Career Pathways Assessment - Weebly



Career Pathways AssessmentPamela JohnstonUIN# 00977622Nurs 401-Career Pathway AssessmentOld Dominion UniversityNORFOLK, VIRGINIAFall, 2013Career Pathways AssessmentIt is through reflection of ones life that shines the light on the path before us leading us, guiding us in our lives decisions. It is this crucial cycle of evaluating our past, present and future goals that keep us on track with our professional and personal drive for success and inner satisfaction.? Tasked with reflecting upon my own personal journey has lead me to do some soul searching and prioritizing of my goals as I walk through this new chapter in my career as a nurse and as a student. As a little girl, I remember telling my Aunt Liz that I wanted to be nurse like her when I grew up. In 1989, I graduated from high school and I did not have a clue as to what path I should take for I was dating the love of my life and had no desire to leave him. This decision left me at home taking random classes at Tidewater Community College. It was not until after a year of general studies that a friend’s mother told me, that one should never be dependent on a man and recommended nursing as a secure profession. It was then and there that I decided to finally pursue my dream of becoming a nurse for it offered financial stability, independence, flexibility in roles and job security.In 1990, nursing school had waiting list, so I took that time to complete all of my prerequisites at TCC while debating which program would work best for me. The diploma route was one that I chose after great deliberation. At that time the diploma schools in the area (DePaul School of Nursing and Sentara School of Nursing) had the highest pass rates and after my horrible SAT score, I felt I needed the extra hands on training to help me pass the boards. I only applied to DePaul and Sentara and was accepted to both. This was the first year that Sentara was changing from a three to a two-year program meaning their curriculum was going to be intense and rushed. Conservatively, I chose DePaul because of the traditional three-year program. This choice was similar to my aunt’s education and enabled me to still have my summers to work at the oceanfront as a front desk clerk. I inquired into states I could work with a Diploma of Nursing and at the time only North (or South) Dakota did not recognize the Diploma prepared RN. My parents had encouraged me to get my BSN, but I did not have any desire to go back to school for I did not see the point or importance of a degree. The memory of missed free time was too fresh as I recalled missing episode after episode of America’s Funniest People because I had to study or do homework. Oh the freedom to watch TV again was blissful. Shortly after passing my boards, I got married to my high school sweet heart and wanted to concentrate on being a wife with hopes of starting a family. Going back to school did not come up again until my 2004, as a group of Diploma RN peers were seeking their BSN. I was interested in joining them and went as far as to obtain my transcripts when another diploma RN who was not going back to school inquired as to why I was bothering, since there was not any difference between the two preparation of RNs, unless I was interested in management. Having had a brief exposure to management, I found I did not like that area in nursing. At this time I also spoke to my husband concerning my thoughts of college, explaining my desire to go back to school to possibly secure a job as a school nurse enabling me to mimic the hours of the children school schedule.? Upon hearing that it would be a pay cut, he responded, " You want to go back to school, spend money on a degree so that you can have a job making less money than you do now... that does not make any sense to me." Well after hearing a similar response from him too, affirmed that it was not meant to me to go back to school. Overwhelmed with three small children at home all under the age of 6 and the lack of support from my spouse on this endeavor, I stopped the process of going back to school. I did not entertain the thought again until lately, as there is a movement amongst hospitals to only hire RN’s that are BSN prepared in an attempt to obtain magnet status. This ignited my desire to finally obtain my BSN as two of my reasons for choosing this profession were being threatened, job security and flexibility in roles. Now my children are older and with decreased job security, it is imperative that I finally obtain my goal of achieving my BSN. As I have been preaching to my children about the importance of a good education includes a degree, it was time for me to put my money where my mouth was as they have keenly pointed out that neither my husband or myself have a degree. This time, I did not discuss my plan with my family first, but rather signed up for classes and informed them that this was the way life was going to be for the next couple of years. Busy. Although, I did not go back to school formally, I did not stop in my search for self-improvement as a RN. CHKD does a wonderful job of offering opportunities to learn and grow through a multitude of venues. Poster presentations, grand rounds, nursing grand rounds, educational classes and conferences only begin the list of opportunities at our finger tips within the hospital. After the hospital completely covered the cost and expense for me to attend a conference in Florida in 2010, the doctors on my unit paid my fee for taking the CPHON exam. As a teaching hospital we have Residents that rotate through our unit. Daily, during the week, we have multidisciplinary rounds in the boardroom to discuss the patients on my unit. It is during this time the Attending will teach