5 Strategies to Help Nurses Grow

Supporting nurses’ professional development & growth keeps them up to date on the most recent tools, methods, and scientific findings for delivering high-quality patient care. This support is also available to nurses who wish to grow in their careers and become leaders.  Accredited LPN programs provide a great starting point for a career in nursing.

Nurses: Tips for Professional Development

How can we, as nurse leaders, overcome the barriers that prevent nurses from participating in their own professional development? Here are some tips:

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing involves a conversation with nurses to identify their needs and motivations. A realistic plan will then be created to help achieve the identified goals. It is important to collaborate during the interview.

Active listening ensures that the nurse’s thoughts are expressed correctly. Non-judgment allows nurses to be open and honest about their education, goals, and interests. You may be surprised to find out that the plan of professional development you had in mind to help your staff members isn’t realistic or applicable to every nurse. 

Nurses Must Be Educated

The cost of continuing education, lack of time for scheduling education, and childcare or home requirements of the individual are some of the obstacles that nurses face when it comes to their professional development. By providing nurses with access to internal continuing educational opportunities, we can support their professional development and education.

Many interdisciplinary teams are willing to offer in-services on current topics for the nursing staff. Implement a coverage system so that nurses can safely attend and pass on assignments. By implementing convenient learning activities and flexible education, it is possible to increase the engagement, ability, and participation of healthcare professionals in clinical situations.

Read More:- 5 Tips for Nursing Students Working in a Clinical Setting

There are also options for online professional development with virtual learning solutions and active learning tools. Organizations offer free webinars by nursing faculty on a variety of topics. You’d be surprised at how few nurses are aware that they can access online resources and learn nursing concepts at their own speed. Create an educational board in the breakroom with options for online and adaptive learning environments with additional content to let nurses know about nursing resources. Practical nursing programs are a convenient way to gain knowledge, critical decision-making, and critical thinking skills.

Encourage Shared Governance

Shared governance helps to create a professional work environment for nursing practice that supports engagement, role development, nursing profession ownership, positive working conditions, and professional growth during clinical experiences. Encourage the participation and clinical skills of staff at the institutional and unit levels.

Encourage the unit-based infection-control committee nurses to schedule work so that they can attend hospital-level meetings. Or offer staff medical education credits to attend the meetings at the hospital level for clinical education. You can create professional accountability and encourage the growth and development of your nurses by offering staff education hours to attend meetings held at the hospital level.

Promote Self-Care

Nurses with a good work-life balance as daily practice are better nurses. Burnout from clinical scenarios can have a negative impact on your staff’s professional development and even threaten the safety of patients. Make sure nurses get enough time to rest and leave on time. 

Create A Mentorship Program

A mentoring relationship is formed between two people, one of whom has more experience. Effective mentorship can assist in succession planning, help to retain staff, and develop experienced nurses. Why should the relationship of the preceptor with the new nurse stop once she has been integrated into the unit properly?

Change it into a mentoring relationship. This relationship allows for a new nurse or mentee to have one-on-one conversations with a nursing professional who has experience. They can discuss career goals, work stressors, and how to handle them, along with time management. This relationship can increase staff engagement and resilience.

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Conclusion

Nursing students should look for the best nursing schools in Illinois to make a career. Nurse leaders must provide the support and training resources that nurses require to further their careers with a deeper learning style. This can be achieved by using motivational interviewing techniques, educating nurses, and encouraging shared governance.