Finally, it’s that time of the year! With the holidays and celebrations, people would have also started to think about their resolutions for the new year. Yes, we all know that resolutions are important to bring about a change in people, so as to enjoy a better quality of life. For nurses, who are used to taking care of other people, having a New Year’s resolution for themselves may not be a big deal.

However, what is really common these days is that not many are able to keep their resolution after the first 30 days, or they just do not pick up one at the start of the new year. Here, we hope to give some helpful tips for nurses who are still looking for a resolution before they ring in the new year!

Take only realistic resolutions:

It’s very easy to decide on a resolution that isn’t really realistic to follow at all in the coming year. But, being a responsible nurse, it’s important for you to set some attainable goals so as to follow it and be successful with it. A typical resolution will need to be worked, since not many are accomplished with little effort. However, it should not be something that is beyond the boundary of attaining. For instance, nurses can think of a job area where they want to improve in and try resolving to master it within a specific timeline.

Develop positive thinking attitude:

Although it may sound easy, it’s definitely not so! For nurses, it’s crucial to maintain positive thinking throughout your entire career. However, pushing oneself to do so will take a long time with improving their life both in the job and outside the job. So, for the year 2018, developing a positive attitude itself can be a good resolution to consider. Nurses can push it forward while rewarding themselves for their efforts. Putting a smile to your face can make all the difference for your anxious patients, and this would promise them that you are giving the best treatment possible. Moreover, a positive attitude can even inspire your patients to hold themselves to their own New Year’s resolution.

Remember, be precise:

While it’s easy to make resolutions, people don’t find it easy to follow them. It’s just because they went wrong somewhere along the way in defining their resolutions. For instance, all nurses want to be better healthcare providers and help their patients. But, let’s put this in perspective, this common resolution is not specific, and as a nurse, there is always room for improvement. A lack of plans on how you should tackle your resolution is where some go wrong. So, try to find something that is precise and take care of how you plan to keep it.

Avoid an overload:

Some people tend to make a big wish list for the resolutions that they want to achieve in that year. But, overwhelming yourself like this would make you lose interest over time, ultimately making them useless as a whole. It doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t have multiple resolutions. But, if a nurse has multiple things to accomplish, she or he should make sure to set different timelines for when and how he or she should meet them. This strategy would keep her from feeling overloaded with resolutions at some point in the future.

Share resolutions with friends:

It’s absolutely okay to share the resolutions you have with your friends, your spouse, and even your coworkers. Although it may not be written in stone, telling people that this is what you want to accomplish will make you feel like you have an expectation that you want to meet. This would help in become mentally committed to it and since it would be known to others, it would give you the much-needed boost to work towards achieving it. In this line, it’s advisable to share the resolutions only with who you trust the most, since they may hold you accountable if you do not reach it or if you drop it midway. The more friends you share your plans with, the better nurse you can become as you are putting in a little more energy in it than you were before.

Reward yourself!

Just as it’s important to hold yourself accountable for sticking to your resolution, it’s equally important to be able to reward or just praise yourself for achieving it. This would give the most motivation when you want to move forward. Nurses should be advised to include some small rewards, while devising the strategies for attaining their resolutions themselves. In this, he or she should make the rewards relative to the resolution, as well as their nursing career. These simple things would not only help their career, they would also help them become a better provider of care.

Finally, nurses should not hesitate to make modifications to their resolutions if need be. Sometimes, it can be hard, and you will be struggling to achieve it. They should be ready to step back and analyze where they went wrong, re-evaluate, and modify accordingly, so as to move forward. Rather than taking it as a failure and look upon yourself, it’s good to start afresh by analyzing deeply into it. As a nurse, one should not forget that you have an abundance of skills that could help achieve most, if not all, your goals! But, there needs to be proper planning and motivation in order to keep your New Year’s resolution.

Happy New Year!