Barbara Horn, R.N., L.N.C.
Transitions in Health Care
Never in the history of health care delivery has there been as much transition and change as has been the case for the past 10 years. Health care workers have had to exercise diligence in remaining current not only with evolving technology, but also with the changing social and political climate of health delivery systems.
Instead of focusing on patient care exclusively, health care workers find themselves faced with conflicting agendas, making it difficult to balance the many priorities demanded by each.
In order to stay one step ahead, health care providers need to keep a critical eye on the path their careers are taking. It is possible to lose the leading edge simply by becoming too entrenched in a job that is not evolving and keeping up with the times.
Monitoring the Work Environment
In particular, nurses must constantly stay aware of the circumstances surrounding their jobs and be (a) prepared to make transitions within their current job or (b) willing to incur risk with a new job. Practitioners must be active in plotting their career paths, especially if they envision working in anything other than the most traditional roles. Hood and Leddy stated that savvy professionals must integrate many methods for creating their career paths. No one method has been proven to be superior (2003, p. 152).
Innovative Career Planning
Staying proactive requires developing innovative approaches to career planning. This planning can be done in either (a) a linear manner, following sequential steps by progressing up the “corporate ladder” or (b) a nonlinear fashion, by relying on life’s circumstances and critical incidents to move the career forward (Hood & Leddy, p. 152).
Either method, however, requires a periodic reassessment of current skills, the pursuit of additional education and training, and the integration of all skill sets and experiences into the best-suited job. Workers become empowered by taking this active approach, and job satisfaction becomes a reality.
Assessing Current Skills
The daily tasks of any health care professional demand the integration and application of a large assortment of knowledge, skills, and experiences. All health care workers with job experience have accumulated a certain number of markers on which they draw to make important patient care decisions. From the foundations of training, these skills and perceptions have evolved into marketable entities.
- For example, a primary function required of all health care professionals is the ability to read (with understanding) and document (with preciseness and clarity) the medical record. While it is easy to take this skill for granted because of its secondary status to the greater focus of patient care, there exists a high demand for this proficiency in the non-healthcare, professional community. Attorneys often solicit the technical help of experienced health care workers to assist in reading and interpreting medical records.
Other outside interests, such as writing or speaking a foreign language, can also be combined with health care practice to create an entirely new professional skill set.
It is important to recognize the individual elements that compose the practice of a profession in the event that one element may serve to pave the way into a new career path. Nurses often embark on a non-clinical career path by finding innovative ways to incorporate and market their full range of skills.
Pursuing Knowledge
Malone (as cited in Hood & Leddy, 2003) stated that “career mapping” is a continuous process of career development, in which “career moves unfold as a person engages in professional practice and lifelong learning” (p. 153).
During the career assessment phase, knowledge deficits may be detected. If, in setting career goals, one discovers that additional training and education are needed, then the career path map must include plans for obtaining them.
Determining the Necessity for Advanced Education
Michelle Jenkins, M.S., W.H.N.P., C.R.N., a nurse practitioner in the Atlanta area who works in a high-risk neonatal practice, made a mid-career change by getting an advanced degree. She stated, “Education, training, and workshops are the necessary mechanism by which all careers must be steered.”
Establishing a Career Plan
The career plan should include the following steps: (a) identifying the desired/needed knowledge, (b) locating where the knowledge may be obtained, and (c) determining the time frame for achieving the knowledge. Typically, with additional education, new career visions will evolve, and the career path may take unexpected turns.
Acknowledging the Dynamic Impact of Changing Knowledge on Health Care Careers Education remains a critical component of all health care professions. Science, medicine, and technology change daily, and the informed professional must be available for educational opportunities at all times. Often, on-the-job training, such as orientation workshops, can open new doors.
- For example, nurses seeking positions in utilization review and care management must complete rigorous training courses before they assume their new roles. One nurse, who specialized in medical record and utilization review, realized that she did not have a strong understanding of physical and occupational therapies. She took a short-term contracting position for a project to audit medical records for Medicare to monitor physical and occupational therapist compliance. The training she received to perform this job opened a broad range of new opportunities for her.
Specialty certifications are also effective means to enhance a career. Non-traditional certifications, such as nurse coding and InterQual™ proficiency, can create unique skill sets for positions that are in high demand, but are hard to fill.
Conceptualizing the Perfect Job
The most effective way to meet career goals is to plan the perfect job. Often, that job is one that combines health care practice skills, education, and experience with practice skills unrelated to health care.
Envisioning a job is the first step in making it a reality. It is important to make a list that describes the attributes of the perfect job, including such things as autonomy or creativity. Conceptualization will help focus one’s efforts to bring about a career change. It establishes the ideals and vision necessary to enhance a current job, create a new job, or recognize a career opportunity when it knocks at the professional door.
- Combining all of life’s experiences helps form a mental picture, the “birth mother” of a new and distinct career path, incorporating job skills so unique that few others could fill the position.
In this era of rapid change, there is no longer any excuse for becoming entrapped in a dead-end job. By assessing current professional assets, planning for the job change, and conceptualizing the perfect job, one no longer needs to feel powerless. Remaining proactive and staying on top of the changing market empowers the health care professional and makes any dream job a possibility.
- Every professional must take control of his or her own career and personally steer it along a carefully planned course.
We would like you, our readers, to comment on the following questions:
- Do nurses and other health care professionals seeking out or employed in non-traditional, non-clinical jobs contribute to the nursing shortage epidemic? If so, how? If not, why not?
Let us know what you think. Contact Dr. Marie Caputi, facilitator of the dialogue, at mcaputi@waldenu.edu.
Resources
For those interested in additional information or ideas about nursing and health care careers, here are some suggestions:
Cohen, M. (1992). The power of self-management: Achieving success in your healthcare career. Oak Park, IL: Canoe Press.
Frederickson, K. (2003). Opportunities in nursing careers. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Houghton, A. (2005). Know yourself: The individual's guide to career development in healthcare. Oxford: Radcliffe Publishing.
Novotny, J., Lippman, D., Sanders, N., & Fitzpatrick, J. (2003). 101 careers in nursing. New York: Springer Publishing.
Sacks, T. (2003). Careers in nursing. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Vallano, A. (2002). Your career in nursing: Manage your future in the changing world of healthcare. New York: Kaplan.
Wilson, R. (1996). Your career in healthcare. New York: Barrons.
Reference
Hood, L. J., & Leddy, S. K. (2003). Conceptual bases of professional nursing (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
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