Assessment: Phase 1

During the nursing assessment phase, you continuously collect information and data about your patient or client. Before you can effectively change jobs or careers, it helps to assess your current situation. Diagnose what career issues are affecting you: Do you need a slight adjustment, or do you want to consider another specialty in nursing such as the ER or critical care? Knowing yourself and analyzing your strengths and abilities will help you write an effective and powerful resume. Plus, it can make a significant difference in how you will perform on job interviews. By presenting your strongest skills—technical and interpersonal—you will demonstrate the value you bring to a hospital or an organization.

What Skills, Values and Work Preferences are Most Important to You?

Start by reviewing and assessing the major nursing skills, professional and technical, as well as the interpersonal abilities you have enjoyed throughout your work history. Review your nursing experience and pull out the jobs and units you liked the most and the least. Eliminate the ones you didn’t enjoy. In addition, you need to identify your transferable skills, the skills that you already have and can use in your next nursing job or career. For example, let’s say you want to move into a management position. In order to prove you are ready, you need to emphasize experiences as a charge nurse or other projects during which you managed others.

Key Questions

• What skills to you enjoy using as a nurse?
• Are there areas of nursing you enjoy more than others? For example, do you enjoy managing the case and creating a discharge plan?
• Do you like teaching or instructing patients?
• What type of setting do you want to work in? Outpatient or Inpatient?
• Do you like delegating and supervising other staff?
• What type of work environment do you prefer, fast-paced or slower?
• How well can you manage stress and change?
• Are you physically able to lift and transfer patients?

How important is money or recognition? What further instruction do you need? Is a certification, a BSN, or an MSN required?

See whether you can recognize any themes or patterns regarding how you enjoy using your skills or abilities. Think about the type of patients you like to work with, such as children, adults, seniors, or multicultural populations. Identify what values are most important to you such a job security, autonomy or lifestyle considerations. Also take some time to write out your accomplishments, special projects you enjoyed such as volunteering for hospital committees like Shared Governance, Continuous Quality Improvement or Customer Relations. For more in-depth exploration consider taking vocational assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Personal Preference Assessment, the Strong and Campbell Vocation Assessment and the Skill Scan.

©NurseWeek Publishing