Nurses are fundamental in providing health care facilities to patients. They play a crucial role by ensuring best services. They are knowledgeable and always ensure that their patients have a positive experience at the health care centres. This report is a reflective analysis of the different roles of a fresh graduate registered nurse.
The report aims to elucidate the responsibilities of a senior nurse unit manager. It also sheds light on the different personal skills of a registered nurse and the strategies to be adopted for long-term career development. It focuses a five-year strategic goal, which will enhance the quality of service provided.
The word career is described as the series of occupations, roles and designations of a particular person during a lifetime. It is defined by the total amount of work done in a lifetime. There are several opportunities for progress and advancement in any career. The person should plan and manage his work choices to have a successful career. He should utilize all available opportunities and make best use of talent and expertise in the field that will help him reach the goals (Bergmo-Prvulovic 2014). For a successful career, one must link the individual interests and opportunities to fulfil environmental and personal needs (Tams & Arthur 2010). Career development encompasses ways of learning, working throughout one’s lifespan, exploring new avenues, skill development and life management (Arnold 1997). This report shares several information about nursing development based on interviews of experienced nursing professionals. It also sheds light on the different skills and attributes I need to develop to have a successful nursing career. I will elaborate on a personal five year development plan that will focus on the different aspects of the nursing industry and the tactics I would follow to achieve the goals. Roles And Responsibilities Of A Fresh Graduate Registered Nurse Example Paper
Nursing refers to the task of preventing illness, promoting health and taking care of individuals who are disabled or sick at any situation. Nurses have utilized their knowledge and have shown great professional development over the years. Nursing has been considered inseparable from medical profession since ages (Buckley 2014). Nurses not only act as caregivers, they provide emotional and mental support to the patients in a holistic manner during their illness. Florence Nightingale is considered as the founder of the modern nursing practice (Selanders 2015). A collaboration between the medical practitioners, therapists and nurses help in better treatment of individuals. Depending on the education and practice, a nurse holds different credentials that give them the authority to treat a patient. Maintainence, exploration and disengagement help in career transition (Chang, Cho & Cheng 2006).
I am working as a fresh graduate registered nurse in the organization. For this report, I need to develop a professional and personal five-year development plan that will reflect my future aspirations and the ways to achieve them. It will elucidate the developmental strategies I need to adopt for a successful professional career. To get a clear understanding of the nursing practice, its roles and responsibilities, I have also interviewed a senior Nurse Unit Manager (NUM) with more than 15 years of experience.
1- Why did you choose nursing as your profession?
A-I had been always fascinated by medicine and healthcare. Nursing practice influences the quality of healthcare (Buckley 2014). My mother was a nurse and I could feel the satisfaction she experienced by helping those who were sick and disabled. She inspired me to take up nursing as my career option. It helped me grow as a committed and responsible individual. The regular challenges and the bond developed with several patients over a long time gave me immense pleasure.
2- What was your first designation? How was the transition to the post of unit manager?
A- I started my career as a registered nurse. I was placed in different departments like oncology, cardiology and mental health on a rotation basis. I worked as an RN for more than six years and had a management degree. I always wanted to utilize my degree for the betterment of the patients. I also wanted to contribute to an improvement in the environment (Donna Novak 2016). I was looking for such a change in my career and the different challenges and opportunities associated with them. It was the best form of advancement I could have asked for and acted as a stepping-stone in my life. Confidence, expectations and personal aspirations are shape a person’s career along with societal views and employment opportunities (Roberts & Ward-Smith 2010).
3- What is the role of a unit manager?
A- Nurse unit managers assign, supervise and evaluate the duties of all junior nurses and staff. They also need to mentor nurses to ensure a patient gets proper care. They monitor complicated patient reports (Cziraki et al. 2014). They also have certain administrative duties like overseeing budgets and expenses for the units, keeping a check on the medical supplies and interviewing new employees (Chang & Daly 2012).
Self-assessment plans, enhanced capacity and cohesion with workforce are essential for an analysis of personal and professional areas of work (Conway, McMillan & Becker 2006). It will help me in identifying the different strategies I need to adopt for career development and to improve the quality of nursing I provide (Cleary et al. 2013). Nursing roles and paths have evolved now (National Health Workforce taskforce (2009)). My personal development plan will focus on two aspects, personal analysis and setting work goals. A personal analysis will help me evaluate my strength and weakness. Setting new definable goals will provide me a clear guidance to enhance my career plan (Skela-Savi? & Kiger 2015). Given below is an evaluation of my personal strengths and skills.
