How To Stay Up To Date In the Nursing Field
You’ve done it—you’ve made it through a grueling few years of nursing school, passed your board exams with flying colors, interviewed successfully, and finally landed a job in your career field of choice.
Congratulations! You probably already know that you made an excellent choice in your career path: nursing is a booming sector of the healthcare industry, and job openings as well as security are high. But landing the gig isn’t the final step.
In an industry like medicine where new findings, breakthroughs, and discoveries are changing the way professionals work every day, and where experience is worth a great deal, staying current is key to a successful nursing career. In nursing, that means staying on top of industry news as well as refining or updating your own skills periodically.
Attend Nurse Conferences And Industry Events
Conferences are a great place to meet with other nurses, learn about potential networking opportunities if you’re open to finding a new job, learn about up-to-the-minute breakthroughs, and hear first-hand accounts of tried and true strategies. All of this boils down to tools that help you be better at your job. Depending on your location and ability to travel, there may be a conference for you to pick from almost every month of the year! You may choose to go alone, however traveling with a team of colleagues to a professional development event may get your stay and entry to the conference covered by your employer, so be sure to check before you book.
Seek Out A Professional Nurse Mentor
Is there someone in your field whose career you particularly admire? Is there a nurse at your alma mater or current place of employment who has charted a course you hope to follow? Seek these people out for career counseling and advice, and express your interest to learn about how to stay on top of your nursing game.
Stay Informed And Well-Read On Nursing
The best way to stay constantly updated is to subscribe to relevant nursing industry newsletters, magazines, blogs, and websites. These resources get information out so quickly, you might even have trouble keeping up!
