Illustrations by Malcolm Garris/PhotoDisc

Editor's Note

August 15, 1997

It wasn’t long ago that you went into a profession and stayed there. It’s not that you didn’t change jobs—once or twice in a lifetime—but you generally stuck with the main line of work for which you were educated.

Without a doubt, that’s all changed. Even if you’re doing exactly what you set out to do when you went to school, the work itself is different. And it keeps changing every few months.

That’s why some career planning experts recommend that you give your career constant attention. It’s not that you should always be looking for a new job. But you can be asking yourself questions about how you can build a career that will be satisfying to you and valuable to society.

I offer my own career history as a case in point. I knew early in high school that I wanted to be a nurse, and right out of college I worked in med/surg and then the ICU. Then, wanting more clinical knowledge and interested in management, I got a master’s in nursing administration and took a job as an assistant administrator for several years.

But then I realized that I wanted something else. I had a 1-year-old son at home whom I saw only on evenings and weekends. I had a real desire to write for newspapers and magazines. I realized that leaving the hospital for home-based free-lancing and part-time work at a small advertising agency could fit financially, too, although it required some downshifting.

I took the program planning skills I had learned in graduate school and on the job, and applied them to creating ad campaigns for healthcare and high-tech accounts. And I used my writing and organizational skills from college and nursing school and kept pitching stories to national magazines.

Gradually I was able to bring the journalism skills back to nursing and health care, and then last year I took the job as Nurseweek/Healthweek editor in chief, which lets me combine all the experiences and skills I’ve acquired along the way.

I don’t go into this detail to suggest that my career path would suit you. At the time I had no idea how my career would end up. Once in a while I would stumble over my response when a friend asked me why had left nursing. In my heart I never felt I had left health care. But it sure looked that way, I know.

Here’s what I’ve learned from my career experience so far: You’ve got to figure out what you’re best at and then find a way to do it. You’ve got to constantly read and ask and learn new things. Ultimately, career planning is simple: matching your skills and passions to the job market. And that’s what Nurseweek/Healthweek hopes to help you with in this special career issue.

Barbara Bronson Gray, MN, RN
Editor in Chief