Get Involved to Spark Your NP Career
When I made the decision to go back to graduate school, it was not without reservation. I had graduated from an ADN program in 1978 and then worked nights while going through the BSN program. By the time I graduated in 1983, I was ready to just work and see what all life had to offer for a few years. I thought that I would wait about 2 years, then go back to graduate school.
I was a nurse that really enjoyed working, loved challenges, and was proud of what I did. Suddenly, though, it was 25 years later, and I still hadn't fulfilled my goal of getting a master's degree. So, I thought about it, and thought about it, and thought about it some more, until I finally decide to take that plunge and see if I could still learn at my age. You know, that "old dog, new tricks" thing.
When I finally enrolled, I made a decision to embrace every opportunity, try things that I wouldn't have when I was younger and just see what happened. As it turned out, I loved being back in school and had an absolutely great time getting involved in activities and projects.
So, as a new NP, I decided to keep up that policy to try new things and have found it to be extremely rewarding. It is work, of course, to be a committee member of a professional organization, or to run for office (and lose ... but it was an amazing experience!).
I am now working on trying my hand at writing professionally (who knew there were so many nuances to submitting a manuscript for publication?) and am thinking about submitting an abstract for a conference next year.
With all these experiences, I have made new friends, met very interesting people, and am constantly learning -- and that's not even counting my day-to-day life of seeing patients.
I think that as a new NP, it would have been easy for me to be totally stressed out with changing my role after so many years in my comfort zone. Getting involved has helped me to continue to grow clinically as well as professionally, and I think the time spent has been well worth it.
Now if I could just figure out a way to do all these things while lounging on a tropical beach -- life would be great!