The Ambitious Nurse | RN, Nursing Career, Nursing Job Opportunities
Are you feeling stuck in your current clinical environment? Maybe you want a change because you're too exhausted, burned out, or ready for different leadership. Do you want to make a change in your clinical career, but you're not sure what to do next?
You're in the right place. This podcast will help you get the clarity you need to grow so you can have the flexibility and autonomy you want while leveraging your voice and expertise.
I'm Bonnie Meadows a Board Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist, Influential Leader, Career Coach & Well-Being Coach. Since being in the nursing & healthcare profession since 2004, I have found myself ready to make the next step but felt stuck.
I got to a place where I dreaded going to work. I felt burnt out and unmotivated. I knew deep down I always wanted something else. But I had no clue how to even with the hope of a graduate degree to advance me.
I finally realized that growing in nursing is about the journey and not the destination. I finally stopped looking for a specific job to fill my cup.
I developed a framework I frequently implemented to get the clarity I needed for my career and catapulted me into areas of nursing and healthcare I never imagined. I am sharing it all with you.
If you are ready to find career strategies crafted as an experienced nurse using your gifts and abilities,
A guide to help you get clear on your next career steps,
Contentment and joy in your work-this podcast is for you!!
So get ready to kick off those Crocs, pop in those earbuds, and let's chat!!
The Ambitious Nurse | RN, Nursing Career, Nursing Job Opportunities
38 // Time Isn’t the Problem: How to Make Strategic Moves & Grow Your Nursing Career Faster
Is your nursing career not progressing as quickly as you'd hoped? Discover practical strategies to accelerate your career growth, even while managing the demands of work and life.
Say goodbye to the mindset of blaming "they" for career stagnation. Instead, embrace a proactive approach to advancement with our expert advice designed to keep you focused and motivated.
We'll explore the importance of experimenting with different positions, even if it means enduring short job stints.
Hear the inspirational journey of a nurse who faced multiple rejections before landing her dream director position, underscoring the power of patience and perseverance.
Equip yourself with the tools to take control of your career, explore new opportunities, and trust that every experience, even the missed chances, is a stepping stone to your ultimate success.
Key Takeaways:
- Stop letting “they” hold you back: Understand how to shift your mindset and take control of your career path.
- Balancing growth with daily work: Strategies for managing time while working long shifts and handling personal responsibilities.
- Clarify your career goals: How to build the right skill sets to reduce overwhelm and move forward confidently.
- Maximize your time: Discover time-saving activities like quick webinars, professional organizations, and mentorship programs.
- Take a risk: Why taking calculated risks is essential to career growth, and how to embrace new opportunities fearlessly.
Want to continue the conversation? Send me a text right here.
Ready to take the next step in your nursing career with confidence?
The Nursing Growth Starter Guide gives you proven strategies to move past uncertainty and advance with clarity.
Grab your free guide today! Click Here
Join me for a **1:1 Nurse Career Clarity Coaching Call**—a 1:1 coaching session where we’ll get you unstuck and find clarity to make the next move in your career.
About a month ago, I surveyed my email list to ask them what they wanted most to save money or to save time in growing their careers. The majority said save time. I was a little bit shocked that they said that it really doesn't take a whole lot of money to grow your career, but it takes a lot of time. Sometimes you have to wait on the right opportunities. In many cases, you're not doing what you need to do on your end to work on things to grow your career things to grow your career. In this podcast, I want to address a few reasons why your career growth may be going slower than you want it to go, and I'll also give you some tips on how you can turn those slow growth things around. Hopefully you're not guilty of these things, but if you are, you're going to learn today that there are some things that you can do to change it. Are you feeling stuck in your current clinical environment? Do you want to make a change in your nursing career but not sure what to do next, exhausted, burnt out and maybe even ready for different leadership? I'm Bonnie Meadows, a board certified clinical nurse specialist, influential leader, career coach and well-being coach, being in the nursing and healthcare profession since 2004,. I have felt stuck and unsure about what was next for me. I wanted to be fulfilled in my purpose, to have a voice at the table and to be a resource for others. I kept telling myself I wanted more, but didn't have the direction I needed, until I found Clarity and Career Growth Strategies for Experienced Nurses Like Me. In this podcast, you will find simple, tactical steps that allow you to gain the clarity you need, solutions for how to grow even without supportive leadership, and guidelines for setting boundaries at work, so that you can grow purposefully in your career as a nurse with a graduate degree who makes a huge impact in the profession. So get ready to trade your scrubs for yoga pants, pop in those earbuds and let's chat. Your career can go as slow or as fast as you want it to grow. It's just important to really take a focused approach to growing your career. Whether it be fast or slow, both need a very focused approach. I really want you to understand that you are in control of your career growth. No one is holding you back, but you.
