Running Head: DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS 1

Developing Educational and Professional Goals

Lareka Dublin
Old Dominion University
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Developing Educational and Professional Goals

I have been a nurse for about one year and three months and I am currently working at

Riverside Regional Medical Center on the Cardiovascular Telemetry Unit. As a child, I always

wanted to be a nurse when I grew up. Unfortunately, I witnessed many people in my family

suffer from different illnesses and diseases. My mom was a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

and always helped with our sick family members because it was something that she was

passionate about. While my uncle was battling lung cancer, he decided that he wanted to come

live with us. I was then able to truly see first-hand how my mom cared for others. This

motivated me to one day be able to take care of people as she did. To gain some experience in

the healthcare field, I decided to take a Nurse Aide course after my first year of college. I

worked as a CNA all through nursing school and until I accepted my first job as a Registered

Nurse (RN).

Examination of Journey

Right after I graduated high school, I started college at Old Dominion University (ODU)

with a major in pre-nursing studies. I attended ODU from August 2011 to December 2012 but

due to some personal issues, I had to leave ODU and come home and attend a community

college. A few years later, I completed my Associates Degree in Nursing from Rappahannock

Community College. My initial goal was to complete my Bachelor of Science of Nursing (BSN)

the first time around because I knew that was a goal that I wanted to achieve. Unfortunately,

things did not go exactly as planned but now I am back on track with pursuing my BSN. Now

my goal is to finish what I started back in Fall of 2011.

Educational and Professional Goals

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I have both educational and professional goals that I hope to achieve during my journey

of obtaining my BSN. My educational goals are to gain better public speaking skills and better

writing skills. Through the various writing assignments and video presentations, I think that I

will be able to improve my writing skills and become more comfortable with speaking in front of

others. My professional goals are to transition into another area of practice and to become

ACLS, PALS and PCCN Certified. At this point, I am unsure of what area of practice I want to

pursue next because I am interested in several different areas of nursing. I am interested in both

oncology and pediatrics. I have had many people in my life suffer from cancer so I would love

to have the opportunity to care for that population. I have the caring and compassionate

characteristics needed to be an oncology and pediatric nurse. I have a few years of experience

working with children and I absolutely loved it. Even though I don’t have any children, working

with children comes natural to me. It is something that I am passionate about. My second

professional goal would be to obtain many certifications. I am all about continuing education

and think it is important to expand your knowledge in any way possible. I would like to become

certified in ACLS, PALS and PCCN and possibly more. There is always room for growth in the

nursing field.

Self-Assessment

When analyzing myself as a nurse, I find that I have more strengths than weaknesses.

My strengths are that I am very dedicated, empathetic, compassionate and honest. I work well as

a team member and I have good communication skills. I have always been one that is dedicated

to their job. Empathy and compassion both come natural to me. I always try to put myself in the

shoes of the patient so that I can treat them the way that I would want to be treated. I am always

honest and will speak up if there is something that I don’t know how to do or don’t feel
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comfortable doing. It is better to be safe than sorry when you are dealing with someone’s life. I

am a great team player and I feel as though teamwork is much more effective. I have always

been a ‘people person’ and I have obtained very good communication skills from my previous

jobs. I worked at a group home as a CNA and I learned how to effectively communicate with the

family members of the individuals.

Even though I have many strengths; I also have some weaknesses that I am working on

overcoming. I would call my weaknesses more of a work in progress because there has been

much improvement. My weaknesses are time management and being too critical of myself. My

time management skills have drastically improved since I started my career as a nurse but I still

have a while to go. I still have many days where I find myself at work charting late. This brings

me right into my second weakness which is my self-criticism. I am always very hard on myself

even about things that are beyond my control. I often feel bad when there is something that has

to be turned over to the next shift. I have since then realized that nursing is a 24 hour job and

sometimes everything cannot get done on 1 shift. I have learned to delegate tasks more so that I

can manage my time more effectively and be able to get things done in a timely manner. My

dedication will help me obtain my professional and educational goals because it keeps me

motivated to strive for what I want. My weaknesses show that I have self-awareness and I have

a plan in place to successfully overcome those weaknesses.

Conclusion

I am now back on track to earn my Bachelors of Science in Nursing Degree. My next

step is to start working towards my educational and professional goals and to achieve them

during my journey of obtaining my BSN. This assignment really allowed me to self-reflect and

assess my strengths and weaknesses. I was then able to focus on what I need to do to overcome
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those weaknesses. I also think that it is time for me to search for another job in either pediatrics

or oncology. I realized that I have not yet found my true passion in nursing and I am looking

forward to finding my niche. I also realized how much I have progressed in overcoming my

weaknesses even though I still have so much room for growth in those areas.

“I pledge to support the Honor System of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form

of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a

member of the academic community it is responsibility to turn in all suspected violators of the

Honor Code. I will report to a hearing if summoned.”

Name: _______Lareka Dublin______________

Signature: ____Lareka Dublin______________

Date: _____10/212017____________________