20// Do These 3 Indicators Classify You as a Job Focused Nurse or a Career Focused (Minded) Nurse?

 This week's episode peels back the layers of why embracing a career mindset in nursing benefits personal growth and improves the nursing profession. 

We also discuss the impact of a career-focused approach on workplace morale and patient care.  There's actionable advice for those currently stuck in a job-focused frame of mind and who want to change to a career-focused mind. 

We explore how to evolve our roles beyond the daily hustle of nursing and into a pathway that instills pride, direction, and a voice that resonates within the healthcare community. 

This episode is for you if you're ready to transform your perspective and propel your nursing job into a meaningful nursing career.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I'm teasing out the difference between a job versus a career, and I'm going to talk about the differences between being in a mindset of being in a job mode versus being a career-minded nurse. There is a difference between the two. There are things that we do when we're on a job path. We might not even know that that's what we're doing versus when we're on a career path, and you might be even starting to think, ok, and like, what would that look like? I'm going to jump into that in this episode. I'm also going to just kind of talk about some things that you can do to take action, kind of talk about some things that you can do to take action if you are currently in a job mode and you need to switch your mindset to more of a career mode because you realize that being in a job mode might be hurting you, and so I want you to understand these two paths and then be empowered about making a decision to be on one path versus another. Welcome to the Ambitious Nurse podcast, where I provide tips, tools and resources for the experienced nurse to put in your career bag to help you be a better person, a better leader, a better professional and, most of all a better nurse. I'm your host, bonnie Meadows, a career coach and a clinical nurse specialist with over 18 years of experience in health care and nursing. It's my passion to help experienced nurses develop their careers to impact health care and their communities. Nurses develop their careers to impact health care and their communities.

Speaker 1: 1:59

I have a quick story about when I was a nurse aide. We didn't call ourselves health care techs at that point in time. We were a nurse aide and I was working in the hospital. I was in nursing school working night shift. I y'all I'm one of those people who I love night shift, like it would work the best for my life while I was in nursing school, and so I would work the 11 to 7 shift, maybe about 20 hours a week, 15 to 20 hours a week, and there was one particular night and I was in the float pool. So there was one particular night I was working on a surgical unit and talking to a nurse who was just working there and somehow, somehow or another, we had gotten on the conversation of me being in nursing school and she started going off about I just don't know why anybody would want to sign up to be a nurse, and I was shocked and I was like why, why are you here? And that was probably the first time that I had just really developed that mentality of when people start like really complaining bad about work, my first thought is, why are you here, making everyone else miserable? And that's what she was doing, and so I would put her in a place of. You are on, you are job-minded, you're really just here to get the paycheck, because why else would you be here? Like why? Why would you put yourself through that misery of showing up every day?

Speaker 1: 3:40

Now, some people don't know how to work themselves out of the misery. I'm one of those people. I've learned to work myself out of misery. Like people don't know how to work themselves out of the misery, I'm one of those people. I've learned to work myself out of misery. Like I don't, I don't, I don't stay long. Once I've realized I'm miserable, I develop my exit plan at that point. But why? And then? Why would you discourage others?

Speaker 1: 4:02

Nursing is such a great profession, it is needed. Why would you discourage others? Nursing is such a great profession, it is needed. Why would you discourage another person? And so that really got me in the mindset of really thinking about nursing as a career versus nursing as a job, and there's so much talk today about it being a gig profession and how. Yes, we want flexibility as nurses. Yes, we want flexibility in our hours and our time. But I will tell you that many times when you do hop around like that and I'm not, what I'm not doing is bashing anyone for hopping around in order to get their peace, in order to gain, you know, the flexibility and the autonomy that they desire for their life, but it kind of it puts you in that place of making others think that you're really just about the job. Now there are some who really care about nursing. You just want the flexibility and I applaud you and I'm thankful for you for pushing us as a profession because we need to be pushed. We need to be pushed. But the question is how long are you staying in it and what is your plan in it? Y'all know I'm all about a plan, so I'm just going to talk through a few things, a few key points. What are those things that stand out's say that you're job-minded versus career-minded.

Speaker 1: 5:45

So one thing that distinguishes a job-minded nurse from a career-minded nurse is your intention. What is your intention in the work and the intentions set, whether you are long-term focused or whether you're short-term focused. So, for example, you can have the intention to be in one role and have the intention to get out of another role and go into another job. That might be just a little bit more simple than what you were already doing, but you have a long-term focus. Either you are in school or you're looking for the next job, but you had to get out of that last job in order to really get clear on how to make a plan, and so you get into another job. You're really there just to do the job. You're not there to grow your career in that particular space.

