Determine Your Motivations
One of the most important preliminary steps to setting smart goals for nurses is to codify the reasons why travel nursing is right for you. Some people may find that it is not the right choice for them after doing this and your goals should align with the general path of travel nursing before you jump into it. This could involve wanting to work at different hospitals around the country, wanting to travel or work near family in a different location, or wanting to gain more broad knowledge. Knowing and writing down your reasons for wanting to become a travel nurse will make it that much easier to make it become a reality.
Don’t Underestimate the Time for Goals
There are many ways that travel nursing can help expand your career, but it is important to not underestimate the time. In other words, you need to set a realistic timeline for what you want to accomplish with travel nursing, as it will not be instant. Travel nursing can help you learn new things and gain a lot more experience, but you need to recognize that this will happen over time as you continue doing it. Having a realistic timeline is a critical part of setting smart goals for nurses and travel nurses.
Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses
It can be difficult to take a hard look at yourself to define strengths and weaknesses, but this can be incredibly helpful for setting and achieving travel nursing goals. Once you know what you are strong in or what could use improvement, you can discuss this with your recruiter and they will be able to send you to locations or positions that cater to your strengths. Conversely, you could also request to be sent to positions that will help to improve the areas that you feel you are weak in.
Take Care of Yourself
Travel nursing and nursing in general can often require long shifts and very hard work. It is important to make sure that you are taking care of yourself during this time so that you can perform in your best possible state. This includes getting the right amount of sleep when possible and eating healthy, as well as having a healthy snack here and there while you are working. It can be easy to become burdened or overwhelmed when you are not taking care of yourself while working on a hard assignment. Making sure that you are operating at your best is the fastest and most efficient way to achieve your goals in nursing.
Considering Becoming a Travel Nurse or Looking for Travel Nursing Jobs?
If you are thinking about jumping into the exciting career of a travel nurse, then New Directions Staffing is here to help. We work with numerous healthcare facilities around the country and have many positions needing to be filled. Our primary goal is to find the right fit in a position for you that best aligns with your skills and goals. Feel free to give us a call at our South Carolina location at 843-284-0080 or our Rhode Island location at 401-884-0572 with any questions that you may have.
