As a healthcare professional, you need to ensure you stay ahead of the pack if you want to succeed. Being a licensed vocational nurse involves not only keeping your skills sharp but also taking steps to stay at the top of your field. What does this mean, though, and what can you do to give yourself the best chance of advancement in your industry?
Read on to discover five of the best methods to boost your career in nursing. As you learn about each one, start to plan how you want to leverage these LVN advancement opportunities. After all, you want to make sure you embrace every chance you get, don’t you?
1. Embracing Continuous Education
Ongoing learning is what makes the difference between stagnation in the same position for years and being ambitious. In the nursing field, this means staying current when it comes to the most recent medical advancements and patient care methods.
Discovering Training Opportunities
Research courses available for LVNs. If possible, also attend workshops hosted by nursing or healthcare associations. Each of these can give you an idea of the current state of the industry, as well as offer expert advice from leading minds.
If a hospital sponsors any training programs, you should jump at the chance to apply for them. These not only give you advice but show your workplace your willingness to improve.
Using Healthcare Training Programs
Look into educational facilities that can boost your LVN skills. Many offer supportive nursing-related courses.
After you find locations that can help you, do your research to discover which ones professionals in your field respect. This will prevent you from wasting your time moving forward.
Seeking Out Certification
Try to look into certifications that both align with your nursing career goals as well as ones in emerging fields. Not only will this give you a good foundation with which to improve but also future-proof your ascension.
2. Networking Within the Nursing Community
Building connections can often lead to job opportunities. This can occur in many ways, such as people seeking you out or having the right person interview you at the right time. It can even lead to mentorships or other opportunities by pushing people to invest in you after you build relationships with them.
Leveraging Professional Events
Attend conferences and seminars, then take action that will put you in contact with other industry thought leaders. You may also want to join local nursing associations, as you are likely to see these people many times over your life.
Building Relationships via Social Media
Instead of only building connections in real life, make sure you utilize online spaces as a tool in your arsenal. Use LinkedIn and other platforms to connect with industry experts. You can even join relevant groups to stay up-to-date on the latest industry news.
Make sure that when you start to build relationships, you do so respectfully. You do not want people to think you are only connecting to get something out of it. Instead, treat every engagement as the possibility of making a new professional friend and not a colleague.
3. Finding Your Niche Specialization
Your value as an LVN can often lie in being the expert in a very specific area of nursing. It can often distinguish you from others in your field. This is especially true if organizations decide they need more people with your skillset.
Choosing a High-Demand Nursing Niche
Look into areas of nursing that are currently high-demand specializations. Then, do your research to learn whether this is likely to be a long-term need or if the niche is likely to fill up in the next few years.
It may be that new technology or disease has caused a surge in demand, or a sudden shift in patient perception could impact healthcare numbers. Either way, discuss the situation with people already in that field and discover whether they expect the need to abate soon.
Aligning Specializations With Your Interests
Try to think about which areas of nursing you have the most passion for and aim to get training for them. It may even help to shadow someone already in such a role. This can help you by giving you experience in the area, as well as offering a new connection to someone in the field.
4. Building Up Your Soft Skills
Many soft skills are crucial in ensuring you offer the right focus on patient comfort and health in your career. While you need to balance soft skills with more technical expertise, you should always know you can offer a nursing position such things as:
- Clear communication
- Empathy with patients and colleagues
- Time management
- Leadership skills
- Seamless teamwork and collaboration
You can often build these up through such tasks as engaging in role-playing exercises or practicing active listening. It is also possible to pick up how to perform such skills better by making an active effort to address other people’s concerns at every opportunity.
5. Planning Your Career
Instead of allowing things to happen to you, you need to be an active participant in your own life’s trajectory. Try to set some targets for where you want to be in one year, five years, and ten years, and give yourself steps to get there.
You might also want to consider setting SMART career goals to give you specific objectives you can meet. This will help push you to meet these quantifiable targets.
Succeeding as a Licensed Vocational Nurse
As you build on your career, remember that it takes more than ambition to succeed. You need to plan for the future and ensure you grow your skills in the right direction. This is where the Healthcare Career College can come in very handy.
We can boost your chances as a vocational nurse by ensuring you get relevant and up-to-date training. After this, you can expect to progress into an in-demand industry niche that you care about. So, if you feel this is what you need, apply online to start your journey to a better nursing career today.