“Every moment of one’s existence, one is growing into more or retreating into less.” Norman Mailer
Over the past few years, I have had an opportunity to create beautiful friendships with people whom I have met at my workplace. Over time we have each slowly grown into our own space some of us more slowly than others but lest the same, growth has been evident. With this, it has meant that we move to different departments or regions and as much as it has been difficult it is proving to be worthwhile. John Maxwell a great American author once said, “Growth is the great separator between those who succeed and those who do not. When I see a person beginning to separate themselves from the pack, it is almost always due to personal growth.” For anyone left behind as this happens one experiences a barrage of emotions. One is happy to see them grow but then despondency creeps in. One can not fathom not seeing them for a long time. On some days despite offering our unmerited support we are left asking ourselves when is our time coming too. I am here to let you know that it is okay to feel unsure, the only difference is how you respond to it.
A few weeks ago I was helping my friend pack her household belongings ready for the big move and she came across her vision board. I was quite taken aback by the intricacies within it. I remember seeing her lips moving but honestly not listening to what she was saying. My eyes were so glued on it. As far as I could tell she had achieved some major things on it and had modified some of the goals that were yet to come to pass. This current big move she was making was directly linked to all this and through revising her previously set goals she was on the right path to achieving them. I felt proud and decided maybe its time I put down mine too. Get all my ideas from my head to paper. Well, I did so and then this morphed into a learning process where I came across the term career mapping.
Career mapping is the process of generating methods for individual progression within a particular area of one's choice of a career within a specified time frame. It differs greatly with professional development in that the latter only focuses on obtaining new skills and knowledge meant to remain relevant. As highlighted in some of my previous posts job satisfaction is key. It directly affects so many aspects of our lives that we can not afford to be lax about it. We invest too much of ourselves into it and when we can do something about it I believe we owe it to ourselves to do something.
Analysis of research papers on this topic among the different databases revealed that for nurses, in particular, our career map is mainly informed by three key things;
- The level of formal education
- The length and nature of our work experience
- Competency assessment
- Reduced rates of staff turnover
- Better service delivery through the use of current knowledge and skills.
- Development of genuine loyalty to an organization. No trade secrets spilled
- Better work relationships by reducing work-related conflicts
- Determine a starting point
- Determine a final goal
- Identify how to connect the two points
- Create a series of smaller goals within two points
- Put it at an easily accessible place where you can see it on a regular.
“Communicate unto the other person that which you would want him to communicate unto you if your positions were reversed.”Aaron Goldman
Most recently I was handling a patient whom now in retrospect I should have handled with greater precaution. In this context, precautionary measures should have included full protective gear for at that particular time a lot was unknown. I had admitted an elderly male with underlying preexisting conditions who had acutely gone into pulmonary edema, therefore, had dyspnea, severe hypotension, and a deteriorating neurological function. A cardiopulmonary arrest was a sure outcome if no rapid intervention was done. He had already been initiated on oxygen supplementation via a non-rebreather mask at 15L/min, he had an ongoing Norepinephrine infusion running peripherally from the transferring unit and he had received stat doses of Lasix and Albumin. However, more needed to be done as he could no longer sustain enough respiratory effort. Urgent invasive intubation was done. Yes, we had the basic gown, surgical mask, and gloves but with the risk of exposure to aerosols, we had forgotten to wear a shield and the N95. Why? tensions ran high and the team leader shouting orders didn't aid much. A lot of mistakes were made in terms of our personal safety. Luckily, the patient was now adequately ventilating, and oxygenating. By this time his blood pressures were sustained. Later on, we had a debrief and the errors were discussed and it was noted that we need to improve on effective communication as this will encourage situational awareness which encourages the maintenance of personal safety at all times. We could have done better but I choose not to dwell on the what-ifs but rather what was the root cause of the problem.
Heading home that day I managed to take a walk which allowed me to think through the day's activities. I realized all sense had gone out of the window because I could not imagine losing my patient. Adrenaline is a valuable thing as it makes the impossible workable but with it ushers a lot of illogical thinking. I felt obliged to help and this for a minute made me forget about myself. I am sure some of you may get this and some of you may not which is great as it generates a diverse audience for these conversations.