Professional networking plays an important role in both finding jobs and career development. Although you might associate professional networking with the business world, networking can be beneficial to anyone who wants to establish a fulfilling career, including nurses.
Networking is more than just introducing yourself and collecting business cards. It’s about building meaningful relationships that can work to your benefit. Here are just some of the ways it can give you a boost:
- Help you uncover job opportunities: In healthcare, referrals make up a key aspect of the organizational recruitment strategy. Many hospitals offer robust referral programs with generous incentives designed to encourage employees to refer their contacts.
- Ability to explore career paths: Networking can expose you to different roles and specialties that you may not have previously considered.
- Create a support system: Nursing is a highly demanding career both physically and mentally. Understandably, burnout is a real problem for nurses. Having a support group of fellow nurses helps relieve the stress that leads to nurse burnout.
- Influence healthcare: Making connections within your organization and in the healthcare industry helps create alliances and allows your voice to be heard. It plays a greater role in developing processes and policies that support better patient outcomes.
- Encourages career advancement: Your professional network can help you advance in your career. Establishing relationships provides professional references and creates opportunities for mentoring, coaching, and additional support for reaching your goals.
Interested in networking with other nurses? Stay tuned for our first nurse networking event!