Career progression should be the goal of every Nurse no matter the generation, if you want to grow faster read on
To the African Gen Z Nurses who are going to find themselves in this profession at a very historical moment, here are some things I would love you to know about the nursing profession.
Generation Z is the generation born in the late 1990s or those born in the early 21st century.
Now, straight to the point
Get Acquainted With Digital Life
This tops the list because to me I think it's a cornerstone. And you have been born into technology.
The world has gone digital.
It's no longer resisting the digital revolution. It has already embraced it.
Every culture under the sun has been influenced one way or the other by digital technology.
And those who want to be relevant in the future must today absorb the culture of technology.
Learn a digital skill [I know you have been hearing more of this lately]. With which you will rule the healthcare space tomorrow.
Skills single us out of the crowd.
You don't need a DEGREE or DIPLOMA! This is one thing that makes the internet/digital age so exciting. It all depends on how ready you are to learn, your level of curiosity, and your discipline.
Here's a BIG list of tech skills that you can learn [each has numerous branches and is related].
Programming And Software
Cloud Technology
Product Design & Development
Data Science [and its many many exciting branches]
Machine Learning And Artificial Intelligence
Blockchain [WEB 3.0 and NFTs]
Writing & Its Numerous Branches [the ability to synthesize your thoughts for others to interact with]
Web Development: Learn WordPress [WordPress is the largest Web Content Management Service/Brand].
Social Media Technology [Everything that has to do with social media management].
Publishing Tech [related to writing, but more concerned with all the nitty-gritty of publishing online and maybe offline].
And so much more...
If you find out that you have fallen so much in love with Tech, and decide to go further by studying for a degree or diploma, I encourage you to do so, if that's what you really desire.
The world of technology is giving Africa a plane field to play and compete with other nations of the world.
No more valleys of lack of access or mountains that divide, we are all given equal opportunities, all thanks to the internet and sophisticated gadgets, you too can become a player.
And the concept of Digital Health is still a very new one. You can dash into the field and start creating! There are free courses, internship opportunities and so much tools in place to help Africans compete in the world of technology.
Pay Attention To Leadership & Innovation
This is where the profession missed out some 100 or more years ago.
They subconsciously built into the mentality of the early nurses a faulty mindset of servitude.
And it stayed with them for a long time, affecting them and making it impossible for them to discover themselves [with only a few exceptions who saw the disease and tried to break free].
Moreso, a large percentage of nurses have been women, this strengthened that faulty culture of servitude, further aggravating the problem at hand.
I am not saying servitude is wrong, but when it suppresses the ability of people to think, innovate, create and lead, it becomes a big issue.
Nevertheless, we are seeing better days.
The message of leadership has started getting louder within our camps, and more and more nurses are beginning to understand why they must take leadership seriously.
You are lucky, for you are getting this precious information early enough in your journey.
This is where you should start learning leadership by taking leadership courses, getting involved with communities that preach nursing leadership, attaching yourself to nursing mentors who understand what leadership is. The middle tips should go into a bit more detail, explain more. Keep them short and to-the-point. E.g., if you're writing a post about how to blog, you can write something like: "Decide how often you want to blog. Be realistic about it. Think you can blog twice a month? Commit to once a month and stick to it."
"Nurses are beginning to understand why they must take leadership seriously."
On Personal Development
In the old industrial world, teachings on personal development was so scarce. So, only a few heard it and started implementing it. Those few later went ahead to rule the world.
Today, we have thousands of thousands of sources that preach personal development, so we have no excuses.
Go out there and consume all that you can on personal development.
You were not taught everything in your nursing degree.
The real school starts when you leave the four walls of your institution -- where you come face to face with real life problems.
Personal development is first of all about discovery, then mastery and development, where you start to build that which you have discovered about yourself.
And on innovation.
This is where you must explore your creative angles.
Where you look at the world with a critical mindset that refuses to see the problem without thinking of solutions.
As the leadership abilities of our professional ancestors were suppressed, their ability to think, innovate and create was also silenced.
"Leadership & Innovation are two inseparable concepts"
So, as you are studying [or working], let this thought be in your heart that you are a leader, an innovator, someone who has the solution to a thousand problems sitting inside them.
Seek Mentorship
May I let you know, that you are smart and strong, but you are not smart enough to survive alone?
You need to follow the steps of someone [or people] who are successfully taking the steps that you want to take, and walking the paths you desire to walk.
Under mentorship, I want to add that you should look for a community of nurses that are leadership and innovation-driven [like I mentioned earlier].
They are many out there.
Subscribe to their newsletters, get their books and materials, follow them on social media, volunteer to serve with them.
That's how good culture rubs off on you.
Make Good Use of Community
I am a huge fan of community.
I know what community can do to someone who is desperately ready to grow, and what it can also do for someone who has little desire to grow.
A good community will inspire you to grow, and if you have no motivation to grow, a good community should also be able to inspire you to grow.
The Power of Volunteering
You must know what volunteering can do for you.
Through volunteering, you plug yourself into experiences.
Through volunteering, you get the big opportunity to build your network and interact with people who share your value as a person.
Volunteer to serve under nursing organizations or communities that you admire.
It's so easy, and most times, the requirements that qualify you are not much. Very simple and basic requirements.
Think Entrepreneurship
Think value, how to add value to humanity & society.
It's not just about getting a job and collecting salaries.
Gone are the days when people think like this -- it's shallow, no depth at all.
In this advanced age, we think of how to add value to humanity & society.
Great people are people who add so much value to the world that the world can't ignore them.
That's why they get famous, rich and powerful.
Learn all you can about business & entrepreneurship. We need more nurses who can handle the complexities present in the world of business and entrepreneurship.
In Conclusion
You have all it takes to be the best generation the nursing profession has ever seen.
You came into the game at the interception between the old world and the new world.
Things have changed in this new world.
The way we communicate, our culture, the way we do business and so much more.
You have the opportunity to grow better and have the power to seize your future and become the best at what you do. Use it well.
You have more mentors, strong mentors, who know what leadership is.
You have access to technology.
You have community. You have the opportunity.
Nursing is one profession that has suffered from what I like to call true leadership neglect for a long time.
And you will probably encounter the negative effects of this deficit. It will come to you in many forms.
They will try to talk you down and control you. They will try to push you out and kick you to the corner. Don't let that happen. You must let them know that you have a lot to offer.
Thank you for reading and please let me know in the comment section which of these you are already doing, I will like to know.
My name is Daniel Ayingla, I write essays, articles & stories on Nursing and healthcare leadership, innovation, digital health and health tech, creativity and entrepreneurship.
You can reach me here
[danielayinla1@gmail.com or
follow me on Twitter @Ayinla0]
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