Nurses, you’re in demand, and you have more opportunities to choose from than ever before. And to help you get the most of them, here are nine essential nursing career development tips to beat the competition and lock down your next job.
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9 Essential Tips for Nursing Career Development
Why does nursing career development matter? Because it's essential for making yourself even more valuable to employers, and beating the competition for your next job or getting that next promotion.
And that does more than help your career — it improves your personal life, too, since you’ll enjoy greater job satisfaction while feeling like your life is moving in the right direction. So, nursing career development is worth more than the time and effort you put into it — and here are the best ways to do it.
#1: Set your career goals
Are you happy with your current specialty or setting? If not, what do you want to improve? Where do you want to be in five years, or ten? Do you want to have more free time, make more money, or be a manager or leader?
Answering these simple questions is an essential first step in understanding what you want from your career — and then figuring out how to achieve it.
#2: Focus on continuing education (CE)
You probably already take CE courses to stay licensed. But taking the right ones is also key to nursing career development.
So, after you’ve determined your career goals, take the time to match them to available CE courses. For instance, should you focus on learning about new tech, equipment, or best practices? Or expanding into new areas like education, case management, or administration? If you're not sure where to begin, check out our quick guide to nursing CE.
#3: Develop soft skills
On top of the clinical skills your job requires, you'll also need soft skills like communication, leadership, and teamwork to get the best nursing jobs.
And, while soft skills come naturally to some, they can also be learned; some CE courses and certifications even focus on soft skills like leadership. But there are other ways to develop them, too, like seeking feedback at work or entering into a mentorship program. Learn about how to develop nursing soft skills here.
#4: Get certified
A tried-and-true way to prove your skills, nursing certifications can sometimes be earned with CE credits. But other times, you’ll have to log a certain amount of hours in a certain setting then pay a fee to take a test. But that fee is worth it, opening the door to new opportunities and boosting how much you can earn.
Most RNs already have basic certifications like BLS and ACLS. But earning CCRN, PALS, AWCC, CSFA, and others can open up the door to a huge new world of career opportunities. Learn more about the best certifications for RNs here.
#5: Join a professional nursing organization
Nursing organizations exist to help nurses like you develop the skills you need to do the best possible work. And to do that, they offer a huge variety of learning resources — CE, workshops, webinars, conferences, and more, including ways to network with industry figures for even more chances to find great jobs.
Besides the American Nursing Association (ANA), you can find organizations that represent pretty much every nursing specialty, and then some. For instance, ANNA for dialysis nurses, the AACN for ICU nurses, and so on. Get a full list here.
#6: Work in a resource pool
Also called float pools, resource pools are jobs where you move from setting to setting or unit to unit depending on where you’re needed each day.
While you’ll usually work in units requiring similar skills — for instance, telemetry one day, PCU the next — you're still getting diverse experience with just one job. In other words, you're getting paid to develop skills, gain expertise, and boost your career prospects. Learn more here.
#7: Travel
Travel nursing is one of best and fastest ways to develop essential skills. In addition to potentially earning more (thanks to the stipends you receive), it also exposes you to new facilities, settings, technologies, and professional contacts. Learn more about the benefits of traveling here, or search open jobs now.
> Pro tip: Here's how to work in dozens of states with just one nursing license
#8: Work local contract jobs
If you’re not into traveling, local contract jobs offer the same benefits while keeping you close to home. Located within 50 miles of where you live, local contracts let you move from facility to facility or setting to setting every few months, building skills and experience while enjoying career flexibility. Learn more about the benefits of local contract jobs here.
#9: Work per diem jobs
Like resource pools, per diem nursing jobs are a great way to develop new skills with a single job. Whether you choose to work per diem full-time or for picking up extra shifts (and another paycheck), it's perfect for exploring new settings.
On top of building clinical skills, working per diem also shows employers that you have soft skills like adaptability and versatility. You also get to enjoy the flexibility of setting your own schedule — especially when you use the Go HWS Mobile App. Learn more about working per diem here.
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Did you know that HealthTrust is America's leading source of per diem nursing careers? Search our per diem jobs now!
Let's Take Your Nursing Career to New Places
As America’s leading source of nursing jobs, HealthTrust is proud to offer opportunities for travel, local contract, per diem, resource pools, and much more! Search all of our open nursing jobs here to see what's available.
