In the past, nurses anticipated a linear path after nursing school, and they relied on employers to direct their major career decisions.¹ Not anymore. Lucille Joel, RN, EdD, FAAN, sums it up well. In a 1998 address at an event hosted by the Massachusetts Nurses Foundation, this past president of the American Nurses Association and the first vice president of the International Council of Nurses, said, “The environment is too turbulent to be predictable at all. If you’re still operating on premises that are generations old, you’re going to have to learn to deal with disequilibrium because that’s all there will be.”²

In the workplace, this disequilibrium may arise from the outside world in the form of rightsizing or downsizing, or it may come from the inner self as a desire for new challenges or growth. In any case, nurses who wish to succeed and find satisfaction in their work must develop what the pundits call career resiliency.

Joyce E. Johnson, RN, DNSc, FAAN, senior vice president of patient care services at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, defines career resiliency as “the ability to adapt and align your career path to changing economic and organizational trends.”² She and others^3,4 view resiliency as a quality that can be cultivated. To help in this process, Johnson advises employees to commit themselves to lifelong learning, take charge of their own careers, and at the same time, devote themselves to the success of their current employer.¹

The nurses in this article might be seen as exemplars of resiliency because they possess many of the qualities of the resilient person highlighted in nursing, behavioral, and business literature. They are –

• positive, focused, flexible, and proactive;⁴
• self-aware, able to assess their own work values, interests, skills, and needs and able to actively manage their own careers;⁵
• determined, persistent, and able to problem solve;⁶ and
• creative, independent, open-minded, disciplined, supported by a network of friends and colleagues, and, last but not least, possessing a sense of humor.³

Lifelong Learning

Beverly Giordano, ARNP, CPNP, age 50, is a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) at North Florida Pediatrics, a private practice in Lake City. Giordano can tell you about resiliency. She has based her career choices on a keen assessment of her skills and interests, a desire to learn and grow in new ways, and a willingness to take calculated risks. In 1992 after 15 years as a clinical nurse specialist at The Children's Hospital in Denver, she answered an ad for editor of the AORN Journal. Although she had never worked in an operating room, she did have experience as a writer and editor and had always been interested in journalism. As a “big picture” person, Giordano understood that most of her clinical practice skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to size up a situation quickly, were transferrable to the editor's office. Nevertheless, she says, “The learning curve was absolutely straight up.” At the same time, she knew how to garner the support of her colleagues at the journal and in the early months relied a great deal on the mentorship of the former editor.

In 1996, she began to feel the pull to return to clinical practice and enrolled in a post-master’s program to become a PNP. Giordano isn’t saying it’s easy to return to school in your 40s or 50s, but she does say it’s worth the effort. Her advice to nurses who protest that they’ll be 55 when they finish school is: “You’ll be 55 anyway. Fight middle age. Do something new.” At first, she struggled to keep up with her younger classmates, but soon learned that her wealth of life experience created a balance. “Everything I’ve learned, I’ve used,” says Giordano. Laughing, she adds that she and a few other PNP students in their late 40s and 50s called themselves the “retreads.” At the end of the program, when she joined the busy Florida pediatric practice, she drew on her flexibility and creativity once again. To gain experience, she negotiated to work as an intern at a reduced salary for the first six months.

Transfer Your Skills

Like Giordano, Kathleen Budreski, RNC, BS, age 56, and Michelle Redmond, RN, BSN, age 40, two nurses from Massachusetts, have made creative career moves that exemplify resiliency. Budreski, who has a psychiatric/mental health nursing background, is a clinical responder in the Massachusetts offices of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare (HPHC), a health maintenance organization, and Redmond is a clinical consultant for product research and development at Medical Information Technology, Inc. (Meditech), in Canton, MA.

Budreski is a strong believer in the importance of continuous learning. Like Giordano she knows herself – her interests and strength and how her skills can be transferred. “I get energized by learning new things,” she says. She has worked in several areas of nursing, including inpatient psychiatric care, home healthcare, and as a case manger for HPHC. In her current position, she helps HMO members understand their benefits and facilitates communication between providers and patients. “Every job I’ve had I’ve loved,” says Budreski, but she also is attentive to her need for continuing growth. She says she considers herself a risk-taker but carefully weighs and measures a decision to leave one position and take another. “Every job has its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats,” says Budreski. “People have to have their own barometer of what fits and know when to move on.” Budreski also stresses the value of reflection and replenishment. For her this includes exercise, journal writing, and meditation.

Budreski is putting the final touches on her own business, which she calls Giant Steps – Personal Coaching. Last year as president of South Shore Registered Nurses Association in Massachusetts, she helped sponsor an entrepreneurial evening where many nurses who had started their own businesses networked with one another. In her new business, she will use her counseling skills to work with clients in a collaborative practical process in which, acting as a coach, she will help them bridge the gap from where they are to where they would like to be in their lives.

Redmond’s career path has also taken her many new places. To some, her position at Meditech might seem a long way from her earlier days in nursing. Before joining the company, she practiced for 14 years as a medical/surgical and critical care nurse and for two years as a home healthcare nurse.

After all those years of direct care, Redmond was ready to branch out in new directions, but she felt she needed guidance. She consulted with Donna Mae Donahue, RN, PhD, director of the Career Center of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Donahue helped her assess her strengths and interests and address her question: “What else can I do with this knowledge base?” Redmond says, “I took her advice and ran with it.” She started out with informational interviews and soon looked into a position at Meditech. After talking with several mangers, she took a job as a clinical consultant in research and development and has learned firsthand how much knowledge and experience she has to offer. As part of a team that is designing software for use in healthcare, she provides key information on the workflow of physicians and nurse practitioners and what they need in an effective software program.

Redmond, Budreski, and Giordano have learned to go with the flow in turbulent times, and the seaworthy vessels they’re using to journey through these choppy waters are their very selves — the skills, knowledge, and experiences that they acquired through years of nursing. They practice resiliency. Instead of fighting against the winds of change, they gather up their sails and then ride the waves.