Personal Goals

Personal Goals

JeremyAnne Navarro

HCS 301

August 14, 2013

Professor Thomas Carras

Personal Goals

Oxforddictionaries.com defines success as “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.”  How success is measured may be subjective and vary from person to person, but it is safe to assume that it is something most people strive to achieve.  For most people, success doesn’t come easy.  It is earned by hard work, perseverance, and the belief that nothing is impossible.  To become successful requires one to take risks, to step out of their comfort zone.  As the old adage says, “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always gotten.”

Travelers usually begin trips by first choosing a destination.  It allows for preparation and for knowing what to do upon arrival.  Setting goals helps us figure out where we are going and helps us realize when we have “arrived.”  Goal setting seems to be the first stop to success.  Once worthwhile goals have been figured out, one can then take control and shape their careers and futures to facilitate personal enhancement.  Goals help set up an action plan and breaks up seemingly improbable challenges into manageable steps.

My short-term professional goal is to successfully pass the Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) exam by the end of this year.  A study conducted by the American Board of Nursing Specialties on the perceived value of nursing certifications showed that the attainment of such increases empowerment and feelings of confidence, marketability, and professional credibility (Grief 2007).  Patients view it as proof of excellence; that a nurse is competent, knowledgeable, and has a certain amount of expertise.  This proof of excellence leads to in increased sense of comfort and trust in the patient, and a more fulfilling patient-nurse relationship.  “Nurses who are really confident in their skills do not have to act powerful, they are powerful” (Davidhizar, 1993, p.218).  And prior to achieving a sense of self-confidence, it is necessary to achieve a broader knowledge base.

In an on going quest for educational advancement, my long-term personal goal is to obtain my Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing (BSN) at the University of Phoenix (UOP).  In addition to earning my CEN, successful completion of the BSN program will not only be personally satisfying, it will be professionally fruitful as well, as most employers are now requiring their nurses to have a BSN.  Earning these credentials will increase my marketability and it tells my future employers that I will not stagnate in my chosen career.  Earning these credentials will potentially translate into a better paying job with a more recognized organization.  It could also pave the way to obtaining a Master’s Degree in Nursing and potentially a Nurse Practitioner license.