New Year. New Mindset. New You.

growth mindset

Nurses Are Leaders

We teach, encourage, motivate, and guide our patients toward better versions of themselves. To do this, we believe that our patients have the ability to learn new skills and develop new abilities.

We assume patients possess a growth mindset—the belief that they can grow, learn, and change.

But do we believe the same about ourselves?

Do you hold a fixed mindset or growth mindset when it comes to yourself?

What Is a Nursing Mindset?

A mindset is a group of beliefs you hold about yourself as a person, as a student, as a nurse. A mindset can propel you forward or hold you back.
It’s a belief that you can and will learn and achieve new things.

Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University is a researcher and professor who studies transformative growth mindsets. She writes that a mindset is a “self-theory” or a self-perception that we hold about ourselves; these mindsets are either fixed or focused on growth.

A fixed mindset believes that talents are set in stone and intelligence is nailed in place at birth. But nursing leaders with a growth mindset know that neither of these is true.

A nursing mindset involves embracing professional growth, seeking innovation, and engaging in positivity.

Professional Growth

Professional growth in nursing is crucial for each individual nurse and for the profession as a whole. Professional growth in nursing is what allows our profession to separate itself from other healthcare professionals.

Mindset will influence the degree to which you engage in these professional growth opportunities:

  • Pursuing additional formal education
  • Participating in professional organizations
  • Increasing your job duties and responsibilities
  • Improving job-related skills through training
  • Conducting research

As nurses engage in any area of professional growth, they are simultaneously evolving nursing into a profession that is distinct from medicine and unique in its own right.

The landscape of nursing has already expanded immensely to include choices that involve both inter-professional and intra-professional opportunities and it will continue to grow.

Nurses who grow professionally know these things:

  • Even when you fail, you’re not defeated. You examine the situation, find what went wrong, and work on ensuring it doesn’t happen again. You turn the fail into a lesson learned.
  • Even while you’re growing, you will make mistakes. You’re human. Mistakes are part of being human. You don’t blame yourself or anyone else. It’s a part of the process.
  • Even if it’s hard, you’re willing to step outside your comfort zone.
  • Even when the end isn’t in sight, you hold on to the powerful belief that you can and will learn and achieve whatever you’ve set your mind to.
new mindset

Seek Innovation

Nursing innovation isn’t for wimps. It takes a growth mindset to think like an innovator. It takes fortitude to become an innovator.

Nurses are on the front rows of their patients’ lives and involved in the details of providing best practice and quality patient care. We know what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to our patients.

Nursing innovation can impact nursing education, nursing leadership, patient care, best practice, social justice and reform, advocacy,

Nurses are the backbones of this system and, as such, we have our fingers on the pulses of health care transformation and patient care shifts. We have fresh ideas all the time.

There is not a bedside nurse out there who hasn’t said, “There has got to be a better way to do this.”

A growth mindset is the connection between realizing there’s a better way and turning that idea into reality.

If you want to join a community of nurse innovators, check out the Nursing Innovation Hub. This community empowers front-line nurses to use technology to improve patient outcomes.

Read more about The Trained and Innovative Nurse.

Engage in Positivity

It’s no secret that professional nursing is the largest sector of health care professionals in the US. There are 4 times as many nurses as physicians.

There are currently four million nurses in the US (ANA, 2018). That’s a lot of positivity!

But beware: positivity isn’t just a gimmick.

Psychologists have shown that taking the time to develop positive emotions can alter how we approach and view our daily lives, including our environments, our jobs, and our families.

A growth mindset means that we possess an affirmative power that can impact lives daily through words and actions.

Possessing a growth mindset allows us to build positive emotions, allowing us to broaden our awareness, develop new thoughts, and entertain fresh insights. We become better versions of ourselves by riding the upward spiral of positivity.

And better nurses mean improved patient care. And improved patient care means a stronger definition of the nursing profession as a whole.

Wondering exactly what a positive attitude is? Check out this post to learn more information.

Right Now

Some nurses believe that mindset is the most important attribute needed by nursing leaders today because without it there is no value placed on learning, no open feedback, and no confidence for skill development.

Others believe that mindset can make a huge difference by decreasing job stress and nurse burnout by allowing nurses to be more productive, engaged, and happier. This leads to healthier and more resilient nurses who are resourceful and confident lifelong learners.

A nursing mindset focuses on possessing the non-cognitive factors of nursing such as perseverance, motivation, effort, and growth all of which can be demonstrated through professional growth, innovation, and positivity.

It’s a new year.

Don’t be left behind.

Embrace the power of a growth mindset right now.

It’s never too late to reap the benefits of a growth mindset.

Cheers!

Julie don't forget your power

I’d love to hear all about the new you! Leave me a comment!

Developing a growth mindset in nursing is just what I needed. I was tired of thinking small and feeling limited. As a nurse, I spend every day encouraging my patients to consider changing and growing, why wasn’t I believing the same about myself? It’s a new year and as a nursing leader, I’m ready for a new mindset and a new me. This article helped me understand the growth mindset for nurses and nursing students. #nprush #newyearnewyou #growthmindset #mindset #developgrowthmindset

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