Many nurses enter the nursing profession with no clear goals, beyond getting their first job. It is no wonder that those nurses find themselves after five to ten years in nursing unfulfilled and burned out.  The process of building a nursing career should begin with your first job, and the basis for picking your first job should be base on a clear career purpose.  If you do not have a clear career purpose, you should begin this process with defining clearly, and specifically what is it that you want out of your nursing career.

You should set timeline for achieving specific career goals, and your career purpose should be realistic, attainable with a high probability of success.  In defining your career purpose, consider your values, because your values have to be congruent to what you want to achieve.  Honesty is also important when you are defining your career purpose.  Be honest in your ability to achieve certain goals to prevent discouragement as a roadblock to your success.  Set career goals that will motivate you to take actions, instead of sabotaging yourself.

Every nurse wants to have a successful career, but many are unwilling to do the necessary tasks, the years, and the investments that are required to achieve significant mark in the nursing profession.  If you are willing apply this simple technique of defining, and writing your nursing career purpose, your success is almost guaranteed.