When you are a nurse, you may well be looking at the best ways that you are going to be able to climb up the ladder and reach even higher. There are plenty of different options that you have in front of you to successfully advance your career and take it up to a level that you are looking to achieve. So, let’s look closer at your nursing career and what you can do to advance it successfully.
Look at Different Training Program Options
The most obvious and structured way that you have available in terms of advancing your nursing career is certainly going to be to look at the different training program options that are available to you such as rn to bsn. These give you a clear path to advancement, but you are going to need a clear sense of how these can help you to reach a certain level. You also need to come up with a study schedule that will allow you to balance working and studying successfully. This is something that you should consider throughout your career, so you are always in a good position to obtain a promotion.
Consider Specializing
While there are many nurses out there that keep to general practice and do not go down the path of specialization, there is no doubt that it can have a big impact on how well you are progressing. Certain specialisms are in a high level of demand and it could easily end up being these that put you on the path to success. Of course, you also need to think about what you are going to be most interested in practicing regularly.
Find a Mentor
This is a piece of advice that can end up having a big impact on all sorts of different career paths, but no doubt finding a mentor can help you in so many ways. To begin with, it can mean that you have someone to provide some useful guidance during the times that you are going to need it the most. At the same time, you can also look to emulate the path that they have taken that has led to their eventual success.
Join a Professional Organization
Joining a professional organization can end up making a big impact by allowing you to network with a whole range of other pros who find themselves in the same situation as you. There may also be new opportunities that are opened up that you never knew could be available before. Networking comes easily to some people more than others, but it can be such an advantageous route to go down that you should certainly embrace every opportunity that becomes available to you.
All of these are amongst the different paths and routes that you have available to you that have a big impact on your advancement in the field of nursing. So, look to incorporate a variety of them into what you are doing to see where it could take you.
A career in nursing does not get the kind of respectful consideration that it should. They are by far the most numerous professionals in the medical field, but many fail to understand just how far a nurse’s career can go. If you are interested in becoming a nurse, read here to learn about accelerated nursing programs, but if you’ve already started your education or work experience as a nurse, then you are already benefiting from a job that does real good, that always has need of you, and offers benefits like a well-above average wage and flexible work arrangements. But if you want to climb that ladder, it can offer even more.
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Not just for hospitals
Many think that a hospital is the only place for a nurse to work in, but there are a much broader variety of opportunities and work environments available than that. A comprehensive look at the data from Arizona College shows that only 63% work in hospitals. The rest are spread between a diversity of different roles in different institutions. Care facilities, outpatient centers, schools, residences, with HR teams, you could end up playing an essential role in all kinds of industries. Each work environment has something different to offer so you don’t have to feel like you can only work in one kind of environment if it doesn’t suit you as a person.
A lot more progression than you might think
There are also many who make the mistake of believing that there’s little room for progression as a nurse. That is demonstrably untrue. There’s room to keep educating yourself and keep moving up to positions that are both more challenging and more lucrative. Many work happily with an RN diploma all their life, but there are positions for those moving into bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and even doctorates like the Doctor of Nursing Practice qualifications available at Maryville Online. With a DNP, many more career opportunities, such as working as an anesthetist in the operating room and as a psychiatric nurse, become real options for you. Nursing gets a lot more specialized the further you decide to take your career.
Get to the core of nursing
It’s more than just a job or a role in an institution. Nursing is a craft and a vocation all of its own. To that end, it should be no surprise there are networks of nurses looking into research and practices that can help the industry as a whole progress. There’s a lot to learn and also a lot to gain by networking as a nurse. Besides informing you as to possibilities, it can open new opportunities for your career. Networking gives you the opportunity to be part of something much bigger than just yourself alone but it also gives you the chance to give your career a real boost.
Nurses are a vital part of our healthcare system and those with the hunger to make it should know that there are plenty of new environments to work in, new positions to be attained and new contacts who can make you a true expert in your field.
Medical Assistants are important figures in allied health. Expected to be skillful in a number of areas, including administrative, laboratory and clinical settings, a medical assistant is essentially a medical professional with a hand in every cookie jar.
With a fairly short training cycle, a medical assistant is taught a number of soft and clinical skills including communicating effectively to patients, charting medical histories, performing electrocardiograms, taking vital signs, preparing patients for physicals, authorizing prescriptions, operating healthcare software, billing and coding, and a host of others.
Medical assistants have the opportunity to grow and transition in their career. If you’re interested in becoming a medical assistant, there are some tell-tale features that only the very best possess.
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Quality Patient Care
Healthcare is a growing field, with the need for medical assistants expected to grow as much as 23 percent by 2024. As the field grows, so does a patient’s need for quality care. Patients are like customers in that they are paying for a specific service. An excellent medical assistant recognizes each patient’s individual needs in care and coverage, and makes sure that their experience is a good one. A medical assistant aids their patients in deciding which physician the patient will meet with and how to provide them with the best care in the meantime.
Aptitude for the Task at Hand
Medical assistants work at the front desk, in the back office and in the exam room. As a professional wearing many hats, a medical assistant is responsible for knowing the medical history of the patient, why the patient is visiting, the current health condition of the patient, and the patient’s insurance provider. All of this information helps the attending physician provide the best care for the patient.
Works Well with Others
Working behind the scenes and taking center stage are the dual daily duties of the medical assistant. As an administrator and assistant, the medical assistant works with the receptionist at the front desk, the doctor in the exam room, the coding and billing department in the back office, as well as in the lab retrieving patient test results. This requires finesse, professionalism and team work. Like a well-oiled machine, each department serves a specific purpose in the larger context of the patient. To do this well, a medical assistant must be a team player.
Room to Grow
Because a medical assistant is one of the more well-rounded professionals in the healthcare system, it’s expected that they are able to transition from one department to the next without any hiccups. Becoming a medical assistant largely depends on the specific training and curriculum you’re exposed to. For example, Arizona College’s MA training provides a well-rounded education that’ll prepare students to adjust to any department in the clinic. From time to time, medical assistants will be asked to fill in for a colleague or help a short-staffed department for the day, all while having to stay on top of the regular MA duties. This is where soft and clinical skills really come in handy.
Always Professional
As medical assistants move between departments and have face time each day with a variety of people, they’re expected to maintain a constant level of professionalism. As we all know, This isn’t always easy, especially when a bad day is brewing. Not all personality types click, and sometimes Karen in billing can be a little lethargic. No matter how frustrating a co-worker may be or how hard-headed a manager is, the professionalism of a medical assistant is as constant as the rising sun. In order to maintain a well-run office, professionalism is key. Being cordial when it’s the last thing you want to do can be very difficult, but a professional can do it with ease.
Working with the public isn’t easy. There are a lot of roles medical assistants must play and they’re not always appreciated by those being served. But without medical assistants, clinics would run into the ground, and the collective health of our nation would plummet.