Speaker 1: 6:54

So say, you go from being an NP, then you go back to working at the bedside because you decided you didn't want to be a nurse practitioner anymore, and so you go back to working at the bedside. But you're really only there to figure out what your next is. You're still career minded. You just had to go from one job to another. But your intention is I'm more than likely not going to be here in this space for long, but I needed a reprieve in order to figure out what my next step is. And so your purpose for working a job, if you are job minded, is really just to, your intention is to get money. Now, everybody's intention for working is to get money, but your primary intention is to get money versus your primary intention being I want to make an impact and I'm gaining skills in order to grow in my career and tap into what is the next level of where I want to go in my growth and advancement.

Speaker 1: 8:07

As a nurse and so in your career, you still, you know, support yourself, but you also work towards reaching your goals and ambitions. When you are career minded and when choosing a career, you base your decision of a job based on your talents and your passions, versus basing it on oh well, they make that type of money, so I want to, I want to go for that job because it gets paid a lot, ok, well, but is it part of your plan? Is it your intention to grow in that area? Because we know more money, more problems, and so the politics get a little thicker and you just got to be able to recognize, if this is that thing, that you, if this is that area, that specialty, that work that you want to put your muscle into in order to grow.

Speaker 1: 9:10

So two your goals and pretty much jobs focus on short term goals. Careers focus on long term goals. So if you're job-minded, you're focused on a short-term goal I need to make money or I need to do whatever. When you are career-minded, you're focused on long-term goals. So, for example, when you are job-minded, you will more than likely, unless you are of the intention of I'm still trying to find my specialty when you are job-minded, your short-term goal is to either your short-term goal is money or it's flexibility in time. So you're going to pretty much just work wherever you want to work, wherever, wherever, and there's no intentionality to where you're working, where you're gaining skills, what skills you're gaining, versus when you are career minded, your goals are long-term.

Speaker 1: 10:17

So you look at jobs. Even if you are sliding into a job that is more so, something that is an in-between, while you figure out what your next step is, you tend to be more intentional and you're long-term. So you're thinking, okay, I'm still gaining skills, I'm still staying on top of my skills and I can still speak to the work that I did in this particular job and how it will apply to what I want to do next. Like it's still got to apply, like it's still got to apply. Number three it kind of goes back to goals and intention and it's when you're job minded and when you're career minded you're thinking about where you're learning the skills and your continued education. So it goes back to the skills are connecting. So your main intent again of your job is either time or flexibility money or flexibility, and more than likely it's money.

Speaker 1: 11:38

Sometimes your main intent of the job is and somebody would say, well, it's always money, like I want to have the freedom to that's money and that's time. So you want to have the freedom and the flexibility to be able to focus on maybe a side business or you want to focus that has nothing to do with nursing, but this job is fueling your funds for you to help build this business or for you to help volunteer in some type of way or for you to take care of your kids. You're job-minded and that's okay. Just show up and do your work, be the best you can be. So I digress when you are career-minded, where you learn your skills and what skills you're learning in what job makes a difference and you're very intentional about going to jobs that will help you to gain the skills of where you want to go long term. Those skills translate into more of a career and can translate into other parts of your career. You also understand that you need continued education with those skills. So, as a career minded nurse, you don't mind when someone says, oh, we need education on this or we need education on that. You're not the first one. That's like we always have education on something. Like I don't have time for that. No, that's not your complaint. You're like okay, all right, give me the skills, bring it on.

Speaker 1: 13:09

When I was working at the bedside, I've always been career minded, very intentional about what I did, and so when my nurse manager would ask me, not that I said yes to everything, but when they asked me to do certain things, or when I saw certain things or certain activities that they needed a volunteer for, I knew I was very intentional about okay, is that skill going to help me in the long term? Now, you can't predict the future, but you know those general skills that will be able to help you in the long term, be it project management skills, leading a team, developing education. Like I was, as my husband would say, I was collecting chips, and so I in my mind would always think, oh, that's a good resume builder, let me do that. Or, oh, that's a good resume builder, let me do that. Well, oh, that's a good resume builder, let me do that. And so you are intentional about where you're learning your skills. When you are career minded, when you're job minded, you're just like I got these skills and I can use them here. Versus when you're career minded, you're thinking versus when you're career minded, you're thinking OK, well, what skills can I also gain while I'm in this place?

