Personal Goals

HCS/301
February 5, 2015

Setting goals both personal and professional is easier than putting the goals on paper and figuring out how to achieve them. Personal and professional goals can be achieved with confidence and purpose. Balancing drive, achieving personal excellence, and minimizing stress can help accomplish your goals. (Lipsey, 2005).
My personal and professional goals seem to coincide with one another. I have made my career a priority for most of my adult life, working long hours several days a week. The drive was both financial and achieving excellence in my profession. At the point that I felt I had reached my maximum potential in my previous role as charge nurse of a busy critical care unit, I knew that it was time to move on. Try something new, and that meant I was most likely going to return to school.
Earning my BSN in July of 2016 is a short-term goal that will help meet both of my long-term goals. This had been an original personal goal when I first started nursing school, but with young children it quickly was put on the back burner. When my oldest daughter graduated with her bachelor’s degree, this only reinforced that it was now time. The cohort from the hospital seemed like the perfect choice for me. Going to school with colleagues will help hold me accountable for the work. I did look into a few online programs, and I did not feel that I had the motivation to hold myself accountable to do the work. The team charters that we have formed have been particularly helpful. It is like having personal cheerleaders ready to motivate and pick you up when you are down.
Currently, I hold a position as clinical manager of the physiology department at the hospital. When I applied for the position, I knew that I would have a lot to learn. Transitioning from a clinical nurse for 15 years into a managerial role was going to be difficult; I just didn’t realize how difficult it would be. There is so much more to the department than just performing the EKG’s, Echocardiograms, and stress tests. I am communicating with physicians on a different level than I was used to before. Learning my new role and returning to school is going to be a challenge, but I did say I needed something new. There are times that I wonder what was I thinking? Do I really have what it takes to run a department? I am fortunate to have a supportive and encouraging director that believes in me and knows that I can do this. At this time, my department is looking into having registered nurses supervise pharmacological myocardial perfusion scans. Receiving a Cardiac Medicine Certification (CMC) through the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) will help strengthen my role as a leader and validate my individual knowledge in my specialty (Briggs, Brown, Heath & Kesten, 2006). Eventually, I would like to transition to the director of cardiovascular services as that position becomes available.
MSN or equivalent is the desired degree for any director position at my facility. This is going to influence what direction I may take to further my education. I have not investigated what master’s degree I would be interested in earning, I just know that it will be necessary to continue on my current career path. I have several mentors at the hospital that provide me with the support to be successful. Having the peer pressure and support of my colleagues is a huge motivator. Nursing leadership has become so dynamic that clinical expertise is not enough. The ability to develop and manage educational programs and resources is also desired. Learning to communicate effectively with staff especially during crucial conversations is also a necessity. Difficult conversations do not come easy for me, and is something that I need to work on. My previous director felt that leadership and communication skills were essential for any successful charge nurse. She provided several opportunities for self-awareness and communication. I continue to use those skills. Presently I have become responsible for the implementation of the new EKG system at the hospital. This has forced me to learn how to communicate effectively with vendors, staff, and administration. I’ve needed to learn to manage my time effectively to meet deadlines. This process has already increased my confidence in my abilities to project manage, but every day I learn something new.
This brings me to one of my largest barriers to my success with any goal; Procrastination; “the action or habit of postponing or putting something off” ("Procrastinate," 2015). Procrastination has affected my life both personally and professionally. Sending and responding to emails, paying bills, cleaning the house, starting school to completing this assignment. I have become a professional procrastinator. At times, I feel I actually get more accomplished at the last minute. I feel focused and driven, but in actuality it’s just pure panic.
Learning to balance a career, family, school, and still try to have a social life is a definite challenge. Having the support of my family, especially my significant other has been helpful. It does help that he also is an RN. Transitioning from planning what we are going to do on our weekends off to spending the weekend sitting in front of a laptop has been difficult. I know with time the searching and writing will become easier.
Focusing on my strengths rather than my weaknesses can help achieve all of my goals, specifically my professional goals (Brewton, 2011). “Strengths do not necessarily relate to what you are good at, but to what energizes, enthuses, and excites you” (Brewton & Brooks, 2010). This assignment has helped me see just how strong, motivated and successful I really already have become. I have already leaped hurdles to get where I am today and with the right tools and support I will be successful in whatever I have put in front of me.

References
Brewton, P. (2011). Using strengths to drive career success. Strategic HR Review, 10(6), 5-10.
Procrastinate. (2015). In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/view/Entry/151862?redirectedFrom=procrastination#eid
Briggs, L., Brown, H., Heath, J., & Kesten, K. (2006, December). Certification a benchmark for critical care excellence. Critical Care Nurse,26(6), 47-53.

Procrastinate. (2015). In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/view/Entry/151862?redirectedFrom=procrastination#eid

Brewton, P., & Brooks, L. (2010). Strength for success; your pathway to peak performance. London, : Strengths in Partnership Press.