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With services under pressure, tighter budgets and a struggle for resources, nurses often report feeling neglected or stunted when it comes to their professional development.

The success to career progression often depends largely on adopting a pro-active approach and, "putting yourself out there." This may seem daunting at first, but the RCN Careers Service has some advice to help get you started.

Take ownership of your career

If you find yourself stuck in a rut, craving change or feeling under challenged, it's important to take responsibility and ownership of your career. Avoid the temptation to hope things might just change by themselves and equally, don’t wait for opportunities to fall into your lap; instead, create your own.

Start adopting a more proactive approach, focusing on all the benefits it will bring. Be prepared to:

• Come out of your comfort zone
• Approach people you don’t know
• Ask for what you want
• Always be on the lookout for opportunities
• Do your research
• Get turned down or told no - but never let this put you off!

Make time to think about your career

Schedule time in your diary frequently to sit down and think about your job, career, options and aspirations. 

Try and set yourself at least one goal with a deadline. Examples of goals include:

• Spend half an hour researching a relevant post graduated qualification.
• Contacting a university to ask about CPD opportunities.
• Arranging a shadowing opportunity .
• Researching volunteering opportunities and making enquiries.
• Organising a meeting with your line manager to explore opportunities for progression (e.g. taking on more responsibility, being involved with training new staff, working on a project, audit or piece of research.
• Attending a recruitment day at local hospital trust to see what's available and network.
• Attending your next local RCN branch meeting.

Information gathering

Take time to research the sorts of roles you’re interested in. This is an essential part of planning your career.

You can do this by:

• Browsing the RCN's Nursing Pathways Career Resource
• Joining RCN forums and RCN forum Facebook groups and/or external professional networks
• Browsing the of ebooks on career progression
• Reading relevant journals or publications
• Speaking to employers and requesting informal visits
• Using AI tools such as Chat GPT, Copilot, or Gemini.
• Using your network and speaking to peers
• Exploring career frameworks or skills frameworks (e.g., see the Core Skills Training Frameworks on the Skills for Health website )

Members of professional networks are more likely to be up to date with the latest news and initiatives; either within the healthcare industry in general, or within their specialty.

The RCN has a wide range of professional forums and networks which you can join for free. Once you've signed up, you can join their Facebook groups and connect with other healthcare professionals in your chosen nursing field to ask for advice, insight, tips, opportunities, or just moral support.

Being a member of a forum can be highly advantageous, allowing you to:

• Stay up to date and 'in the loop'
• Be inspired and motivated
• Share best practice
• Engage and network with your peers
• Learn about new and exciting opportunities, initiatives, courses, events, and job vacancies.

It also demonstrates enthusiasm in your field and a proactive approach to professional development and professional activism; all of which employers love.

Make sure you research the job market in your chosen field. Study vacancies on job websites and sign up to receive alerts from websites, agencies and specific employers.

Try to identify:

• What jobs are out there at the level you want?
• Which roles are in demand?
• Are they in demand in your desired geographical area(s)?
• What sort of experience, skills or qualifications are required?

Speaking to employers, employer recruitment departments, recruitment agencies, and nursing agencies can also be a good idea. They might be able to offer you information about the current job market specific to your area.

Networking is a crucial part of career progression, so have a think about how you can do this.

You could for example:

• Attend events, job fairs (e.g., ), conferences, local groups and recruitment open days.
• Create a account and reach out to other healthcare professionals or employers.
• Get involved with RCN campaigns, RCN forums, or the many other RCN opportunities to get involved.
• Follow RCN Facebook pages and RCN Twitter pages.
• Attend your next local RCN branch meeting, or employer's board meeting.

When you do network with others, make sure you make a record of their contact details and ask them if you can get in touch for advice in the future.

Developing your leadership skills can be a powerful way to progress your nursing career and make a meaningful impact. Leadership isn't just about being in a formal management role; it can involve guiding colleagues, leading initiatives/ideas, or influencing positive change.

Our page on Leadership Skills offers a wide range of information, advice, and resources to help you build and showcase your leadership abilities, no matter what stage you're at in your career.

You can also join the RCN Nurses in Management and Leadership Forum, which has its own professional Facebook community group for members interested in leadership development, policy influence, and peer support. This is a great space to connect with others, share experiences and best practice, or learn about opportunities for growth.

The is a free online course from the NHS Leadership Academy designed for those new to leadership or aspiring to take on leadership responsibilities. It provides a solid foundation in essential leadership principles and is open to all health and care staff.

Take the initiative and seek out shadowing opportunities. If you’re employed, it will help your case if you can explain to your manager why you think the shadowing would improve or enhance your practice or knowledge in your current post.

Think about the skills and experience you could bring back with you. It doesn't necessarily have to be within your workplace; you could consider contacting external organisations such as hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, GP surgeries, charities, or your local council for example.

It's a great way to learn, gain experience, get a taste of a different role and make contacts; all of which could lead to new opportunities in the future.

