What creates job satisfaction? What factors encourage employees to stay in the same workplace for years? Why are humans so hesitant about change culture, but ultimately seek different opportunities?
I think it is direction, mentorship, and openness to opportunities that encourage nurses to stay in the profession and at a certain facility.
During the start of the pandemic in 2020, I, like many others, took a pause and thought about what truly matters in my life. I recognized that life is way too short to clock into work, live for the weekend, and repeat. Why not pursue an aspiration? Do I really want to look at my life and wish I at least tried what I longed for?
Before starting nursing school, I thought I wanted to work in the emergency room. I quickly realized the culture was not right for me, and I worked in the medical-surgical unit as a bedside nurse for nearly five years. Eventually, I noticed I did not have as much compassion as I once did, and bedside skills seemed kind of monotonous. I began to think about how I wanted to further my nursing career, and I connected with Dr. Sarah Gray, Sigma’s Chief Nursing Officer, to help me develop my own nursing mission and vision. Sarah spoke highly of this during a presentation I attended, detailing the importance of a professional brand with a mission and vision as necessary definitions to guide each nurse’s professional journey.
She described how, by looking at your strengths, hobbies, and day-to-day life, you can create your own mission and vision that reveals who you are. A mission is more detailed and includes the steps you are taking now to build your broader vision of a future goal. Because no one nurse is the same, and there are so many things you can do with RN at the end of your name, it is important to develop your own nursing identity to help guide a successful nursing career.
Through this exercise, I decided my mission and vision statements would be:
Mission: As a voice for medicine and nursing professionals, I will lead others to think creatively in order to foster healthy relationships, a healthy self, and a healthy work environment.
Vision: Healthcare professionals will engage in meaningful work and have a passionate voice in the workplace.
It was then that I was able to identify what I loved most about nursing and combined those with my strengths to decide where I want to see myself in the next few years. Ultimately, I decided that I did not want to be a bedside nurse. I have a passion for leadership, mentorship, and nursing education. I was able to step into (and help create) my current position at the same facility as the first Nurse Retentionist—a creative position that focuses on nursing advocacy, empowerment, and professional career planning.
I also decided to become a voice actor.
A unique proposition statement (UPS) is a fancy word for catchphrase in the voiceover industry. While building my voiceover business, having a logo and UPS are important in the development of my brand and marketing. My UPS is, “the cure for the common read.” Within that phrase, I combined my two passions of nursing and acting into one. It also reveals my unique qualities that I can provide for voiceovers. Having a medical background helps me see medical narration from a nursing point of view, rather than studying how to communicate large words.
Without first recognizing what my nursing identity is, I would have used trial and error to figure out where I fit in the nursing profession. Change forces us out of our comfort zones; however, positive change motivates lifelong learning. With two years into my voiceover career, I am now the voice of Sigma’s A Nurse First podcast and have had many other opportunities along the way. I would not have pursued my true passion if I did not take time to reflect on what makes my life meaningful. I encourage everyone to pursue what they love even if it may seem out of reach. We never know what is impossible if we don’t try.
Shania Dubbert, BSN, RN, CMSRN, is an RN Retentionist at Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, Tennessee, USA, and a member of Sigma’s Phi Gamma Chapter.