Personal Development PlanThis career plan is a vision of my future. It displays a list of well laid out approaches that I have formulated based on my strength, weakness and future career aspirations. My major goal is to provide community service to the needy and disabled. This career development plan is extends through a five year period which is about the time when I will have finished my degree in healthcare management and have gained a vast knowledge and expertise over my subject (Masters 2015). Short term and long term personal objectives help in proper management of future career aspirations (Adeniran, Bhattacharya & Adeniran 2012).
Conclusion
Thus, from the above report I can conclude that construction of an effective career plan is required for professional development. The report includes the interview of a senior nurse unit manager. Her answers will help me get an elaborate idea on the roles and responsibilities of this profession. The report also identifies my personal strengths, weakness and future aspirations. It also focuses on the different ways that will help me achieve my goals and measure my success. My personal analysis and objectives will underpin my career growth. Self-assessment will help me to reflect on my professional practice. This report also sheds light on the essential qualities I need to develop to be successful nurse. I therefore conclude that, by following this developmental plan, my personal and professional self-improvement will lead me to a better position in my workplace.
References
Adeniran, R.K., Bhattacharya, A. & Adeniran, A.A., 2012. Professional excellence and career advancement in nursing: A conceptual framework for clinical leadership development. Nursing administration quarterly, vol. 36, no. 1, pp.41-51.
Arnold, J., 1997. Managing careers into the 21st century. Sage.
Bergmo-Prvulovic, I., 2014. Is career guidance for the individual or for the market? Implications of EU policy for career guidance. International Journal of Lifelong
Chang, P.L., Chou, Y.C. & Cheng, F.C., 2006. Designing career development programs through understanding of nurses’ career needs. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, vol. 22, no. 5, pp.246-253.
Cleary, M., Horsfall, J., Muthulakshmi, P., Happell, B. & Hunt, G.E., 2013. Career development: graduate nurse views. Journal of clinical nursing, vol. 22, no. 17-18, pp.2605-2613.
Conway, J., McMillan, M. & Becker, J., 2006. Implementing workforce development in health care: A conceptual framework to guide and evaluate health service reform. Human Resource Development International, vol. 9, no. 1, pp.129-139.
Cziraki, K., McKey, C., Peachey, G., Baxter, P. & Flaherty, B., 2014. Factors that facilitate Registered Nurses in their first?line nurse manager role. Journal of nursing management, volume. 22, no. 8, pp.1005-1014.
Donna Novak, R.N., 2016. Nurses dedicated to a healthy environment. Creative Nursing, vol. 22, no. 2, p.97.
Donner, G.J. & Wheeler, M., 2001. Career planning and development for nurses: the time has come. International Nursing Review, vol. 48, no. 2, pp.79-85.
Hallin, K. & Danielson, E., 2008. Registered nurses’ perceptions of their work and professional development. Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 61, no. 1, pp.62-70.
Hendricks, J.M. & Cope, V.C., 2013. Generational diversity: what nurse managers need to know. Journal of advanced nursing, vol. 69, no. 3, pp.717-725.
Hwa.gov.au (2017). [online] Available at: https://hwa.gov.au [Accessed 10 Aug. 2017].
Krugman, M.E. & Sanders, C.L., 2016. Implementing a Nurse Manager Profile to Improve Unit Performance. Journal of Nursing Administration, vol. 46, no. 6, pp.345-351.
Masters, K., 2015. Role development in professional nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Roberts, C.A. & Ward-Smith, P., 2010. Choosing a career in nursing: Development of a career search instrument. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, vol. 7, no. 1.
Ross, E.J., Fitzpatrick, J.J., Click, E.R., Krouse, H.J. & Clavelle, J.T., 2014. Transformational leadership practices of nurse leaders in professional nursing associations. Journal of Nursing Administration, vol. 44, no. 4, pp.201-206.
Selanders, L., 2015. Florence Nightingale. The evolution.
Skela-Savi?, B. & Kiger, A., 2015. Self-assessment of clinical nurse mentors as dimensions of professional development and the capability of developing ethical values at nursing students: A correlational research study. Nurse education today, vol. 35, no. 10, pp.1044-1051.
Sonmez, B. & Yildirim, A., 2009. What are the career planning and development practices for nurses in hospitals? Is there a difference between private and public hospitals?. Journal of clinical nursing, vol. 18, no. 24, pp.3461-3471.
Tams, S. & Arthur, M.B., 2010. New directions for boundaryless careers: Agency and interdependence in a changing world. Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 31, no. 5, pp.629-646.
Triplett, P., Dearholt, S., Cooper, M., Herzke, J., Johnson, E., Parks, J., Sullivan, P., Taylor, K.F. & Rohde, J., 2017. The Milieu Manager: A Nursing Staffing Strategy to Reduce Observer Use in the Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Setting. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, p.1078390317723709. Roles And Responsibilities Of A Fresh Graduate Registered Nurse Example Paper