Ideally you will be able to arrange shadowing within working time if you're employed. If this isn’t possible, you may want to consider doing it unpaid and/or in your own time. It could really pay off in the long term and act as your ticket into another role or sector.

Further support arranging shadowing

For further support arranging shadowing opportunities, speak to your local RCN Learning rep if you have one.

It may not have occurred to you that you can arrange an informal visit with a prospective employer, but this practice is actually very common within the healthcare industry with the majority of employers keen to accommodate.

It's a fantastic way to gain insight into a new workplace environment and assess whether you think that environment would be right for you. It's also another opportunity to make new contacts, ask questions, and make a good impression.

Remember that even though it's an 'informal' visit, the employer will be watching carefully to see how you conduct yourself. Simple things like thanking someone for showing you around, holding the door open for others or smiling at patients can make a big difference.

Further tips:

• Be specific about which particular ward, area, or setting you'd like to visit and/or any people you'd want to spend time with
• Research the employer and setting well before you go
• Prepare some questions or discussion points in advance to talk about during your visit
• If applying for jobs afterwards, reference your visit in your covering letter or job application. Explain why you liked it there or what impressed you

RCN Learning reps provide space for members to think about their current practice and future aspirations and consider what learning they need to reach their goals. Where members are struggling or discouraged, learning reps help them access support and resources to boost their confidence and challenge systemic barriers that might be getting in their way.

Learning reps build strong relationships in their workplace and understand how to influence for change. They connect with members to find out what matters to them, provide support to get those issues heard and win changes that make a difference.

You should be able to find out the contact details for your RCN learning rep from your workplace. Try asking your manager, colleagues, HR team, or checking your staff intranet or notice boards. If you're not sure whether your workplace has 天美传媒 learning rep, contact your regional RCN office, or alternatively you can contact RCN Direct who can refer your query to your regional RCN office.

By volunteering you could either enhance existing skills or learn completely new ones, and/or bridge knowledge/experience gaps that you might have otherwise found difficult to fill. Free training is usually provided and you may only need to spare as little as an hour a fortnight.

For example, perhaps you鈥檝e always wanted to work in palliative care but have no experience. Volunteering for a local hospice or charity could help you bridge that gap. Alternatively, you want to apply for hospital based jobs, but have no prior experience of working on a ward. Most NHS trusts offer volunteering opportunities such as 'befriender volunteer,' 'ward volunteer,' or 'mealtime volunteer.'

It's a great way to find out whether you feel suited to a particular environment whilst helping others.

You can read more about volunteering to learn new skills here.

A sabbatical or secondment is where you negotiate a temporary period of time away from your current job to do something else.

This is good for employers because it allows you to gain skills, knowledge or qualifications that could then be put to good use within their service and workforce.

This time out could be used to perform another role, do project work or research, or to study towards a qualification to name a few. It could be done with your company or with a third party (i.e. a charity, different employer or external organisation/company) and could last as little as a few weeks to a few years.

The more relevant the secondment or sabbatical is to your role and where it fits within your organisation, the more likely you are to be paid whilst doing it. In some cases your employer would pay, in others the third party would pay, or in others the costs might be shared

A lot of employers have a secondment or sabbatical policy, so be sure to check this out. If they don’t, ask for a meeting with your manager(s) and prepare to make a business case for yourself. If you are successful, get any agreement in writing and contact your local rep to check over the terms and conditions before you sign anything.

Put some time aside well in advance of your next 121 or appraisal to think about which development opportunities you can discuss with your manager.

This is a perfect time for you to agree on some goals. If you have specified that you want to do something in your 121 or appraisal, you are more likely to be considered for any subsequent opportunities should they arise.

Ideas include:

• Taking on more responsibility
• Getting involved in training staff or inductions
• Talking about CPD or courses available
• Shadowing other colleagues / units / departments / workplaces
• Requesting time off for study / training / volunteering (see your local policy on study leave or contact your RCN Learning rep)
• Getting involved in project work, audit, or piece of research

You should feel comfortable to discuss your career with your employer. A good employer will want their managers to encourage staff, help identify opportunities and be supportive of any career objectives.

If you see a job you're interest in, contact the employer and ask if you can arrange an informal visit or informal chat to discuss the role.

This is an excellent way to introduce yourself, stand out from the other candidates, find out more about the role, and assess whether or not it would suit you.

If you're unsure about whether you meet the job criteria, contact the employer for further advice. Upon speaking to someone, you may come to the conclusion that you're more than qualified to apply. Otherwise, you could use this opportunity to gather information about what actions or steps you could take next.

Bear in mind that some employers will be more helpful than others or have more time to spare than others, so don't be deterred if they can't speak to you, and keep trying elsewhere.

Seek out advice from your colleagues and peers. This could be as simple as asking someone if you can shadow them, or asking for career advice or tips.

Ask them what they did to get where they are now, whether they have any contacts they could share, which resources they found helpful, or which courses they took.

To connect with more peers working in your target setting or field, you can join the RCN forum Facebook groups.