It is often hard and full of challenges to go from being a nursing student to a full-time nurse. If you are about to graduate, it is important to know how to start your career off on the right foot. In order to be successful as a nurse, you need to plan carefully and work hard. During the transition time, you may feel overwhelmed at times, but if you do the right things now, you can build the career of your dreams.
Don’t quit your first job in a year like one in five new nurses do. Instead, use the advice we’ll give you below to set yourself up for success, deal with problems, and build a nursing career to be proud of. Read on to find out more.
Write An Impressive Resume
It can be hard to get your resume just right, but you need to do so if you want to reach your goals and build a solid career. Your resume should show off your skills in addition to your education and certifications. Mention any skills you learned during clinicals, like how to put an IV in a patient or how to talk to them. You should also put on your resume any volunteer work that has to do with nursing. If you want to get into a certain specialty, make sure to highlight any relevant experience to make yourself stand out from other applicants.
Apply For The Jobs You Want
Just because you graduated from college doesn’t mean you should accept the first job that presents itself. Consider your clinical and volunteer experiences as you decide which areas of nursing you have so far found most enjoyable. Consider the setting that you would most like to work in. Then, begin browsing for jobs that match your criteria.
Apply as soon as a chance arises to prevent missing out. It’s not necessary to submit many resumes, but it’s never a good idea to place all your hope on one application. The best course of action is to submit a few applications to carefully chosen positions that interest you.
Keep Learning
As a nurse, you don’t stop learning after you graduate. To keep your license current, you will need to get credits for continuing education. Sign up for opportunities to keep learning right away if you want to set yourself up for success. In addition to helping you keep your credentials up-to-date, continuing education often helps you learn new things and could make you stand out from other nurses.
If you want to move up in your career, you might want to think about getting a higher degree, such as through an online ABSN program at a specialist school. This is especially helpful if you want to move up the ranks and become a leader. You can also go back to school to get a certification in a specific field that will help you get a better job.
Make Time For Self-Care
There’s no way around it: being a nurse is a very stressful job. Even though the job is rewarding, working long hours makes it hard not to feel stressed. Burnout is a real problem in the nursing field, so it’s important to find a good balance between work and other parts of your life. Give yourself time to do things you enjoy, and don’t take on more than you can handle. Taking a few minutes to go outside during your shift is also a great way to relieve stress. Most importantly, remember that caring for yourself is not selfish. It is an important part of both personal happiness and professional success.
Be A Team Player
If you can’t work well with other people, you won’t get very far in the health care field. When you’re just starting out, be willing to take the shifts you don’t want and offer to help out whenever you can. Respect your fellow nurses and be willing to learn from what they know and have done. Learn about the people you work with. Over time, you will make friends at work and earn the respect of your coworkers. This is one of the surest ways to do well as a nurse; nursing isn’t all about education and experience. It’s about how you interact with others and how much they respect you.
Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help
Even if you were the best student in your nursing class and graduated first, you don’t know everything there is to know about being a nurse. Nursing classes teach a lot of things, but they can’t replace experience in the real world.
When you land your first job, be prepared to ask questions. Be modest, and don’t be embarrassed to admit when you don’t know anything. Nobody expects you to know everything, and you’ll succeed in your work a lot more if you’re prepared to ask for assistance.
Be A Good Communicator
To have a successful nursing career, you will need to be able to communicate with people well. Communication skills include both what you say and how you say it, as well as how you listen. For a nursing career to go well, every nurse needs to know how to do these things. Communication isn’t just about talking.
You will stand out from other nurses if you can talk to patients, doctors, and other members of the multidisciplinary healthcare team. Understanding the things that get in the way of good communication and how to deal with them will increase your chances of having a successful nursing career.
Be Adaptable
Today, changes in healthcare happen so quickly that nurses have to be able to keep up. When there is a problem, a nurse who can change and has the ability to adapt will be better able to handle it. Hiring managers in the different types of nursing jobs will be looking for nurses who can change with the times.
A lot of work is needed to be a good nurse. If you want to move forward in your chosen nursing career path, you will have to work hard. However, the rewards are massive, and the career can be a stable and happy one if you choose well and put the work in.
