How Do I Advance My Nursing Career?
A nursing career is a rewarding occupation that allows you to make a direct, positive impact on people’s lives. The job combines compassion, critical thinking, and hands-on care. Advancing your career in nursing can provide a wide array of opportunities for professional growth, personal fulfillment, and increased impact on health care.
Whether you’re seeking to deepen your clinical expertise, take on leadership roles, or explore specialized fields like research or education, there are numerous paths to elevate your nursing practice. Let’s explore how you can further your career.
5 Ways to Advance Your Nursing Career
Advancing your career can mean opening doors to higher earning potential, job security, and more specialized nursing jobs that can deepen your overall impact on patients. It also means staying at the forefront of health care innovations, gaining leadership skills, and increasing your ability to influence positive changes within the health care system. Here are some ways you can improve your career outlook:
- Pursue specialized certifications. Nurses pursuing further certifications show that they’re willing to continue their education and increase their expertise. You can become a nurse specialist in areas like cardiac surgery, pediatric care, basic life support, or gastroenterology.
- Network. Joining a professional nursing organization can help you make new connections in the nursing community. Through these connections, you can learn about the latest health care advancements, medical techniques, and even find out about available jobs. Some examples of nursing organizations include the American Nurses Association, the National Student Nurses’ Association, and the National League for Nursing. Don’t forget social media, too!
- Find a mentor. Nursing is a complex and stressful profession. Having a mentor who can offer you advice and commiserate with you when you need to talk can be beneficial. Try checking with your employer or professional nursing organizations for mentoring programs.
- Join a professional organization. Nurses who join professional committees or organizations may receive discounts on nursing conferences and assistance with career opportunities and advancement. Plus, joining a committee can be a great way to share your unique nursing perspective.
- Further your education. Pursuing more educational opportunities can lead to higher salaries, more job opportunities, and the ability to specialize in a specific field. You can pursue advanced nursing degrees like a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing, or a Doctor of Nursing Practice.
How Can a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Advance Your Career?
As mentioned, furthering your education can greatly advance your career in nursing. Earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) can provide countless positive outcomes. For instance, you can achieve greater career advancement opportunities because many employers prefer nurses with this degree. Research shows that hospitals with more bachelor’s-equipped nurses have better patient outcomes, shorter hospital stays, and reduced costs.
Furthermore, nurses with bachelor’s degrees can obtain higher salaries, land better job opportunities, and become nurse specialists. Bachelor’s-educated nurses can also achieve eligibility for advanced certifications and postgraduate education, obtain enhanced leadership abilities, and assume roles in nursing education or research.
How Can a Master’s Degree Advance Your Nursing Career?
Like a bachelor’s, a master’s degree can also benefit your career. It can lead to more advanced nursing jobs, increased earning potential, higher-level leadership and management opportunities, the positional authority to influence health care policies, and much more. Let’s explore some specialized master’s degrees in nursing that you can pursue.
Nursing Education
A Master of Science in Nursing Education prepares nurses to teach and lead other nurses in traditional and nontraditional settings. With this degree, you can land nursing jobs like nurse administrator, nurse educator, clinical nurse specialist, public health nurse, nurse manager, or director of nursing.
Nursing Informatics
In a Master of Science in Nursing Informatics program, students study nursing, information technology, and data analytics to improve health care services. Some career fields you can enter with this degree include clinical informatics, educational health informatics, public health informatics, research in nursing informatics, and consumer health informatics.
Nursing Leadership and Administration
A master’s program in nursing leadership and administration prepares nurses for leadership roles and how to make important decisions that affect policy and overall organizational strategy. Some roles you can pursue with this degree include nurse administrator, nurse manager, director of nursing, and chief nursing officer.
How Do I Get Started?
How you improve your career as a nurse depends on what you want to focus on. If you want to focus on your education, consider enrolling in an upper-level nursing program as your first step. If you’re an LPN or LVN, this might mean earning your associate degree and/or obtaining your registered nurse license; if you’re an RN, this might mean pursuing your bachelor’s degree. Alternatively, you might consider joining an organization or networking to build a new foundation as your first step. Wherever you are in your nursing career, and whichever next steps you take, it’s worth it to continue growing, learning, and improving so you can take advantage of the field’s myriad opportunities.
