When you are looking at building a healthcare career around your family, it is important to factor in the options that you have available to you. Getting the right balance in a new job can seem impossible, but with a healthcare career, you will see that a great deal of flexibility can be afforded to you.

It’s true that you may need extra support, maybe family members can look after the children to cover your shifts? If not it’s important to find a decent babysitter london has lots of options from childminders to agencies where staff are properly vetted.

So, just how can you build a strong and sustainable healthcare career around your children and family, and what should you be taking into consideration?

Where Does Your Future Lie?

Before you make any major decisions, it is important to establish where your future lies. What do you see yourself doing for the next 10-15 years? Do you see yourself as a nursing professional, or do you perhaps see yourself in healthcare leadership? When you can establish where your future lies and what it looks like, you can start building a plan of action.

So, before you go any further, establish what your ideals look like. Do you want more freedom and flexibility in your healthcare career? Do you want more opportunities for progression and development? Do you want to utilize previous work experience or personal experience you may hold? These are just some of the many key questions to answer.

Look at Flexible Careers and Roles

When pursuing a healthcare career, you may find one thing that holds you back is flexibility – or the perceived lack of it. Your children and your family should always come first, which means when you are making a career decision, it is important to look at routes that offer the greatest flexibility – especially when building a better work and life balance.

For example, within a nursing setting, you will find that shifts can be grouped together to give you longer periods off, or you could discover that part-time opportunities or flexible work may be more prevalent than you think. Yes, you need to be committed within any healthcare role or position, but that does not mean that you have to sacrifice your family’s happiness and wellness. When you look at flexibility before committing, you can begin establishing what you want out of your career and why.

Fortunately, it’s possible to find flexible jobs in the nursing sector and keep a work-life balance. If you want to work and explore new places with your family, travel nursing is an exciting option for you. Many staffing agencies and hospitals provide housing options for travel nurses, such as fully furnished apartments near the hospitals. So you may travel with your family and be a good mother and nurse at the same time.

Decide What You Want Out of Your Career

Your future and your career are such a large area to cover that it is important to decide what you want to get out of a new role and career in as much depth as possible. You can do this by setting out objectives and goals – both for the short and long term. When you set these out, they will help you realize your true and full potential.

For example, within the first five years of your career, do you want to be on course for a promotion? Even though you are only just starting, you still need to place high importance on planning for the future. When you know what you want from your healthcare career, you can then begin to take positive action

Map Out a Career Plan

Now that you have taken time out to establish what you want from your career and why, it is time to start thinking about timelines and career planning. Career planning for any healthcare professional is crucial because it gives you purpose, a clear focus, and direction. When you embark on a new career path, you can find it hard to maintain dedication and motivation – after all, this is normal given how overwhelming the nursing field can be at times.

However, when you have a career plan to follow and stick to, you can then rekindle anything you may have lost. A career plan will quickly and easily show you what you are aiming for and why, and it will help keep your dreams and ambitions close. When mapping out a career plan, you need to focus on the next few years (including studying).

Begin Your Studies Online

It is true that there is high demand for healthcare professionals, but it does not mean that your experience or knowledge will allow you to simply walk into the role that you want. To enter and thrive in the healthcare position that you want, you will need to look at advancing and enhancing your studies. You can even do this online from the comfort of your home, so you have no excuse not to explore the programs and colleges on offer.

When you realize how important education is and you see the value it adds to your career path, you can then start looking at relevant programs. For instance, if you are looking at being a nurse practitioner, you might want to consider online pediatric acute care nurse practitioner programs – these will help shape your nursing career, and some of the courses may be necessary to enter your chosen field, too.

Start Enhancing Your Skillset

While focusing on your studies, it is also important to enhance your skillset. You already have many skills to offer a new position, and you should focus on improving and growing these as much as possible. For example, if you are excellent at communication but not so effective at listening, then start working on this skill.

Or, if you love working in a team but lack confidence when working by yourself, start building up your confidence and growing from within. When you start a new healthcare career, self-evaluation will help you identify where your strengths and weaknesses may lie.

Forge New Relationships with Others

In healthcare, it helps to forge positive relationships as and where you can. When you focus on networking, you focus on building links with professionals who may be able to assist or guide you in the future. Relationships with other working professionals are important because these connections allow you to grow and can even lead to further opportunities in the nursing sector.

Professional relationships also allow you to see where changes need to be made in your work life and approach, and could even help you weigh up the competition, too. Plus, they can help you build your confidence and stay grounded – both during your studies and on the ward.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.