Trusting your inner wisdom when looking for a new job.

Roughly one in three nurses are looking for a new job or plan to leave their job within the year. Getting a new job can bring up a lot personally, from updating the resume to figuring out exactly what positions are available that would be worth making the jump for.

Recently I have noticed a lot of posts online in nurse facebook groups where people ask what else can they do in nursing and what are the pros and cons. While this question seems like it would be a helpful one, it can slow down the process and create more confusion in the long run. 

Trusting your inner wisdom when looking for a new job.

Roughly one in three nurses are looking for a new job or plan to leave their job within the year. Getting a new job can bring up a lot personally, from updating the resume to figuring out exactly what positions are available that would be worth making the jump for.

Recently I have noticed a lot of posts online in nurse facebook groups where people ask what else can they do in nursing and what are the pros and cons. While this question seems like it would be a helpful one, it honestly creates more confusion in the long run. 

Why? 

Because pros and cons are a story we make up about our jobs.

That's right. The pros and cons of our jobs are completely made up stories we all have. Here is my example:

I am a nurse navigator. Here are my list of the pros and cons of my job.

Pros:

-I work four 10 hour days.

-I do not work on holidays or weekends.

-I get to work with a group of physicians and caregivers who are passionate about helping people.

-Overtime is rare.

-I get to spend hours talking with patients through their cancer diagnosis.

-I get to see people survive cancer and live kick ass lives.

-My job requires me to use my autonomy and critical thinking a lot.

-I get to do research and create things to help my patients have better experiences in care.

-I get to use my expertise to really help people.

-I work for a company I respect.

Cons:

-I am salaried and so do not get paid overtime/make more money on weeks where I work more hours.

-There are a lot of political landmines I have to be aware of.

-I sometimes have meetings at 7AM or until 8PM at night.

-My job requires me to be in front of a computer.

-Because of the fractionated healthcare system, it can be hard even as a nurse to overcome the challenges there.

If you look at this list of pros and cons, for each item, there will be people who COMPLETELY disagree on where I placed them. In fact, there are navigators who would look at this list and even disagree with some or all of the pros/cons I listed. They might even list other things which I did not include.

So why do people ask what the pros and cons are of a job? I think it's because they don't know what they want and are hoping someone will list off pros and cons that make them feel good. The problem with that is even if it sounds like THE perfect job, if we are not aligned with what is important to us, we are just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

Instead of doing that, here is a better approach:

Get Clear on What You Want:

It doesn't matter how happy someone else is in a position, it matters what you want to do. Here are some examples of questions to ask yourself:

-Do you want to only work two days a week or do you need benefits? 

-Are you willing to go back to school if the position requires it? 

-Are you wanting to do direct patient care or move into a position that does more coding? 

-How much money do you want to make per hour/per year?

-Do you prefer to have clear role expectations or do you want autonomy?

-Do you want to work from home or work in an office?

-Do you want to wear scrubs or wear professional clothes?

-Do you want to work for yourself or other people?

-Are you willing to move for the position?

Hire A Coach:

I love coaching for big transitions and even hired one to help me with my mindset of becoming a nurse entrepreneur and burnout coach because it was so foreign for me. My training and job had not prepared me for moving into a business owner mentality and I was struggling. My coach helped me get in touch with my inner wisdom and see my possibilities. This helped make the shift both faster and more powerful because someone no attached to my outcomes, could help me see where I was self-sabotaging and getting in my own way.

Be Willing To Work For It:

It is extremely rare for someone to walk up to you and offer you your dream job. The good news is that everything in life worth having is worth working for. When I think back the most exciting jobs that I pursued and got, they were jobs that carried risks. For instance, I wanted to work in California so I took a travel assignment at Stanford and moved across the country to a city where I didn't know anyone. Another example is when I wanted to leave direct patient care so I took a pay cut of $15.00 as a per diem nurse to be a nurse navigator.

View Failure As A Step Closer to Your Goal:

Being turned down from a job can be disappointing but it is a risk you take when you put yourself out there for a new job. When this happens, a lot of people will want to give up or be hard on themselves. You have no control over the reasons why they went with someone else, but you can continue to work towards your dreams and goals. There are a few ways I choose to think when I fail or things don't go the way I wanted them to. 

1. Decide that everything is happening exactly the way it is supposed to.

2. Take it as a learning experience that will help you be ready for the next opportunity.

3. Be proud of yourself for putting yourself out there.

Are you looking to switch jobs but feeling confused or lost about what you want to do in your career? Sign up for a free 60-minute coaching session at www.burnoutward.com where we will go over your personal goals and what's holding you back from achieving them.