If you’re starting the new year with resolutions to exercise more, lose weight, watch less TV, or otherwise improve yourself, have you also considered making a few resolutions regarding your nursing career and professional development?

While resolving to get in shape is a common direction for our thoughts to turn as the calendar flips from one year to the next, we don’t necessarily want to skimp on this other essential aspect of our lives. Have you resolved to do something differently in 2025 in your direction as a nurse?

Room for Improvement or Change

Resolutions are usually born from a place of wanting or needing change or improvement. We’re out of shape, so we resolve to get back into shape. We’ve been undisciplined with our eating and want to dial in our diet and nutrition. Some resolutions are easier to follow through on than others, and while they don’t have to be enormous changes to have an impact, we also want our resolutions to feel substantial enough that we really feel it in our lives.

If you are considering your nursing career, what areas do you see room for improvement in? What changes could be made — large or small — that would make your career more satisfying, successful, or fulfilling?

While you can’t singlehandedly transform the healthcare system, give everyone universal healthcare, or increase nursing salaries, there are changes you could make in your small sphere of influence. And if there’s always room for improvement on multiple levels, where do you start?

Examine the Themes

You can begin making career-related resolutions by examining some of the themes in your professional life. Consider these as starting points:

Is your current job personally fulfilling?
Are you happy working for your current employer?
Does your work schedule fit with your lifestyle and the needs of your family?
Are there skills you’d like to learn or improve?
Is there a nursing specialty you’d like to become more familiar with?
Have you been attracted to the idea of going back to school or earning a new certification?
How do you feel about your relationships with your colleagues?

If areas that need improvement or change have to do with relationships, this might mean finding a mentor, getting better acquainted with certain colleagues, or seeking out new people to get to know.

Joining a nursing organization can lead to new relationships and connections; you never know where these new relationships might lead. You could resolve to meet for coffee with a different colleague every month or attend a certain number of conferences or online meetings in the coming year. It doesn’t have to be a big commitment to make a difference.

When it comes to skill-building or gaining new knowledge, consider researching graduate programs or looking into a potential certification. Ask a colleague to mentor you in developing a specific skill on a smaller scale. Alternatively, you could meet with a peer from the nursing field for lunch each week to discuss a journal article you both agree to read.

If you’re being poorly treated by your employer or you feel stagnant in your job, you might need to make bigger changes and make more intensive resolutions.

Resolving to apply for a new job, go back to school, shift from nights to days, or completely change nursing specialties are big undertakings that necessitate major effort. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, break larger issues into bite-sized steps that make them more digestible.

Making it Stick

The hardest thing about resolutions is making them stick. Staying on track with change is hard, especially if what you’re trying to do involves new discipline or focus.

If significant changes are needed, a career coach or counselor can be a helpful source of accountability and support. You can also create resolutions with colleagues or peers and form a mini-support group to move your mutual processes forward.

Resolutions come in all shapes and sizes, but the most important part is that they’re something you really want and feel possible to accomplish. Setting your sights too high can set you up for failure or disappointment, but setting them too low can also be a letdown if it’s too easy and doesn’t take enough effort to feel significant.

We can all resolve to be better, do better, and feel better. If we can improve our professional lives and careers in some way, the impact can be far-reaching. Make your resolutions with care and look forward to a year of positive change, no matter how big or small.

The post Your Nursing Career Resolutions first appeared on Daily Nurse.