Introduction
For this assignment, I was asked to write about my goals. At first I had so many things going through my mind. I have separated them into my career and personal goals both long-term and short-term. I also identified the skills needed to accomplish my goals. Mastering techniques in research, teamwork, communication, and certifications I must possess. There are also milestones and barriers that I have to overcome to achieve my goals. My goals must be set to give me focus on advancing my career and accomplishing my goals. “Goal-setting is one of the foundational cornerstones of everything - our success, the way we make choices with our time, the quality of life we will live - everything is impacted when we have clear, written goals.” (“Setting goals is important,” 2010 para 4).
Professional short and long- term goals
My professional short-term goal is to become a critical care nurse. I want to increase my critical thinking skills from a novice to an expert. A critical care nurse is a nurse who can remain calm in a complex emergency situation. A critical care nurse is an expert in using special equipment while providing effective patient care. Always at the ready to provide care in a crisis patient, provide family education and collaborate multidisciplinary teams regarding patient care are also vital for a critical care nurses (Cottrel, 2010). My long term-goal, professionally, is to become a clinical educator. Mateo (1998) described clinical educator role in a clinical setting include clinical and professional development of staffs. In clinical development, main responsibility of the educator nurse is to provide structured program for orientation, in-service program and evaluate competency of staffs. Professional development of a staff is also one of many important roles. The nurse educator is the one who recognizes the potential of the staff member and supports the development of those skills.
Long and short-term personal goals
Personally, my long-term goal is to obtain Baccalaureate Degree in Science of Nursing (BSN). I found that
“Nursing as a profession has suffered due to the multifarious levels of entry into practice and the lack of differentiations among educational degrees of nurses. By implementing a baccalaureate degree proposal, nursing can rebuild its image of professionalism by meeting the characteristics that professions embody” (Lane & Kohlenberg, 2010, p. 221).
As anybody in nursing field knows, many hospitals are seeking magnet status, which requires nurses to have a baccalaureate or other equivalent advance education. In addition, a baccalaureate education provides nurses with critical thinking; leadership, and professionalism skills that improve patent satisfactions (Lane & Kohlenberg, 2010). To move toward long-term goals, my personal short-term goals are to pass the first class in the BSN program with improved skills regarding online communication and writing. The first class for BSN online program at University of Phoenix (UOPX) is an undergraduate nursing study course number HCS/301. This class assists with improving important skills necessary to be successful on my academic journey. Those skills are communication, critical thinking, research, and teamwork.
Skills need to meet my goals
When I started as a medical-surgical floor nurse, my first year was mostly learning the basics focusing on task-oriented work. Although slowly increasing my experience, I started to look at the patients as a whole. Patient history, medical problems, and life-style were added to my evaluations and assessments. However, this is not enough. While assisting, an aspiring senior nurse, during the care of rapid response patient, I realize that I must obtain many skills sets to stand out or even be able to provide the type of basic care those nurses do. There are many ways to become an expert Registered Nurse (RN). Attending nursing grand-ground, reading nursing journals, going to seminars, and cross-trained on a higher level of care are available resources to enhance my skills. As a young, aspiring professional, I must obtain many skills to stand out or to be one within the crowd of expert Registered Nurses. One of which is to use the resources provided. Some ways to become an expert RN include taking time to read various relevant Nursing Journals, completing continuation education courses, and going to multiple nursing seminars. Cross-trained in areas with higher level of care is also among a few of available resources to enhance my nursing skills. Effective communication is also essential as a RN. The RNs working as a team, collaborate with multidisciplinary, require communication skill that clear, concise, and correct to maximize care for the patients. Preparing myself for the critical care nurse role, I know I must possess certification such as Basic Life Support, Advance Cardiac Life Support, and Electrocardiogram. Those are vital among the skill sets of all critical care nurses.
Milestones
I know I have a long way to go before achieving all my goals. I plan to reach each goals one step at a time by setting milestones to help keep me focus. I will work hard to have good grades, complete group assignments to ensure passing this class and graduating with a BSN.
Barriers and how I will overcome them
My biggest barrier is lack of confident. After I finished from community college, I believe I could not continue my education as a second language. Fear of reading and weakness in writing skill has held me back. I will use the first class as my opportunity to improve on my weaknesses. UOPX has offered many resources to assist students with the skills needed to be a success. Providing practice writing with the use of the Center of Writing Excellent to ensure my writing skills improve with every class is my plan. I believe I can be successful just like my coworker who did graduate from UOPX.
Time management
Deciding to start a BSN program calls for time management. Outside activities must limit for the next 18 months. Time spent for school and homework rank as my number one priority, until graduation. Fortunately, as a relief nurse, my position gives me chance to reduce my working hours as needed. It may affect my income during this crisis time but to obtain my goals, time is essential. Spending time with my friends and family to reduce workload and relief stress from schoolwork is also on my calendar. “The ability to juggle responsibilities effectively is a life skill; time management is a constant and responsibilities change over time” (Schlemper, 2011, para, 2, p. 69).
Success is not something that happens overnight. Identifying the goals early sets a path for my success. I prepare for this journey and I understand anything worth doing is worth fighting for. Thanks for the opportunity to become a student again. I will use this to my advantage. When I have the experience, as a critical care nurse with a BSN will guarantee my career in the nursing world. The only thing is doing my part to making my goals come true.
Conclusion
In conclusion, acquiring goals are an important motivator. Moving forward to accomplish ones personal and professional goals both long-term and short-term provide opportunities for self-achieving rewards. Some obstacles and difficulties will present themselves in the way to success. As long as someone commit and persistent in obtaining his or her goals, the results will be beyond imagination.

References
Anonymous, . (2012, January 6). Setting goal is important. Bay of Plenty Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/431893085?accountid=48
Cottrel, D. (2010, Month Day). Are you ready to move into critical care? Lippincott’s 2010 Nursing Career Directory. Retrieved from http://www.nursingcenter.com
Mateo, M. (1998, July/August). The nurse educator role in the clinical setting. Journal for Nurses in Staff Development, 14(4), 169-175.
Lane, S. H., & Kohlenberg, E. (2010, October-December). The future of baccalaureate degrees for nurses. Nursing Forum, 45(4), 218-226.
Schlemper, M. (2011). Challenges and coping in graduate school. Geographical Bulletin, 52(2), 67-72.