No matter whether you love your job or dream of something new, I bet that you would like to see something different from your career 5 years from now. This “something new” can be as simple as seeing your company blossom to serve a new clientele or as drastic as going back to school to change careers all together. It’s nice to think about these changes but nothing will come of it until you make some concrete plans.
Insanity has been defined as “doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” If you are not seeing the personal outcomes you want, then you need to make some adjustments.
Similar to the ones you may have written for college entrance applications, it might just be time to write an updated personal mission statement. Include aspects of your personal life; In 5 years will you have children? Do more international traveling? Buy your first home?
“To fail to plan is to plan to fail.” If you are not actively planning your life journey, then it is extremely unlikely that you will arrive where you ultimately would like to go. It’s time to start on the next segment of your life.
I love your blog! I just went through some past posts and it’s great. I’m an MSICU nurse:) Check out my blog sometime…
Hey, I was wondering, do you think it is good to start studying for the CCRN in attempt to take it a little after the 1 year mark? A lot of the nurses on my unit are certified and it has always been one of my main goals, and I would like to get it before going back to school (mostly because I know I won’t have time to study for it when in school, and of course, it won’t hurt the acceptance part, either). The only thing I am worried about is other nurses perception of me taking the exam when I am still pretty new in their eyes. I mentioned to one of my coworkers/preceptors at the time how i want to become certified when I am eligible, and she said, “oh no, you want to get at least a good 3 years of experience first,” but this was coming from someone with 13 years experience who just recently failed the CCRN. To me, it makes sense to take it early, while you’re still in “study-mode” from being in school, and also, learning the information would reinforce everything i am doing on a daily basis.
Sorry, this become lengthy–would love your feedback!
The AACN requires you to have 1750 hours of direct patient care before taking the CCRN exam (which comes out to less than a year), so as far as official eligibility, you should be fine. The only thing I worry about for the newer nurses in my unit is the fact that they still don’t take the highest acuity patients at their year anniversary (i.e. fresh open heart patients). So, it would require more studying for them as they have a disadvantage from lack of experience. But, we all face the “lack of experience” issue anyways as we can never take care of every kind of patient (working in a CVICU, we have limited/no exposure to advanced neuro, endocrine disorders, etc).
So, my advice… go for it. Worst case scenario, you fail the exam and have to retest (and if you keep your test date to yourself, no one will know but you). :) But, if you pass, what an amazing feeling! You’ll show everyone your dedication and come out a better nurse. Just make sure you put in that study time to give yourself the best shot at passing on the first try. And, if you have a CVICU/Neuro ICU in your hospital, take a peak over there and look at medications they’re using and technology they have that your unit might not use.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes!
Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it. I work in an MSICU and we get pretty sick patients, and our critical care director/intensivists make sure we are always at the head of the latest technology and evidenced based practices, so this is reassuring. We do have a CSICU in my hospital (I did my final semester of nursing school there), so I have a general idea of what goes on.
I am thinking of taking it mid-Dec or beginning of January.
Also, Laura Gasparis is giving a 2-day CCRN Review course next week at my hospital, which is FREE to us! Super excited:)
I’ve watched Laura Gasparis’ DVDs and she’s amazing! I’ll actually be at a critical care conference that her company is sponsoring (and she’s giving a CCRN review at) in a few weeks. :)
In reply to your comment, I kind of worded it wrong, but the recommendation from AACN (American Association of Colleges of Nursing) is recommending that by 2015, all MSN programs (not just acute care) will be transitioned to DNP. It is only a recommendation, technically, but a lot of Universities have already begun phasing out the MSN. Info is here: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/DNP/dnpfaq.htm
Thanks :)