Speaker 1: 14:34

I was talking to a nurse who was getting her DNP and she was working in a hospital, but she needed a change. She was working in the hospital and she was working in a role for a long period of time, but she needed a change. Like, she was working in the hospital and she was working in a role for a long period of time, but she needed a change. And so I saw her at a conference and we were talking and you know I was asking her so what are you up to now? And she said, oh well, I'm doing this. And I was like so are you going to kind of do that long term? I was like, and she was like, I asked her if she was going to do that long term or what she was going to do with it, and she was like I don't know how long I'm going to stay. I said, oh, so you're dibbling and dabbling? She said yes, because right now it works for my flexibility and I'm able to make money in order to finish school. But in the meantime, she knew what skills she brought to the table and she knew what skills she could pick up from that particular job. It was still an intentional move and she picked up some strong skills from that job and she saw the possibilities in the company in which she worked or, if not, in that company, in the industry, and so she was still looking to expand her skills in the industry, but she needed a role that was a little bit more flexible. And so I want to just encourage you, even if you are in a space of I don't know what I want to do next. So I'm just going to find a job where I know it's just a little bit easier and I know I'll have some time to really think about how to map out my career plan. Go with it.

Speaker 1: 16:25

One key difference between the mindset of having a job versus a career is that the jobs give you the paycheck, whereas the careers give you experience and exposure. You might even consider it a form of life education. So, for example, when management becomes your career goal, your goals are completely different versus I'm deciding. Your goals are completely different. Your goals are more long-term versus very short-term goals. And I'm not even saying that staying at the bedside and deciding that you are going to be a nurse at the bedside and expand your skills is a short-term goal. It's not and it doesn't make you a job-minded nurse. It makes you a very intentional nurse to dig in where you are, grow where you are mentor where you are, develop the nurses who are coming in because you know that you're going to stay there long term.

Speaker 1: 17:30

Management is decent. I can tolerate what's going on. I like it here. I'm going to stay. You can still grow. You can still be a growth minded type of person. So why is it important to really know this? So jobs and careers are interconnected, as a lifetime of jobs makes up the career you choose. So even if you're like, yeah, I don't know more than likely, if you're listening to this podcast, you are career minded. You probably just need to make some tweaks it. You probably just need to make some tweaks.

Speaker 1: 18:07

But even if you're piecing together jobs, by the time you get about 20 years in, you've made a career of something. If you're still in nursing, it doesn't tell a story, but you've made a career of something. But no one will be able to really not that that matters that anyone can tell a story from your work. You tell the story. But everyone can work towards a career trajectory in nursing and it doesn't always have to be management. It doesn't always have to be you're the SVP of this, that and the other it doesn't. It doesn't have to be that, the other it doesn't. It doesn't have to be that A career-minded nurse elevates the profession and gives you confidence that your voice matters.

Speaker 1: 18:54

It helps you to make more ownership. It helps you to take more ownership of your work environment because you're invested in it. That's why I say, even if you're deciding to stay as a bedside nurse, you're taking ownership of that environment and that is a part of growth. To make the work environment better. You can pat yourself on the back and say we're the best unit because of da-da-da-da-da-da. This is why you should work here, like there's just some things that you can really be proud of because you've taken ownership of where you work.

Speaker 1: 19:35

Career paths and career mindedness provides more meaning and purpose. So if that's what you're looking for, go for it. Then you need to check yourself as to if you are job-minded or are you career-minded, because career-mindedness helps you to make sure that you are staying locked in on finding your meaning and your purpose and working towards that. So how do you develop a career mindset If you know what career path you want to pursue? Figure out the expertise and the experience that you need to get there.

Speaker 1: 20:16

Now, sometimes you don't know that and you're going to have to ask or you're going to have to test some things out. So that goes back to the nurse who was getting their DNP and they were now in a pivot in their career. She now has to test some things out to see what works best for her. She was testing out. She saw some positions that would be great for her going forward in her career. Sometimes you have to dibble and dabble. That's why I tell people sometimes your next step especially when you're coming out of a position that is more so a salary position and you're making a change to something else, or you're wanting to grow into something else and you don't know what that next thing is. Sometimes you got to land softly somewhere else in order to get clarity about what you really want, about what you really want, and so when you're developing a career mindset, you need to work towards determining which skills will benefit your career the most.

