Six Must Have New Year Resolutions for Nurses

The Year of the Nurse is almost coming to an end.   Every nurse’s New Year’s resolutions are going to be a lot different from every other year.  After having gone through an excruciating year of the Nurse and the Pandemic, addressing the ever increasing global needs, meeting domestic demand, and responding to changing technologies of integrated health; we as nurses need to resolve to make the coming year a little different.  Let the beginning of 2021 bring on a newer you!

Begin this year by setting, newer, attainable and realistic goals.   Jump start the New Year with a healthier body and mind.  Resolve to do whatever it takes to calm your mind, ease the stress, create the home work balance and organize the crazy in your life; even if you have to pick up a cute new daily planner to stay on track!

Increase Your Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Yes.  You read it right.  Increase your emotional intelligence.  Reflect on your strengths and weaknesses and begin working on them.  Polish your soft skills and your personal and professional life will thank you for that.  

When you have a good degree of emotional intelligence, you know what you feel, what your emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.  Simply put; EQ is a set of skills that help you gain control of your impulses, self-motivation, empathy and social competence in interpersonal relationships.  To gain mastery over EQ is to manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict at home and at workplace. This is a necessary skill to obtain that will ensure your effectiveness as a bedside nurse or as a leader.   So resolve to attend a training program, a workshop or gain some continuing education to increase and improve your emotional intelligence.

Explore more

Gone are the days when the scope of nursing was confined to the four walls of the hospital.  There are more ways than one to be a nurse now.  You have the option to work in a hospital, clinic, school, a private home, flight, factory or an assisted living facility.   You can also choose to explore the country while working as a travel nurse.   In addition, you can choose to be what you want to be.  Do you want to go into research?  Do you plan to educate other nurses?  Is management calling you?  The list is endless.  Furthermore, ask yourself what strata of society do you want to work with?  Do you love working with the kids and infants?  Or the women in labor?  Do you enjoy working with the most vulnerable population in mental health facilities or does the forensics fascinate you?  The possibilities are endless.   Go explore.  Go where your passion leads you.

Advance your education

Plan to advance your education this year.   Have you been dreaming of specializing in a particular field?  Now is the time to go, enroll.   Working towards your BSN or MSN is also a good resolution for nurses and adds a solid credential to add to your CV making it a perfect New Year’s gift.   Keep yourself informed of the latest trends happening in your field.  Expand your knowledge and skills on pressing issues like opioid addiction and identifying signs of domestic violence.  Research new drugs on the market and know what they do

Keep abreast with the latest technology.

In addition, make your voice heard this year.   Volunteer to serve on a committee and make a difference.  Be a change agent no matter where you are planted.

Expanding your professional connection is one of the most advised New Year’s resolutions for nurses. Join professional nursing organizations relevant to your field.  It is there that you will find all the support and the resources to grow and expand.

Be Kind

The year 2020 hasn’t exactly been an easy one.   Be the kind of nurse that you would want.    There is grief and hardship everywhere.     A simple smile can go a long way in brightening a person’s day.    Patients can be difficult at times.  A little empathy every now and then might make a huge difference in ways we might never know. 

This New Year 2021 resolve to be the change.  Resolve to stop workplace bullying.  Bring positivity into your workplace; and watch it spread on.

 Respect and try to understand patients’ and coworkers’ religious beliefs

Advocate for patients who want prayers or a Chaplain

COVID-19 has taught us more about inner strength and resilience that we probably did not even realize we had.  There were nurses who held the telephones as the lonely dying patients spoke to their loved ones; teams who flexed their schedules to help each other with daycare; and then there are those super heroes who turned up to work every single day, knowing that each day they were exposing themselves and their families to COVID-19.   

Let 2021 be the year when we give up being cruel to each other; especially the novice and the younger nurses. 

Befriend the new nurse on the unit and make them feel welcome.  

Celebrate each other’s successes.

 Let’s build a culture of lifting one another; not tearing apart.  Resolve to support, uplift and nurture each other. 

Practice gratitude. 

Let’s make a conscious choice to give up nitpicking, gossiping or belittling one another.

Celebrate with coworkers their special days and occasions.  Teamwork often makes the dream work.  Take time out of your busy schedule to talk to your maintenance person, housekeeper, and secretaries about their days.

Practice Self-Care

Nurses are human too.  It is important that you take off your super human cape every once a while and practice some self-care. 

Learn to take your breaks.  Find a place away from your work table to eat your lunch.   Use your breaks to rewind and refresh.  Use them to call a friend or loved one, watch something entertaining on your phone, or go outside on a walk and enjoy a little fresh air and sunlight.

 Cultivate interests outside of your work to help you get more purpose in your life. 

Declutter your work bag.  Get yourself some new and comfortable scrubs and work shoes.

Plan the perfect vacation, choose the perfect color for your walls or redesign the interiors of your home.

Being a medical professional does not provide you immunity from illnesses.  Take care of your health. Know Your Health Numbers – Take a look at your BP numbers, your BMI, and your lab values to see if you’re at risk for chronic conditions.

Make smart use of social media.  Let it influence you positively.  When it begins to get overwhelming, stop and explore.  Use your phone for more productive apps.   Join an online gym. 

Here are some apps that might help you reinvent yourself:

Headspace – Headspace is a meditation app where a guided voice will help you feel calm.

Talkspace – Talkspace lets you schedule sessions with an online therapist.

Shine – Shine is an app that helps keep you motivated with positive words.

Pacifica – Pacifica helps you track your mood, meditate, and can start you up with cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Stop saying ‘Sorry”

As nurses; we tend to say ‘sorry’ a lot.  Did you just refuse that overtime? Or to come to work on your scheduled day off?  Healthy boundaries are important.  Saying ‘no’ is an art and a skill that every nurse needs to learn.

On the same note; stop saying “I’m sorry” to patients so much.  Stop saying ‘sorry’ to an extent that it begins to lose meaning.  Sorry for making them wait for their water; sorry that the clinician didn’t show up after you paged them for the umpteenth time; sorry that the freshly arrived linen from the laundry had wrinkles on them…….what else are you sorry for?  This coming New Year, learn to be assertive in the face of bullying managers, co-workers and family members.

Reserve your apology for moments when you can actually mean it, such as when someone dies or when a person has been truly inconvenienced.

Your Takeaway in a Picture

So, let’s hear it from you?  What’s your Resolution for the New Year?  Let us know in the comments below