Speaker 1:I used to always listen to DJ Khaled. It was a few years ago. It might have even been before COVID, but he was growing in his popularity and if you've ever listened to him before, he really talks positively. At that point in time, he was really motivationally speaking to people saying go and do whatever it is that you've been called to do, and stop listening to they. And so what he meant about they was we're always saying, oh well, they this and they said this and they said that, and they won't let me, just in regular life. And he's like stop listening to they. Who are these? They? People Forget they because they have nothing to do with you. They have nothing to do with you. And so I want to really address that elephant in the room, because one of the things I hear most from nurses who want to grow, especially in leadership, is they won't let me grow, they won't let me do this, they won't hire me for this, they won't hire me for that. And that is probably partially true. If you applied for something and they decided not to hire you, then, yes, I could see why you would have that perception about them. But what are you going to do to move them out of the way and make them a non-factor? There are a few tactics that I will give you that will help you to move they out of the way, put you in the forefront and help you to speed along your process for growing your career.
Speaker 1:So let's jump into number one, the common challenge of balancing your career growth with your day-to-day work. If you are working at the bedside in the hospital, working three days a week, 12-hour shifts, unless you have like a lot going on outside of work, there's really not an excuse. Like a lot going on outside of work, there's really not an excuse. I will say that there are people who are dealing with burnout, exhaustion. They just really don't feel like they have time for professional development. But you really have to make your professional development, your job search, those things that will help prepare you for promotion a priority and break them down to the smallest thing. But you might be just overwhelmed because you haven't narrowed your focus.
Speaker 1:So what I really want you to do with this challenge of balancing career growth with your daily activities and this goes for both those who are working three days a week, 12-hour shifts and those who are working five days a week or maybe four days a week determine your focus. Like that is the first thing that we need to do If we are really just trying to search for whatever jobs are out there. I just want to move away from the bedside and you've not narrowed down to what are the skills that I want to cultivate and develop, then you're going to feel like it's overwhelming, it's daunting. I don't have time for this. You don't need hours in a day to make progress, you just need small strategic steps. So, for example I'm just going to put me in this particular example I am growing a business.
Speaker 1:I am preparing to take the seat as president of my state nurses association. As president of my state nurses association, and what my state does from a support perspective, it is very robust. Once I step into that seat, I will become exponentially busier than I am now. So you've got those two things building a business, stepping into a role as president, things building a business stepping into a role as president. Thank God, my job is flexible. However, I still want to be good at my job.
Speaker 1:I have to stay on top of things, even when it comes to my job and engaging in the work that I need to do. Then I have a four-year-old, I have a husband, I have family that I need to visit and then I actually sing at church. I haven't done it in a while just because I've been juggling all of the things, but that's something that I want to get re-engaged in. I will say that there are some things that I've looked at in my life and I've said I need to take some things off of my plate, but the one thing that I actually do need to step into is doing more professional development. I do go to conferences, but there are some things that I want to do on a regular basis, and so I've determined what my focus is Read an article a week and watch one webinar a month Just small steps like that, and so I think that step. That ties into my point number two.