Speaker 1: 21:16

Look at successful professionals in your industry. Reach out to them if you can and ask for their advice. Y'all people want to tell their story, because most people are amazed at how far they've come, and not that they, like most of them. They've come that far because they've been intentional. But the majority want to tell their story. Those who don't want to take you under their wings and tell you their story and say I did it, you can do it too. They're just selfish. Boom, I said it. They're just selfish. They're selfish and their ego is getting in their way. So you move on from them if they don't want to help, if they don't want to tell you this, if they don't want to take time Now not, oh, I don't have time today but if they're just always avoiding you and they're not wanting to tell you their story of how they got where they are. They're selfish, their ego is in the way and they're thinking that you're going to take their position to move on from them.

Speaker 1: 22:22

Get a mentor or hire a career coach. So seek out a mentor or two with an upper level position or experience that you desire in your field. So that's different from asking someone for advice versus a mentor and a career coach. They are a little bit more long term. They can be short term. The career coach they both can be the career coach can be short term or long term. The mentor be short term the career coach they both can be. The career coach can be short term or long term. The mentor is a little bit more long term because they have seen how you've walked through your career. You're getting a little bit more deeper with them. They're understanding your story and they're also helping you to pace through and make decisions on what you need to do next. And so in order to get career minded shift from job mindedness to career mindedness you need to find a mentor.

Speaker 1: 23:20

If you want more episodes on mentors and mentors versus, the word sponsor comes up a lot, let me know. Let me know. I could definitely put that together because I like talking about mentorship and there's not enough of it in nursing. We have way more bullying and lateral violence than we do. Mentorship in nursing and that's one of my passions also and that's one of the things that I like to change Also and ask that mentor if they would consider supporting and advising you professionally so that you can ask specific questions and think about topics to discuss. So it's an ongoing conversation with mentors and with coaches and with career coaches. It's an ongoing conversation. It could be again a short-term conversation with a coach, even with a mentor.

Speaker 1: 24:16

They ebb and flow and then expand your network. Y'all networking has taken my career so far and I realized at a point that I was networking and didn't realize I was networking. I'll tell you more about that later, but I can't say enough about networking and expanding your network. So that means going in person to workshops not hiding anymore, going in person and online to workshops, going to conferences, going to seminars, going to social events. Those are great places to meet other professionals in your field, introduce yourself and get to know other people and what other people do, so that you can hear, like, what other people do and you're like, huh, I didn't realize that was a thing. You'd be surprised at how many times you will say oh, I didn't realize you could do that.

Speaker 1: 25:12

So, to wrap up job-minded versus career-minded. What is it? It's about your intentions, it's about your goals. It's about where you learn your skills and what education you want to get. As to whether you're job-minded versus your career-minded, remember that key difference between the mindset of having a job versus pursuing a career is that jobs give you the paychecks, whereas careers give you the experience and the exposure. Why is this important? Because jobs and careers are interconnected, as a lifetime of jobs makes up the career you choose. Career paths provide more meaning and purpose, and a career-minded nurse elevates the profession of nursing and healthcare. How do you develop it? Continue learning, continue developing. Figure out what expertise and experience you need to get there, so that you know. That comes back to the self-awareness. Get a mentor or hire a career coach and expand your network.

Speaker 1: 26:21

If you want more information or you found a topic or a piece that I talked about and you want to dive in a little bit further, email me. Let me know what you would like to hear more of. I'd love to hear more from you all and if you found this information valuable, make sure you leave a five-star review so that this podcast can get out to more people, and two so that I will be able to read them and know what you'd like to hear of more also. So there are two places that you can do that. You can either send me an email or you can leave a review and then leave that information in a review. Thanks y'all.

Speaker 1: 27:08

Thanks for joining us this week on the Ambitious Nurse Podcast. To review the show notes and any links mentioned in today's episode, please go to theambitiousnursepodcastcom. If you enjoyed this conversation, follow or subscribe so you don't miss a future episode. Also, please consider leaving a rating, review and or comment about what you want to hear. This helps more nurses, just like you find this podcast. Thank you for joining me, bonnie Meadows, on the Ambitious Nurse Podcast. I look forward to chatting with you the next time and remember you don't have to grow your career alone. As iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another. Thank you for letting me sharpen you as you take this knowledge to sharpen the next.