Essay on Nursing: Lifelong Learning

Introduction

Indeed, nursing practice is one of the rapidly changing professions in relation to complexity and technology. Therefore, it is necessary for nurses to take part in lifelong learning that would enable them to relate to the changing work environment efficiently. Furthermore, lifelong learning equips nurses with skills and knowledge that contributes to saving more lives. Since my childhood, I have always wanted to save lives, and this got me into the nursing profession. To improve on my job, I decided to partake long-term learning. Outstandingly, this will not only contribute to my professional development but will also equip me with the necessary knowledge and skills essential for a nurse educator. Therefore, through this paper, I am giving an outline of a one year, five-year and ten-year goal plans that will contribute to my development as a nursing educator.

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For next year, I plan to continue pursuing my Master's degree successfully and with determination. Indeed, specializing in a particular field of nursing will help me to narrow down on the specific area I will dwell as a nursing educator. Furthermore, the knowledge I gather from learning about a specific area in nursing equips me with essential skills and knowledge that is necessary for my practice. I can also pass down the skills I gather during this period to my students. Undeniably, continuing with my pursuit of masters provides me with an opportunity to learn from my teachers and acquire transformational leadership skills. Transformational leadership gives leaders the ability to encourage positive change in those they are leading and even to transform them into leaders (Anderson, 2017). This would be crucial for my role as an educator since I will be required to inspire positive change and enable proper learning. Overall, to meet my goal of finishing my Masters, I need to study harder while concomitantly mastering the new skills in nursing practice. I will know that I have achieved this goal when I graduate from the university with my master's degree.

Since I will be through with my master's degree in the next five years, my five-year plan includes acquiring a certification. Though this is optional in nursing practice, it can enable me to become a better nursing educator. The certification will allow me to put my acquired skills to use and understand them better. To get certified, I must complete my education in the relevant field and pass the test examination after paying the required fee. One of the ways of evaluating the success of this goal is when I get certified by either American Nurses Credentialing Center or American Association of Critical Nurses Care. Another goal for the 5-year plan is applying for and acquiring a job as a nurse educator. Indeed, this will be a big step in my professional development as it is what I have always wanted. Acquisition of the master's degree would boost my chances significantly as it is one of the requirements. Also, my specialty certification can come in handy as they can prove that I possess the necessary experience and skills. I will look for openings and advertisements for nursing educator jobs in various universities and send application letters. I will also attend interviews in case it is necessary. An evaluation of this realistic goal involves getting called for job interviews and finally getting the chance to be a nurse educator.

One of the goals of my ten-year plan includes seeing myself in a managerial role either in the hospital where I practice or the university where I am an educator. Undeniably, striving to have a managerial role like departmental head in nursing will be beneficial since I will have the chance to develop further into a leader. I can achieve this by carrying out my job smoothly while learning from others and also respecting those in my workplace. Managerial roles are not easy to accomplish as they require experience and demonstration of leadership (Crowne, Young, Goldman, Patterson, Krouse & Proenca, 2017). Therefore, I will portray my leadership skills in my workplace and finally vie for a leadership post. Notably, I will know that I have achieved this when I become a supervising nurse or even a departmental head. The other goal in my ten-year developmental plan is to start my doctorate. Although this is tough, it will equip me with more knowledge that I can impart to my students. After practicing and educating for some time, I can apply for a doctorate degree and pursue it with intensity to ensure success. Also, attending more professional development workshops can be beneficial. To ensure that I have met this attainable goal, I will compare this goal and my educational status in ten years' time.

Conclusion

Undeniably scholarships and services are of essence to nursing educators. Service learning as a teaching method enables the learner to understand abstract life through the intentional integration of academic goals that enables the use of reflection to correlate real-life situations and civic diversity. Furthermore, scholarships give nursing educators a chance to gain a profound understanding in various areas in nursing that would be critical in classrooms and also gives them an opportunity to learn proper ways of educating others.

References

Anderson, M. (2017). Transformational Leadership in Education: A Review of Existing Literature. International Social Science Review, 93(1), 4.
Crowne, K. A., Young, T. M., Goldman, B., Patterson, B., Krouse, A. M., & Proenca, J. (2017). Leading nurses: emotional intelligence and leadership development effectiveness. Leadership in Health Services, 30(3), 217-232.

Oermann, M. H. (2017). Teaching in nursing and role of the educator: The complete guide to best practice in teaching, evaluation, and curriculum development. Springer Publishing Company.