When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, it’s easy to let them fall by the wayside when you slip into old habits by February. Many people become discouraged with a goal-related hiccup, and cease to continue trying to fulfill their resolutions. However, you shouldn’t let that stop you. If anyone is resilient and determined enough to make positive changes in the new year, it’s travel nurses. Here are a few simple resolutions you should consider for 2017:
Learn new skills
It’s easy to stick to what you’re good at in the workplace early on in your career as opposed to consistently developing new skills. However, it’s important to never stop learning in work and life in general! Some nursing skills can easily be learned on the job, while others take classes to master. Establish that you’ll take the time and effort necessary to learn as much as possible in 2017, whether you enroll in further education or not. Here are a couple skills that you could probably afford to have under your belt in the workplace:
- Learn a new computer program: Is there a program on the computers at work that just seems like a foreign language to you? While travel nursing, you may find yourself working with a program in a new hospital that is nothing like the one you worked with at your previous gig. Maybe you just know the basics about it or struggle each time you have to use it at work. Take the time to familiarize yourself with a computer program you’re unfamiliar with this year, whether it’ll help you in your current position or a future one!
- Communicate effectively: While good workplace communication is essential in all industries, it can truly be a matter of life and death in a hospital setting. Healthcare Business and Technology reported about a study by CRICO Strategies found that some of the most common communication issues between healthcare providers was miscommunication about patient’s conditions, poor documentation and failure to read a patient’s medical record. While it’s not your responsibility to improve communication across your whole hospital, you can work on being more effective in your own dialog with your coworkers.
Practice patience
The life of a nurse is fast-paced, and it’s understandable to not have the luxury of being patient, especially with co-workers who may be holding up the process of something time-sensitive. But just like effective communication, it’s essential that you learn the virtue of patience in your travel nursing career. When you move to another hospital next year, you will be thrust into another group of people that you need to get used to. Patience goes hand in hand with effective communication, as when you get impatient or frustrated with someone at work, you’re likely to shut down rather than try to work out what you two are disputing about. According to Psychology Today, there are four steps to improving your patience: understanding how addictive irritation can be, recognizing more effective methods of dealing with it, realizing when you’re starting to hit your boil-over point, and talking yourself into a more positive reaction. While this will certainly be handy when you’re working, you’ll also realize how beneficial patience is in your personal life as well!
Take a class or two on the side and further your education.”
Consider a class
The idea of making time for schooling amongst a travel nursing schedule may seem crazy, but with a little bit of prioritization and and organization, it’s certainly an attainable goal. Maybe you’re thinking of trying to work your way up the nursing ladder, but that requires another degree or certification. Perhaps there are some practices that the new hires are familiar with but weren’t taught in your schooling. This would be a good opportunity to take a class or two on the side and further your education. If your employer allows, you can ensure you always have a certain evening off work in order to fulfill your studies. Not only will this expand your mind in the workplace, but having the fact that you’re consistently pursuing new knowledge will look great on your resume as well!
Try mentoring
If you’re a seasoned nurse, there are sure to be a few younger nurses who are new to the industry and would love to learn from your experiences. On the other hand, if you’re on your first travel nursing assignment or new to nursing in general, there’s a good chance that you’d like to look to someone more experienced for guidance! Consider establishing a mentorship program at your hospital, so that other nurses have the chance to learn from each other. There are many ways you can structure this – from including all employees to just ones that are involved in travel nursing. If you’re working in a small clinic or hospital with a staff that doesn’t have a lot of travel nurses, you could just set up a mentorship with another nurse that you’ve become friends with in your time there. While many may be hesitant to establish a mentorship with someone at a job that they won’t be working with next year, this is a great way to ensure you keep in touch with your connections and colleagues no matter where your next travel nursing assignment takes you!