The Life-Long Journey towards Achieving Goals and Dreams

The pursuit of one’s goals and dreams are journeys that oftentimes take a lifetime to accomplish. There are those who reach the end of their lives not accomplishing what they wanted to do because they were either too intimidated by the prospect of even embarking on such a quest or they did not have the right opportunities in life. I have been working for several years and during that time I have had plenty of time to see my career develop as my life passed by.

Yet, there comes a certain point in one’s life when one must make a firm decision, a commitment to something much more than one’s own personal goals.

Oftentimes, this means sacrificing one for the other. There are those, however, who are lucky enough to have their own personal goals and that pursuit for higher objectives converge. For me, this is the pursuit of a career in nursing. Given the different other fields and professions that an individual can practice today, many people wonder why I have chosen to select the career of a registered nurse and labor the long hours for the relatively reasonable salary that I receive.

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I have always held that my continued dedication to this line of work is based on my passion for caring and helping other people. I believe that nursing is one of the ways by which I am able to do something that I really want to do in my life and that is to care and help other people.

From a practical perspective, it seems difficult to understand why the career of a registered nurse is preferable. As statistics and studies have shown, being a nurse requires specialized skills that requires years of training. The cost of education to become a nurse is also another factor that must be considered.

With the number of foreign nurses applying for jobs in the United States, it not only becomes more difficult to pursue a career in nursing it also becomes less rewarding for most. A comparison of industry standards with the Department of Labor reveals that nurses do not earn marginally more than industry counterparts. In fact, it could be argued that due to the level of training required, registered nurses do not earn more as compared to the years of training required. From a career point of view, there is not a lot of vertical movement in the nursing career after the head nurse position.

It therefore seems that the financial rewards of being a registered nurse do not justify the work and dedication that it entails. On the other hand, being a nurse allows one to make a difference in the world. While it is true that a nurse does not allow one to become insanely wealthy, it does not also deprive a person of relative comforts. The compensation package is respectable but most importantly it is a profession that is widely respected. In fact, one could argue that based on the intangible benefits alone being a registered nurse would definitely be a noble profession to pursue in one’s life.

This was the factor that set the field of nursing apart from the other careers in the medical field. The human involvement that is critical in nursing makes it the ideal profession for me. The remunerations that one can receive from being a nurse are only secondary to the feeling of fulfillment from knowing that one was able to provide support to those in need. These experiences that I took with me during my time in the hospital shaped my future and opened my eyes to the benefits that a career in nursing can provide.

I see my goal in life as similar to that of Nurse Leader Mary Breckenridge in that I know that nursing plays a very important role in the world today. There are few jobs and professions that are as rewarding as nursing. While other jobs may get more publicity, the role that nurses play in the health care industry is highly valued and appreciated. My motivation has to do with the fact that nursing is one of the ways by which I am able to do something that I really want to do in my life and that is to care and help other people.

More importantly, I greatly feel that by taking up nursing I will be able to make a difference in this world much like Mary Breckenridge has done. While this may have been my initial motivation for pursuing a career in nursing, my other various experiences have also helped steel my resolve. During my experience as an educator for school age children at the community Day Care center, I encountered different types of people from all walks of life. I saw firsthand just how different the treatment was for the different children depending on their upbringing as well as the economic and social standing of their parents.

My job at this center was to monitor the children, consult with the parents and assist with any health issues they had. It was during this time that I saw just how different the treatment was for different groups. Certain minority races, who I will omit to mention, were given substandard treatment as opposed to others. This event definitely came as a shock to me because I had always strived to serve their needs equally. From that day forth, I had decided that if I were to pursue my calling to become a nurse, I would definitely serve everyone, regardless of race or creed, with the same degree of professionalism, equally.

There is a common thread that weaves through all these experiences as it is really one of general management. Whatever the location or functional responsibilities, there have always been financial and economic objectives to set and to attain; reporting systems to set up; progress to monitor and to correct; manpower and a management team to rally, motivate, and commit to the attainment of the same goals and objectives. The attainment of those objectives can only be attained by being able to recruit, organize, and motivate a dedicated team.

I do not like to overwhelm subordinates; intimidation is not my style. Persuasion and encouragement are my constant companions. I like to challenge people and allow a certain amount of constructive and positive intellectual and professional dissent – for as long as it leads to enlightening other potential solutions to problems. I am all for creating and maintaining a healthy, positive working environment where everyone feels good about coming to work and doing their job. I believe that it is more productive to elicit consensus rather than provoke contention.

While all of the technological advancements in health care have indeed raised the standard of health care being provided in the United States, there are a few intangible factors that can never be replaced. I see my future role as being able to develop these intangibles. One important example is the special type of manner by which a nurse must conduct herself in order to be effective in performing her task. The bedside manners are very important and it is something that just cannot be taught in classrooms.

Nurses need to be more than just machines that come in and punch in their time cards but rather professional registered nurses who show their passion and dedication to the profession through their approach and practice There will always be future developments in technology and there will always be an aging population. The key to succeeding in this profession is in maintaining the level of professional conduct that people expect from the nurse and this is the future role that I see myself in the profession of nursing.

Pursuing my career in nursing is just the first step in my plan. Much like Nurse Leader Mary Breckenridge has done, I too want to be just more than a nurse. I would like to have the opportunity to take a bigger role in making the world a better place to live. My main philosophy in life is to lead by setting an example. I cannot expect others to do what I myself would be willing to do but that does not mean that I cannot hope that others will see the example that I have shown them.

This philosophy is one of the many forces that drive me to pursue my dream of pursuing a career in nursing and of becoming so much more in life. The chance to help those who are less fortunate in life, the chance to help mothers like myself, the opportunity to be of service to humanity; these are the reasons why I have selected nursing as the profession that I will pursue; for, as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams…”