Personal Goals

In this paper I will discuss my personal goals that I have reached and continue to strive for. With that being said, I have many accomplishments such as; volunteer work, maintaining my family, learning new nursing positions, overcoming my personal health issues, and committing myself to return for a higher education and further career development. Having been in the medical field for over twenty years, I have seen many advances in healthcare.

With the changing medical profession I have come to the realization in order to understand the different aspects of nursing, it is crucial for me to continue to strive towards new goals in my nursing profession. My goals have made an impact on my nursing career and the various paths I have challenged, I have come to recognize the importance of understanding that with knowledge and wisdom I have grown in my experiences. Personal Goals Growing up as an only child, I realized at a young age that I had many opportunities to explore.

When I was young I always put others first. I spent many hours with family members who were nurses. I admired them for their dedication to the health and well-being of others. Having been shown lots of love and commitment throughout my life is the reason why I decided to help others. When I was fifteen I began volunteering at my local community hospital. This hospital is where I remain working today. As a child, I chose to work towards a career in nursing. My first goal I chose was to be a volunteer at the hospital.

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This was the beginning of my commitments to the community. According to The Journal of Educational Psychology, there are Mastery goals and Performance goals. Mastery goals are motivated through individual desire while performance goals are concerned with appearing capable and competitive to others (Educational Psychology, 2006, p. 354). Performance goals apply to me because I have the influence and motivation of my family. Through many experiences I have found that personal goals are achievable. All you need is hard work and determination.

This often requires an increased workload, which leads to increased stress. Keeping these thoughts in mind can help me achieve my short and long-term goals. Goals to me range from high priority to low priority. With my continuing desire for a higher education this is where I am today. I have chosen to attend The University of Phoenix for a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. Short-term goals for me begin with getting though my daily tasks. I have found that keeping a planner is a valuable tool; this helps me with my time management and prioritizes my short-term goals.

As a Registered Nurse working full-time with a family of five, planning is always necessary to keep my life manageable. Getting though household duties, bills, school, homework and baseball practices can become overwhelming. The thought of having enough time to cook or even enjoy meals seems impossible. Unfortunately, I have been living with Systemic Lupus for the last six years, which has consisted of endless doctor appointments and lab work. This has been a tremendous journey for my family and I. My goals during this time have been to decrease stress and improve my health through exercise and meditation.

Ultimately, I want to continue to maintain lower levels of stress and achieve an optimal health level to reach my goals. Twenty years ago I graduated from Golden West Community College with my Associate Degree in Nursing. This was quite a struggle and an overwhelming experience for me. My family was young and there were many countless tiring hours involved in order to achieve my goal of becoming a Registered Nurse. Becoming a registered nurse was a great milestone and an amazing accomplishment for me. Graduating from college was a step towards my personal devotion to my future patients.

Upon completion of my Associate Degree in Nursing, I was hired as Registered Nurse in the Medical/Surgical unit. After several months as a practicing nurse, my manager encouraged me to take the opportunity to become a charge nurse. This was an ambition of mine from the beginning. I knew I had the abilities to take charge and lead a team. With the knowledge and strengths of my senior nurses, I began to develop my leadership skills. Listening and participating as a team member helped me learn from my fellow nurses as they shared their experiences with me.

I was never too proud to listen or learn. I have remained this way throughout my nursing career. This has been beneficial to me because I can lead and listen to a team. From the beginning I realized that the key elements were communication and teamwork. My goals increased from there, and I knew I had to take further classes in order to develop my skills. I became certified in Advanced Certified Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support, and after three years of this experience my next goal was to advance into Pediatric nursing.

I was offered a job on a Pediatric Oncology floor at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Children’s Hospital. Not only that, but I became chemo certified and began working with pediatric cancer patients. I challenged myself into working in critical care pediatric oncology. This was an extremely emotional experience in my nursing career. Having stayed on that unit for four and a half years, I was ambitious for a new goal. I ventured out for a new experience and applied for a recovery room nurse position at Placentia Linda Hospital. While working in the recovery room, I then trained to become an operating room nurse.

My leadership and organizational skills became apparent. I was then promoted into a charge nurse position. I continued to want to learn more about leadership, so I took a position as an assistant administrator at a new non-established surgery center. This goal was by far the most exciting for me. It showed me another component of nursing and leadership. As, Ivey Business Journal described, the purpose of learning a goal is to stimulate one’s imagination, to engage in discovery and to “Think outside the box” (Ivey Business Journal, 2006, p. 1).

Not only did I have to think about ideal patient care, I had to be a director of a team, deal with finances, and be in direct line of fire of the physicians who owned the facility. After three and a half years of growing and expanding my knowledge of administration, as well as being a patient care advocate, my appreciation for my profession has grown fonder, and I am ready to pursue a higher level of management. Eventually, I would like to become a director of surgery services. This will allow me to become part of a planning team, decrease my stress level, and provide a better quality of life for my family and me.

In conclusion, I have come to realize that the profession I have chosen has given me a great sense of pride. I have accomplished many goals thus far in my nursing career, but looking forward to achieving more. I started out as a volunteer, and eventually became a charge nurse where I continue to excel. Rogers (2007) stated, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there” (p. 95). I have chosen to continue challenging myself in my career by developing new ways to lead, manage, and listen to my peers. The commitment to extend my education has brought new goals.

These goals include: receiving my Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and to continue developing new strategies to enhance my abilities as a team leader and further advance to a director position.

References

1. Mestas, M. , Urdan, T. (2006). The goals behind performance goals. The Journal of Educational Psychology,Vol. 98(2), 354-365.
2. Latham, G. , Seijts, G. P. (2006). Learning goals or performing goals: Is it the journey or the destination? Ivey Business Journal, Vol. 70(5), 1-6.
3. Bishop, J. , Carter, C. , Katz, J. R. , Lyman, S. (2006). Values, Goals,Time, and Stress. The Keys to Nursing Success, 95.

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