the Residents and all in the room issues related to a patient’s disease and treatment plan. I must say that this is one area that I pulled the most knowledge from in order to pass my CPHON. It was as if my Attendings wrote this exam because they covered issues and questions that were on my test. These opportunities have allowed me to give back through teaching as I relish in the ability to share my knowledge to all those that I come into contact with from the patient to the student nurse. APHON meetings also provide pertinent up to date information in regards to the care we give our Hem/Onc patients. I am not able to make a lot of these meetings due to my busy schedule, but when I go the material taught is valuable and I am able to implement the information obtained there within my care. Currently I am enrolled and taking ELNEC (End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium) classes as this is an essential aspect of the care provided on my unit. My hospitals dedication to my personal education does not stop there as they offer tuition reimbursement for formally continuing my education. My work experience up to now has been mostly limited to CHKD with only a couple of brief detours. I was fortunate enough to land a job at CHKD on the Hem/Onc unit my senior year at DePaul, as a nursing assistant. Working on a small specialty unit was the perfect fit for me. The teamwork, nurse to patient ratio and education you received were amazing. Unfortunately, there were not any job openings upon graduation, which lead me into the abyss of adult nursing. I lasted three months in this atmosphere and it was not pretty. Disillusioned, disheartened, and stressed beyond healthy, I was prepared then and there to leave nursing and become a school teacher, when an old coworker from CHKD notified my of a job opening. I believe we are all called to our role in nursing and I pray for those that enter and remain in adult nursing because their routine, nurse to patient ratio and working conditions are challenging at best. Returning to CHKD, I have held many roles. As the novice, I thirsted for education, which I received readily. Committees were welcoming, the atmosphere was non judgmental and I flourished in this environment. Over time, I was promoted to charge nurse and was given the opportunity to precept, two roles that I enjoy tremendously. After many deaths on our unit in a short period of time, there was a mass exit of nurses. I dropped my hours to per diem and joined a friend in the home health setting for pediatrics. Unfortunately, this role morphed into adults instead of pediatrics, and it was fair at best to say that I was miserable. I missed my coworkers, my patients and the hospital, CHKD. This experience really drove home the fact that the grass is not greener on the other side of the road, a lesson I will never forget. I was welcomed back full- time with open arms in 1998 and have not dreamed of leaving until late. I briefly held the position of Operations Coordinator, which was an assistant to the manager, working both the unit and in the office. This role was time consuming mentally, physically and left very little time at home with my new baby. I stepped down after training my replacement and remained an active member of my unit. While stepping down, my commitment to my unit and peers did not stop as I continued in the role of bedside nurse, charge nurse, preceptor, and scheduler. I did the schedule for 15 years for all of the nurses on our unit until it became too much to juggle with school. This was a huge burden lifted from my shoulders and I welcomed this shift in responsibility so that I could finally focus on my needs vs. the units needs. Involvement in committees still is a priority as I am part of the unit based magnet council that meets monthly. I became CPHON certified in 2011 after being chemotherapy certified for since 1995. I was also a super user to assist staff transition from paper charting to computer charting. This is still an ongoing process as we still paper chart on my unit. I have attempted to make myself an asset and valuable to my unit, over time as I really love my job at CHKD, but with recent changes in RN criteria, I feel vulnerable and disposable as my jobs and responsibilities have slowly been peeled away. In asking what I have done for the community I am tearful as I have not been involved, as one should with my experience. I have given all my free time to my unit by joining committee’s and filling in holes on the schedule. My children are heavily involved in travel sports and honestly, I do not know which direction I am going in some days between their schedule and mine, thus leaving very little time for volunteer or community service. In speaking to my Priest, he reminded me of my obligation to my church family, which I have been neglectful in participating in events or service to others. I am aware and hope some day soon their will be more time for my contribution to all of my family.In pondering my values and interests in regard to nursing, I am left with a reoccurring theme of commitment to ones profession. I value the professional implication of the word RN and its integrity. I value the importance of knowledge and up to date education for medicine is forever changing improving outcomes for our patients. I believe in mentoring and training the new RN so that they will be confident in the care that they provide to our patients. I believe in modeling behavior I want to see in the new generation of nurses in respect to interaction with patient and their families. Professional boundaries are sometimes a gray line, but mentoring staff in avoiding certain harmful behaviors could help save them and their careers. Funny, some of my strengths over time