In celebration of National Nurses Week 2019, the American Nurses Association created the tagline, 4 Million Reasons to Celebrate as an affirmation of the number of individuals that make up the nursing profession. The sheer number of us made me think about the many unique individuals that make up our profession. We may not realize it but every one of us brings to the profession our special talents and passions. Consider the things you love to do, the skills that come naturally to you. Perhaps you’re a gifted listener, speaker, artist, musician, or writer. Have you used one of your special gifts to create change in a patient’s life or your profession?

Varied Settings and Specialties

Nursing – with its varied settings and specialties – provides us with the opportunity to use our unique talents and passions in numerous ways. According to The 2017 National Nursing Workforce Survey, hospitals rank as the primary employment setting, ambulatory care the second most selected setting, followed by extended care, and home health (NCSBN, 2019). Specialties range from critical care to behavioral health, from pediatrics to geriatrics, from maternal-child health to palliative care and hospice, from nursing education to clinical documentation, just to mention a few. Each of these settings and specialties benefits from nurses with unique talents and passions. For instance, behavioral health care benefits from nurses gifted with good listening skills, nursing education benefits from those gifted with speaking, and school nursing benefits from those with a passion for children.

Discovering unique talents and passions

As a new graduate nurse, I practiced on a surgical floor. At the time, the critical care unit became short staffed. Recognizing my observation skills and attention to detail, a nursing supervisor asked if I might be interested in transferring to the critical care unit. Before she had approached me, I never thought that I possessed unique talents that could benefit critically ill patients. In the weeks to come, I transferred my talents to the critical care unit where I discovered a passion caring for critically ill adults. Years later these talents translated to publishing, where my observation skills and attention to detail help develop evidence-based content that nurses use to guide care in various care settings, including critical care. I feel blessed to be part of a profession that offers endless opportunities to use our unique talents and passions.

As one of the 4 Million Reasons to Celebrate this week, what unique talents and passions make you shine in our profession? How did you discover them? We’d love to hear your story!

#ThankaNurse #4MillionReasonsToCelebrate

Reference:
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2018, updated 2019). The 2017 National Nursing Workforce Survey. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 9(3 Supplement), S1-S88. Accessed April 28, 2019 at https://www.journalofnursingregulation.com/article/S2155-8256(18)30131-5/pdf