New Nurse Success Tip: Standing at the Crossroads of your Career

When nurses graduate from nursing school, unbeknownst to them, they are standing at a crosswalk. Some nurses will go left and some will go right. This decision will determine how successful, happy and satisfied they are with their decision to become a nurse. This decision will determine if they will become successful and thrive or unsuccessful and burn out.

Which way will you go?

I study human behavior – in particular, successful people. I just love to read about how someone who was locked in a closet for the first 4 years of his life and fed dog food, grew up to be a world humanitarian while someone else who was provided all of the luxuries known to man become a drug dealer or psycho killer! Human behavior fascinates me.

Out of the 2,000 + books and articles I’ve read about successful humans, one common characteristic exists. It’s this characteristic that faces you at the crossroad…it’s this characteristic that determines how successful you become.

NEW NURSE SUCCESS TIPS: MASTER THE 100% PRINCIPLE

I spend a lot of time helping students and new nurses “get” things – get through nursing school, get their first job, successfully get through orientation, and beyond. Getting these things helps them secure a foundation for future success.

However, quite often while chatting with students/new nurses, they tell me they've either had a horrible academic, job hunting or orientation experience. And then they provide me a litany of examples and reasons.

My first question back to them is this:

CLINICAL TIPS FOR NEW NURSES: MANAGING HYPERKALEMIA

One of my most popular clinical lectures is the one I do on fluid and electrolytes. You see fluid and electrolytes plays a role in EVERYTHING yet we often don’t spend a lot of time trying to understand them. And, I typically find that even experienced nurses truly don’t understand them.

So, I’ll be sharing some tips related to fluid and electrolytes that I believe EVERY new nurse needs to master to successfully care for patients. Because Potassium is one of the most “dangerous” electrolytes (we use potassium in “lethal injections”), we’re starting here.

STANDING OUT AMONG THE SEA OF NURSES: #1 RESUME MUST!

When you’re swimming with a sea of other nurses in the quest to find a job/promotion, who all “look” alike, you need to give yourself the added edge. One way of doing this is by making sure your resume includes one critical element.