Setting goals for your future is a key way to stay on track and advance in almost any profession. In the field of nursing, however, where subspecialties, managerial positions, and opportunities for travel can abound, goal-setting may be necessary to achieve everything you want from your career.
Nursing skills and goals are vast and varied. Many may choose to pursue specialized certifications, others advanced education, and some specific placements in their ideal facilities.
Whatever your ultimate dream is as a nurse, setting realistic professional nursing goals and sticking to a plan to achieve them can help turn your aspirations into reality. In this guide, we cover the importance of setting goals for nurses, different kinds of career goals to aspire to, and how you can take the next steps to move closer to your nursing dream.
Having career goals can help nurses maintain focus and routine as they develop skills that can take years to master. Additionally, goals can help nurses break down daunting tasks into more approachable and understandable processes.
Goal-setting can be particularly important for career-oriented individuals who want to climb the nursing ladder. This is because qualifying for many advanced roles in the discipline can require:
All this is to say that it can take a long while to reach your ultimate aspirations as a nurse. Setting goals can transform these tasks into more manageable steps and help you make measured progress toward your ultimate nursing career goals.
As mentioned, the variety of specialties and positions available to nurses means many potential paths to follow and various goals to set. From finishing a college application to taking charge of an entire healthcare facility, nursing goals are as varied as the diverse individuals who make up the field.
To get a better understanding of the different types of goals nurses can set for themselves, we’ll break them down by timeline and purpose.
For some nurses, such as those hoping to acquire a PhD, their goals may take many years to achieve. For others, such as nurses aiming to obtain certain certifications, they could finish in a matter of days or hours, depending on their qualifications to write the necessary exams.
Ultimately, there are no cut-and-dry guidelines for what defines the distinction between short-term and long-term goals. Often, the difference can vary based on a nurse’s own perspective and attitude. In general, however, some achievements that might be included in the short-term category include:
Furthermore, long-term goals are oftentimes a series of shorter-term goals. Getting a PhD, for example, can require first getting an MSN—which itself may require a bachelor's degree. This can be further broken down into smaller goals, such as applying for school, completing an assignment, or passing a test.
Other long-term goals are more abstract and multi-faceted, such as aiming to improve your quality of health care and garner better patient outcomes. Whatever your nursing goal is, it can be helpful to keep the big picture in mind while still working on the steps you can take in the immediate future.
Nursing can be a complex profession, and its demands may often spill past the confines of the clinic and creep into nurses’ personal lives. Still, it can be pertinent to maintain a solid work-life balance whenever possible—and that can be particularly true when it comes to setting a career goal.
While our careers may take up a large deal of our lives, they don’t necessarily define us. Beyond career aspirations, nurses may also have personal goals regarding:
While these kinds of goals may be entirely separate from a nurse’s professional aspirations, the lives they lead are not. Thus, it can be crucial for nurses with lofty personal ambitions to find roles that help support their hopes and dreams. To make the most out of their lives and their careers, nurses can try:
All in all, while personal and professional goals are separate aspirations, they’re two sides of the same coin. The right role(s) can help nurses achieve their life goals while still progressing toward a rewarding professional nursing career.
Everyone’s goals are different, and no one should pick your aspirations for you. That said, there may be a proven method to help nurses more easily outline their ambitions. Below, we’ll examine how SMART goals in nursing can help you stay on the path toward your ultimate nursing objectives.
The SMART approach to goal-setting can make the overwhelming task of outlining a plan to achieve your ambitions more manageable. SMART is an acronym that stands for: 4
With this criterion guiding your goal-setting, you can more effectively work toward attaining your personal and professional aspirations. And, if those involve acquiring a BSN or MSN, Alliant International University can help you achieve them sooner.
Whether you’re just beginning your nursing career or are looking to enhance your credentials with an advanced degree, Alliant International University has a program for you.
Let’s begin with the BSN. For many nurses, this is the foundational degree upon which they build their careers. Acquiring a bachelor's degree is especially important for nurses who hope to pursue further education, as it may be necessary for acceptance into advanced programs. When you study for your BSN at Alliant, you can learn:
If you already have a bachelor’s degree in another subject but aim to break into the world of nursing, Alliant can help you as well. The master’s of science in nursing direct entry (MSN-DE) lets you jump headfirst into the field without having to start from the beginning. For individuals hoping to obtain an MHA vs. MSN or a higher advanced nursing degree, this can be the perfect opportunity to get your foot in the door.
If you’re searching for nursing programs in Phoenix, AZ that support your personal and professional goals, apply to Alliant and get moving toward your aspirations.
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