How To Have A Thriving Nursing Career When Positivity Feels Hard
Have you ever found yourself in a nursing position that you absolutely LOVE, but there are so many negative co-workers around that it’s tough to keep a positive outlook? Or maybe you’ve been in a job for years that is kind of dragging you down you’re being honest…
What about precepting a new nurse and trying your hardest to shield him/her from THAT co-worker who gives off the worst energy about where you work (that one you secretly wish would just quit already)… For me, it’s a YES, YES and yup to all of the above. I found myself stuck in situations like this for way too long. I’m sure you can relate to some, if not all of these situations as well.
Keeping a positive attitude can be tough sometimes. Negativity in nursing is obviously SO common BUT here’s the truth I’ve come to find – all the negativity isn’t really the fault of anyone (not even the nurse you wish would quit because her attitude is so bad) – there’s something much deeper at play here. Something that if really understood, I think could seriously turn nearly every nursing work environment around for the better and allow you to really thrive at work and in life. I know that’s quite the statement.
Hear me out for minute.
From Negative to Positive
Just to clarify – being overworked all the time is draining. Plain and simple. I wish there were some way to control that not so fun reality of nursing but we all know it’s an aspect of the job super hard to escape from.
So, shifting the focus from things we can’t control to things we can, this post is all about how you can shift negativity to positivity in order to have a career that thrives despite any uncontrollable circumstances. It will also teach you how you can actually let the negativity coming from other nurses or staff members roll off your shoulders and NOT leak all over your personal space. I even have a free instant downloadable workbook in it for you so that you can actually implement all of what I’m going to break down (and not just read this and forget it). Sound good?
I want you to love showing up to what you worked SO hard for. Isn’t that the goal, anyway? When you get out of nursing school – you expect to thrive, as you should!
The Nurse Positivity Spectrum
I’m not sure about you, but I’ve been on both sides of the negativity spectrum in my career. I’ve worked certain places that literally had me in tears on my way to work (and leaving work), and others that breathed energy into me, rather than take it away.
The “breathing energy into” part is key. And here’s the thing – the negativity inside the workplace existed in both places (the job I loved and the job I didn’t love so much). Both places were littered with it everywhere I turned. But in one job, the negativity came over me so hard and fast it was suffocating, and in the other, I was able to turn a blind eye to it. Why?
By the end of this post I want you to feel completely confident that you GET IT and are armed with the knowledge you need to never find yourself saturated in a negative environment again. Nurse’s deserve to work somewhere that they’re excited to show up to each day. Your job is hard enough as it is.
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Nursing Foundations To A Thriving Career
I took some serious time to evaluate the differences between nursing jobs that sent me running and jobs that I loved despite the amount of hard work there was. What I came up with are what I believe are foundational aspects to choosing the right place to work. I find that thriving at work and in life – and maintaining positivity comes from being incredibly strategic about the many aspects of your place of employment. In essence, your job should suit YOU and meet YOU where you are, NOT the other way around.
I think many nurses, myself included, bend for our jobs – it’s what you do. Nursing is as much a team effort as it is an individual effort. So it’s not so much about the bending, but rather what you’re personally willing to bend FOR.
I’ve identified 5 different areas that weigh most heavily in terms of how you feel overall about your nursing job, your overall attitude towards it, whether you are baseline negative or positive, and how happy you are outside of work. I’ve outlined this entirely in my free guide here.
The reality is, when work fits into your life, you fit, mold and bend for your job with a whole lot less effort. Let’s dive into the details.
The Five Key Areas To Help You Ditch The Negativity
Below are the 5 key areas I find are essential to feeling SO much better at work and in turn, at home, too. Get these areas in check and honestly – it makes all the difference in the world!
Let me break this down for you –
Core Values:
I know it may seem simple to align your work with your core values – but let me tell you there was a time I had this ALL backward. I hate to admit it, but I actually didn’t even have my core values straight; hence, why life felt like I was working against the tide. I constantly felt torn between work and home. There were even times I felt resentful about going to work. Have you ever been in a role that made you feel like this?
Once I realigned work with my core values, everything started to shift. The weight began to lift, I was eager to get to work and I honestly couldn’t be bothered by the negativity that surrounded me. I share the exact method I used to sort through my values and find what would make the most impact on my life’s circumstances using this method inside my guide, you can download here for free. I was surprised to find out that once I got super clear on this and narrowed my values down using this method, everything started to shift for the better.
