (Bradbury-Jones, Sambrook & Irvine, 2018). In the first year, I might face discrimination from the other nursing attendants. Being a new nursing attendant can be intimidating because of the need to adjust to a lot of things in the new environment like coping with the nursing and hospital systems. Unfortunately, some of the veteran nurses are not welcoming and this can reduce the motivation of new nurses making them question their career choices. I will manage this challenge by making actively participating in team work with the welcoming nurses. Also, in the first year, I might experience burnout in the new role. According to American Nurses Association (2020), burnout is caused by chronic overwork and lack of nursing support. The plan to manage this challenge is by saying no to new commitments, engaging in healthy activities like exercising and setting boundaries for my important tasks.
In the fifth year stressors and challenges might include increased workload and lack of workplace safety leading to job hazards. The need to work for long hours in case the healthcare facility will be understaffed might reduce the quality of care delivered as well as putting the nurse at health risk. The health hazard might include workplace violence injuries and exposure to infected body fluids. The plan to overcome the increased workload challenge will be to prioritize my career goals, working in teams, and engaging in time-management practices like arriving early. The health hazards will be overcome by maintaining the safety tips like wearing protective gear (Clearly et al., 2018).
Lifelong Learning
According to the American Nurses Association (2020), being a nursing professional implies pursuing lifelong learning. In order to fulfil the learning scope as well as the care standards, it is imperative for nurses to engage in lifelong learning. In the first year, I will consider certification in a number of career specialties so as to attest my nursing expertise. This will include certification in Critical Care Nursing, Behavioral Health and Pubic Health. The plan to achieve these certifications is by attending nursing conferences, volunteering to participate in nursing committees and receiving on the job-training.
In the fifth year, I plan to engage in advanced nursing education as well as pursue formal education outside the nursing profession. According to the American Nurses Association (2020), Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) include clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists and nurse practitioners. To meet the advanced educational and clinical care requirements, I plan to undertake a Masters Degree Program in Nursing in an accredited institution by the Board of Registered Nursing. APRN certification will enable me to operate independently or under a physician’s supervision. Beyond the nursing profession, considering that, as an APRN I will be working with communities, I will also pursue an MSN program focused on community health and development.
Professional Contributions
In my first and fifth years in BSN practice, I plan to contribute to the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. My aim is to be supported in the nursing career as well as be able to define other issues that appertain to influence global health. Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing was founded so as to promote knowledge and learning besides fostering ethical virtues such as courage and love in the nursing profession. At the first year, I will join other nurses in Sigma in the promotion of better decision-making and policy making by participating in the policy process that the organization advances. In the fifth year of practice, I will engage in the forums and opportunities provided by the organization for research into healthcare, social and nursing concerns so that the findings will be disseminated to the to the public for the improvement of healthcare.
In my nursing profession, there is need for professional nursing development in relation to monitoring of the outcomes data for patient quality and safety. First, there is need for promoting more well-informed diagnosis. In line with this, I need to correctly diagnose and interpret patient data. The diagnostic imaging must refer to the diagnostic questions of the patient for correct diagnosis. Getting correct diagnosis is important as it ensures that patients are subjected to the right medication for the correct type of illness that they are actually suffering from. Wrong diagnosis means that even though patients may be subjected to best medication, they may actually not show good improvement progress as the medication will be for a wrong type of illness which the patient may not actually be suffering from. Next, I need to support optimal treatment planning. Therefore, I will select the right approach guided by the clinical pathways and evidence-based practices. Evidence based practice is a widely used approach when it comes to administration of medication and nursing services to patients. According to American Nurses Association (2020, p.1), “evidence-based practice (EBP) incorporates the best evidence from well-designed studies, patient values and preferences, and a clinician's expertise in making decisions about a patient's care”. Finally, there is need to increase transparency in the improvement of patient outcomes. Therefore, the patient outcomes must be defined clearly and evaluated transparently so that the true measures of healthcare quality align to the need of the patients. Transparency is one of the medical quality factors that determine the reputation of the involved medical institutions. Institutions that are transparent to their patients are likely to deliver better quality of medical care as compared to those healthcare institutions that do not value and embrace transparency. Transparency also ensures that the right medical decisions are made both from the medical practitioners’ side as well as the patient side.
References
Allen S.R., Fiorini P., Dickey M. (2015). A streamlined clinical advancement program improves RN participation and retention. Journal of Nursing Administration, 45 (8), 316–22. doi: 10.1097/NNA.0b013e3181e93978.
American Nurses Association. "Nursing Career Resources." 2020. American Nurses Association. https://www.nursingworld.org/education-events/career-center/nursing-career-resources/. 23 July 2020.
Bradbury-Jones C., Sambrook S., Irvine F. (2018). Power and empowerment in nursing: a fourth theoretical approach. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62 (2), 258–66. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04598
Cleary M., Horsfall J., Muthulakshmi P., Happell B., Hunt G.E. (2018). Career development: graduate nurse views. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25 (17), 2605–2613. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12080.
