Nurses are taught to climb the ladder, the clinical specialty ladder, or the clinical management ladder. The mental model of the ladder is firmly embedded in our educational system and most of the peer-reviewed literature.1-3 It gives the picture of step by step, rung by rung, upward vertical progress in a straight line. It is slow and steady, but safe. The ladder as a mental model seems so self-limiting.
I would propose that we consider another mental model. How about a rock wall? Rock walls are fun and encourage us to use our creative side. A rock wall has multiple paths forward and its rarely a straight vertical climb to the top. You may have to make lateral moves, sometimes go down, then go over again to go up. You must use a lot more muscles and develop different skills.
Over the last 10 years, a growing number of nurses are abandoning the ladder as the mental model for career advancement. A few brave souls are venturing out on the rock wall and free climbing. Many will tell you it’s not that scary, and you're far more capable than you think. I’ve met a few of these brave souls out on the rock face of freelance writing like Janelle Barowski, MSN, RN, Brittney Bertagna, RN, Zach Smith, BSN, RN and Jared Fesler. Try rock climbing. Pave your own path forward to a better life.
Please let me know what you think about my insights and recommendations. Feel free to like or comment below.
About the author: Jeff Lewis is an RN consultant at NextGen Executive Consultants LLC
1. AJN The American Journal of Nursing 2. Kaiser Permanente Northern California 3. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration
This is so wonderful to see nurses taking more risks and pursuing nontraditional roles.