are now my weaknesses. Perfectionism, caring, loyalty and professionalism are four core strengths that I take pride in as a RN. Three of these four strengths I also categorize as weaknesses in my self-evaluation. Perfectionism has led to oppressive compulsive (OCD) like behavior, sometimes slowing down my efficiency. I have low tolerance when training new staff who do not take attention to detail seriously. Caring, a big heart can easily become crushed, making boundaries all the more important to self-preservation professionally and personally. Loyalty, well this is an asset, I have to remember to have a healthy balance between work and home, so that work does not consume my home schedule. Going back to school was my first step at being more marketable. These next two – three years will be a huge sacrifice to family and myself as I am concentrating on my studies. My family has rallied together and has helped lift some of the responsibilities I once carried at home alone. My job as also allowed flexibility with my schedule to work with my studies. Going back to school now in the days of computers, Internet and online libraries, is a challenge I look forward to learning and mastering. I hope to also learn to write research papers, as I have not had to write a research paper as of yet. Going back to school will also give me the personal satisfaction of achieving a goal that I have set along time ago for myself and to show my kids the importance of a college education. During this time in school, I hope to find alternative jobs I can function as a RN in that are financially equal if not more lucrative in pay. I know that I do not want to spend all my time at the bedside and look forward to exploring alternative jobs making at least equal pay. I have achieved top pay for my role in my hospital and yet it is getting harder and harder to get ends to meet at the end of the month.I have set educational goals and professional goals for myself to work on within this next three to five years. My educational goals consist of graduating with a BSN. This is a minimal goal I will accept from myself for I really want to pursue a career in teaching at the university level and that requires a MSN or higher degree. I struggle with writing and research; therefore, my goal is to achieve a comfort or ease of writing. While in school, another goal I have is to investigate other roles that may work for me that I did not know existed. In order to achieve these goals, I have slowly peeled back my covering of holes at work. I have been able to request schedules that have been honored that are conducive to learning. My coworkers and management team are supportive and have offered guidance in any area I am struggling. I am not to proud to ask for help and actually received tutoring last year from a friend of the family that was a whiz in math. I hope to get the swing of things as far as organization is concerned so that I can still have a healthy balance between, home, work and school. For now I carry my books and papers everywhere with me. Investing in a MacBook is my next goal, for ease of writing on the go. My kids have been great with my absence from all of their games. I cherish the ones that I can make, and they know that I will go to each game that is humanly possible. Team parents have been more than understanding in assisting us getting the kids to practices and games. After achieving comfort with writing, I will pursue my Master in Nursing Education. I watch the younger nurses zip out papers with ease and that is a talent I hope to learn for this is high on my priority list.Professional goals, I honestly had to sit and think about for a minute because my educational goals were also my professional goals. Professionally I am hoping for growth within my current role. This will be transit and brief as I have stated throughout my paper, I do not want to stay at the bedside. Upon graduation, I hope to find employment within some realm of education of the nurse either hospital based or university based. With these goals, I should add resume writing to the list, for I have not had to write one since 1995. Professionally I plan to stay current with my certification (CPHON) and complete all the continued education credits I need to keep my license and certification. I plan on reviewing our last assignment of researching the many organizations available for nurses and picking one or two to join and become an active member. Personally, educationally and professionally, I have a goal to remain organized. Currently I am using manila folder, hanging folders and my calendar to keep track of all of my tasks and keep them safe and readily available.As I travel down this road to the goal of my BSN, I would like to research the role of education within a University setting ideally. Education would be my first choice, preventative medicine would be another avenue of nursing I have not ventured down and would be interested in researching. Lastly, the role of the discharge planner is interesting to me. I have known a couple of nurse’s acquiring jobs that allowed them to work from home. I am not completely knowledgeable in regards to their job description, but working from home sounds good to me. Through our lives, goals are made, met or re-evaluated then new goals are made to replace the old.? This cycle is imperative in evaluating our growth and development, expanding our horizons through spiritual and personal accomplishment.? Over my life span, my goals and I have changed, but each step of the way it was the new goals that were developed from accomplishments or failures that fueled a desire to surge forward seeking direction, personally and professionally. ................
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