Speaker 1:Another reason why you're growing slow is because you're spinning your wheels, trying to do everything. You've really got to determine your focus and then clarify your career goals to streamline your path. Once you get narrow in your path, then you're good to go, and it doesn't have to be pinpoint what direction, what skill set do I want to build up? It's as easy as do I want to be clinical or do I not want to be clinical? And that's not usually a hard decision to make when you're leaving from the bedside or sometimes even stepping back and deciding okay, I know what I don't want. I don't want to be clinical anymore. Even if someone questions you and you after you've made that decision, you got to be okay with it.
Speaker 1:If you step out there and decide you want to come back to the clinical setting, you can. But you've got to narrow down your focus so that you can save time and energy when you're looking for whatever you want to do next. People will always try to talk you out of what they think you should be doing or talk you into what they think you should be doing when you know in your heart of hearts what you're really feeling pulled and called to, so stay focused on that. Feeling pulled and called to, so stay focused on that. But when you're spinning your wheels, trying everything, testing out this little thing and that little thing, even in projects at work, it leads to exhaustion, doubts about your ability to do the work, loss of passion for the work because you're just doing too much. So figure out the skill set you want to develop. Clarify your goals, even if they are wide-ranging. Just go in that route.
Speaker 1:Because of my experience, there are many directions that I could go. There are many things that I am good at. I know my worth. I know my value, I'm confident, but I'm not cocky. Sometimes even that can make my head spin, but I always come back to what do I not want? Sometimes it's also looking at what other things do I want to grow, even outside of work, and so that helps me narrow my focus. Get clear on your goal, even if it's a role. At this point in time, and many of you are focused on a role and I'm trying to shift you away from focusing on a role and really focusing on your skill sets. But eventually I would love to dig into some good goal-setting techniques to help you prioritize and align your career aspirations.
Speaker 1:Number three you're not taking advantage of practical time-saving activities for busy nurses, such as quick webinars, joining a professional organization, finding a mentorship program and getting a career coach, even getting a career coach who understands the nursing industry, which would be me. After 20 years, I understand the industry. The one thing I love talking about and digging into is the nursing workforce and helping people build their careers Problem solving, helping them to really figure out what is that skill set that they need to build. Where do they find joy in what they're looking for? So if you're looking for an individualized plan, stay tuned for the next couple of episodes. I will have something available for you very soon.
Speaker 1:The next point, which I believe is point number four, is you don't take time to reflect on your work and where you want to go next. You can't understand and see where your career might take you and what doors are cracked that you should probably push open because you've not taken a moment to just reflect. I want you to go somewhere, get quiet and make note of, keep a journal of just those things that are swirling around in your mind. Look back on your last couple of years of work what's brought you joy and what have you not liked, sometimes even your last couple of weeks of work, what has brought you joy and what has not brought you joy. And if you're in a toxic situation, go somewhere, visualize, sit down, take those people out of the situation. If those people weren't there, would you still like the work or what would be missing? Also, take time to make a portfolio of your work. In one of my upcoming episodes, I'm going to talk about the difference between a resume, a CV, and a portfolio. And if you are an ambitious nurse, which I believe you are. If you're listening to this podcast, you should be keeping a record of your work in a portfolio so that you can use it to either reference for yourself or to hand someone, which would level you up when it comes to the resume and interview process.
Speaker 1:Reason number five is you're staying stuck because you don't want to take a risk. Yes, I've asked you to determine your focus, because that is important, but even once you determine your focus, it could still be wide. You need to then break it down and start applying to jobs within that net and take a risk, because you won't know what you like and what you don't like until you test out a few jobs. And so I hear somebody asking the question well, people won't hire me if I've only been in a job for a year or two years. The industry has changed.
Speaker 1:It is important for you to be where your light can shine, where you can work in your zone of genius, where you do your best work. But you're not going to find that out, and sometimes you might be that person who, well, anywhere I go, I do my best work Because you're pushing through, but you might not like it. You shouldn't be there if you don't like the work. Even if you don't love it, you should at least like it. If you don't like it, then you know it's time to go. Don't push through. Just know it's time to go. It's okay. Those quick job in it and I'm back out of it. They help you to make your decisions quicker, and I'm not.