Work That Truly Resonates:
Once your values are totally clear, second in line is to make sure that where you’re working resonates with who you are as a person. What I mean by this is – if you aren’t jiving with what it is fundamentally that you’re doing every day, along your path you’ll be bound to experience a dissonance between your work and how your inner self feels about the work you’re doing.
When this happens, negativity can easily set in and happiness in your work and at home becomes hard to maintain. It’s a pretty simple but profound check point to ensuring you set yourself up to a positive, thriving career (and home life, too)!
Commitment To Cause:
Commitment to cause is being invested in your work enough that it triggers emotion and MOTIVATES you. Creating intrinsic motivation when it comes to where you work has the ability to make a big difference ultimately in how you feel each day.
Use caution here and be sure to not work in an environment that would leave you emotional all of the time. That would be counterproductive. Rather, it means being tied enough to the mission of what you’re doing that it will give you a great sense of purpose and keep you moving even when things get tough.
I used to see both sides of this spectrum as a hospice nurse, for example. Some nurses can easily find themselves motivated by the work, but if you are the type of person triggered by sad circumstances or constant death – although it may be motivating to a point for some, it’ll over time create an unhealthy dynamic for you over time.
Can you relate to this in your own experience? Maybe you can relate to having so much respect for a certain field, but knowing in your heart you couldn’t do it yourself. Personally – I feel this way about the NICU and L&D. I’m in awe of these nurses and I can imagine they’re intrinsically motivated to show up each day; but for me, although it’s special work, I’d be a wreck at the loss and tough circumstances that happen there. Oddly enough, Hospice nursing was my sweet spot. So there’s really no rhyme or reason; but YOU know yourself best. You know what you can and can’t handle and what sort of work you likely wouldn’t find gets monotonous.
You are SO unique. Your life experience is obviously different than everyone and there will be areas that may be more motivational than others. When you can find that sweet spot, consider settling there.
It’s also important to note – this can take a whole lot of trial and error – ESPECIALLY for newer nurses. So be easy on yourself and trust YOUR own process.
Scheduling Needs
This is a BIG one. What I’ve found is key to feeling best at work and maintaining a positive attitude is making sure that you find a schedule that works for your LIFE. In the midst of being completely drained and battling burnout, often my schedule interfered too much with more core values. (At the time I had no idea this was in part the problem, I just thought the crappy schedule was something I had to grin and bear as a nurse). I couldn’t have been more wrong for way too many years.
When your core values and your schedule conflict it creates an unbalanced set of circumstances and overtime, this can become draining on your entire being.
As much as possible, when you’re practical about what will truly work for your life and what simply won’t, positivity at work comes so much easier. Couple that with upholding your values, resonating with your place of employment and doing work that motivates you and you’re really creating some incredible circumstances for yourself.
It’s so much easier to deal with the harder aspects of your job when you’re so satisfied in all of these other areas.
Salary
By all means your pay scale is incredibly important and I encourage you to negotiate what you are willing to work for and also what you know you’re WORTH.
You’ve worked hard for your degree and any additional certifications you hold, and you deserve to be paid accordingly. Obviously each job will have a starting point, some more enticing than others – but negotiation is ALWAYS worth it in the end.
With that being said – sanity always trumps higher pay rates. I know this may rock the boat a bit but I firmly believe this to be the case.
One of the biggest pitfalls I see nurses in is staying in certain role for the shift differential or the fear of taking a pay cut to move somewhere that would otherwise bring them so much more happiness. It honestly hurts my heart a little to see this so frequently. At the end of the day, it’s an aspect you have way more control over than you realize. If you want a few pointers on how to negotiate your nursing salary I include this in the free download, Nurse’s Guide To A Thriving Career: Foundations To Crafting The Nursing Career You Deserve.
Positive Nurse Life In Action
Having a thriving career as a nurse that breathes life into your being is SO possible. I’m a firm believer in that nursing is a calling. You were never called to do this work in places or within circumstances that completely drag you down.
You were meant to do this work inside a place that breathes life into you, so that you can effortlessly breathe life into other people. I really believe that these foundations described inside this post and detailed simply inside this free guide have the ability to make all the difference inside your world both at work and at home.
If you know a nurse who could use this advice, or especially someone just entering the field, feel free to pass this post along and share the love!
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