Introduction
The journey of lifelong learning is one that I have enjoyed. Through this experience, my nursing skills have, and continue to, become more and more polished. The beginning was only six short years ago, when I decided that slinging drinks was not a good retirement plan. That was the main motivation. I needed a career. One that was sustainable and that would be a little more family friendly. I had a background in Biology, I like to be on my feet, and I like interacting with people. Nursing just fit. NURS 6003 Week 1 Discussion: Strengths and Challenges Related to Nursing Practice Competencies.
Three years later, I walked onto an Acute unit to care for patients. I loved every minute of it and the pedal has been down ever since. In the three years since that day, I have moved to a Step-down unit, become critical care certified, obtained my BSN, and made strong moves to obtain a position in the ICU. Although that position has yet to officially become available, the current pandemic has allowed me to work in the ICU setting non the less and I’ve learned a great deal from my future peers.
In doing so I’ve also had the opportunity to network in order to improve the likely hood that I will obtain this position when the opportunity arises. This is important because “[p]rofessional networking is imperative to nursing career advancement” (5 reasons nurses should engage in professional networking, n.d.).
That brings me to my current situation, finding myself back in school once again. Being a higher level of nurse has always been the goal. Nursing allows me to use my skills on a daily basis, to interact and form relationships with those that I set out to help, and there is always a feast of knowledge available for those that are hungry. I’ve yet to be an RN for one single day that I didn’t learn something new and I hope that day never comes NURS 6003 Week 1 Discussion: Strengths and Challenges Related to Nursing Practice Competencies.
Success
Success is something that is hard to measure. This is true in part because one person’s definition of success may vary greatly from someone else’s. Some may base their measurement of success on monetary items while other may view success as something less tangible. I believe that success is measured in happiness. In obtaining happiness, one has succeeded in life. According to Weimann et al (2015) “it would never be feasible to compare the happiness of two different people. NURS 6003 Week 1 Discussion: Strengths and Challenges Related to Nursing Practice Competencies This [is] clear because happiness is quintessentially something personal, subjective, and private that simply doesn’t lend itself to being measured by a standard” Whether that happiness is obtained from having a nice car, achieving scholarly excellence, or having a family depends entirely on the individual.
As an example, a person may earn his or her doctorate in Biology and obtain great debt in doing so. After graduating with their degree, this person may decide to become a park ranger in the Sonoran Desert. They may live mostly in solitaire, helping to preserve the wildlife while aiding the occasional traveler to find shelter or water. This person, who has achieved academic excellence, may live in debt for the rest of their lives and never experience the joy of falling in love or having a family. They are in fact successful, however, if they have achieved their goals and if these goals have brought them happiness.
NURS 6003 Week 1 Discussion: Strengths and Challenges Related to Nursing Practice Competencies. For me personally, success means that I have a beautiful family, which I do, and that I am happy with the career that I have chosen, which I am. Monetary items do play a role of course, but their value to me is less than the value that others may place on them. Success also means that I will continue to work towards and achieve my goals. At present, those goals include expanding my scope of practice in nursing so that I may play a more direct role in helping other. It also means that I will continue on this lifelong path of learning, that will not and cannot end for any of us that aspire to be health care professionals.
Relating Walden University to My Professional and Academic Goals
Walden Universities vision and mission focus heavily on educating those that may bring about “positive social change” (Walden University, 2020). The goals it has set to achieve this vision include providing all the necessary education tools to its students in order to “produce graduates who are scholarly, reflective practitioners and agents of positive social change” (Walden University, 2020). Their vision, mission, and goals relate directly to my professional and academic goals. NURS 6003 Week 1 Discussion: Strengths and Challenges Related to Nursing Practice Competencies.
Through continued education, I aspire to advance my career in nursing. In doing so, I hope to affect society in a positive manner by minimizing health disparities and by providing much needed help to those that may otherwise go unnoticed. This, I believe, is the “positive social change” that is long overdue in our current society, and I believe that Nurse Practitioners are the people who will bring about this change. In order to do so in an effective manner, we must be educated in a way that “fosters research, discovery, and critical thinking and that results in professional excellence” (Walden University, 2020).
References
5 reasons nurses should engage in professional networking. (n.d.). BluePipes Blog. https://blog.bluepipes.com/5-reasons-nurses-should-take-professional-networking-seriously/
Walden University. (2020). Vision, mission, and goals. Walden University – Acalog ACMS™. https://catalog.waldenu.edu/content.php?catoid=172&navoid=59420 NURS 6003 Week 1 Discussion: Strengths and Challenges Related to Nursing Practice Competencies