Speaker 1:I don't always advocate for job hopping, but sometimes there are periods in your career where you do need to job hop so that you can figure out what is the best move for you. I don't like it when people stay somewhere and they are completely miserable, because I know that there are other options out there. You don't want to believe me when I say so, but I know there are options. Don't ever tell yourself that there's not an option. It might be a little true. It might take some nuances to get there, but there are other options.
Speaker 1:For example, I just recently coached and I'll probably talk about her several times because she's just done a phenomenal job in her career growth. I've been coaching a nurse who has their DNP and she was in a role that required a master's degree. She was a clinical nurse specialist. She was working in the hospital, looking to grow, and her next step was to become a director. The CNS role prepares you to be a director. Honestly, the CRNA role does the NP role does the certified nurse, midwife, like all of us, you're in leadership positions. The difference between the difference between the CNS role and all of those other roles is that we already come with project management and program management experience, because that's what we learn in our degree programs, and so I was preparing her for several interviews. She got further in the interview than most people thought that she would because she prepared well.
Speaker 1:I prepared her for those interviews because she was stepping out of a very narrow specialty and going very broad, and so we talked through those things that that she needed to do in order to market herself, present herself as not being just in that market of that specialty, but her knowledge base being broader than that. That particular job she did not get, but she was the top two of the candidates. From there she had gotten offered another job, but she was going to have to take a pay cut and she was making good money. She didn't feel like it was going to help her to grow. Not that it was a bad role, because it was an excellent role, but again she had a narrowed focus, she had determined her focus, she decided she was going to wait and she waited and then something else became available and she got hired into that director role.
Speaker 1:So I say all of that to say sometimes, even when we need to wait, it's okay, but it is always important to at least step out and take a risk. Sometimes we don't even apply for the job because we think as if we've already gotten it and so we're like, yeah, I'm just not going to apply for it. Well, you don't even know if you're going to get the job, so feel free to explore jobs. Even know if you're going to get the job, so feel free to explore jobs. Nursing is different. This is a different industry from what it used to be. People do look at your resumes and they might see two years or a year and a half. I've got several times on my resume where it's just a year and a half. I've built up my skills to where they are now. People appreciate that and they're like, okay, this might be something different for her, she might stay a little bit longer. Take the risk.
Speaker 1:Here's my last tip, and it's actually a bonus tip, just a reminder no one is holding you back from growing your career when you've not been hired for a position. It's likely there's a percentage to where they need to change their hiring practices. Absolutely, there is a strong percentage of that. But then there's a strong percentage of they already know who they want. It's not that they have terrible hiring practices. They have someone in their own area that they want to grow. You can't be mad at that, because they sometimes want to promote from within, but they had to open it up to other candidates.
Speaker 1:Just remember no one can take anything from you. In some cases you didn't get the job because that's probably not a good match for you, but you're trying to force it. Just understand and trust that if you didn't get it, it's okay, because you don't know what's behind closed doors. It could be a mess. It could be toxic you don't know that. Or it could be a manager that you really wasn't going to vibe with in the first place, but you didn't know that because they put up a good front in the interview. No one can take anything from you. So I need you to take that control out of that leader's hand and put it back in your pocket.
Speaker 1:Every person can save time growing their careers by determining their career goals and focusing early to make strategic decisions. Take small steps, take a risk. It's okay, it won't be life-crushing. It won't be career-ending. If that's the one thing that ends your career, that wasn't in anyone's control. So until next time, I hope that you start to look at your career and start to speed up that process so that you can get to your next step in your career. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds and share it with another nurse who may be unsure of where to go next in their career or maybe need some career clarity? Also, please leave a quick review for the show on Apple podcast. It brings me so much joy and so much encouragement to know this podcast is helping you. Now go get the career you want and not the one you settle for, and I'll meet you back here next Thursday for another episode. See you soon.
