British Journal of Nursing - From staff nurse to nurse consultant

Did you have a new year resolution for 2019? Mine was to stop eating chocolate and take a bit more exercise. These were good evidence-based objectives, not hugely difficult and would result in positive effects on my general health. But you can guess what's coming, I'm sure. I started eating chocolate on 2 January; the Christmas selection box was just too tempting and the exercise is rather limited, despite the fact that I now have an exercise bike placed in front of the TV.

Stay positive

Continuing professional development, keeping updated, attending a course, writing an assignment, being mentored by a specialist practitioner are all straightforward, logical and, if we are honest with ourselves, not that difficult or beyond our ability. They all have positive implications for our daily clinical practice and future career. But, like my new year resolutions, why do we find them so difficult to take forward, continue and complete? The simple answer is ‘our motivation’, but with the demands and realities of everyday life many people find it genuinely difficult to keep motivated with ongoing professional development.

There are no magic answers to maintaining motivation for CPD and structured courses, but here are a few ways that have helped me and a number of colleagues I have worked with over the years.

Be honest with yourself in terms of how you work and function in the area of self-discipline, commitment and ability to complete any sort of task. If you know that this is an area of weakness, then acknowledging it is the first step

Set realistic objectives. Don't aim to start a master's course if you know your work and personal life are going to be full to the point of being overstretched in the next 2 years. If you know that an elderly relative is going to be demanding of your time over the next couple of years, then choose an area of CPD that allows you flexibility in terms of attendance and assessments. For instance, this might be a good time to spend an occasional shift with a clinical specialist or undertake an online study course

Find something that, while meeting your CPD objectives, is also something that you are very interested in—let interest and passion be your motivation

Organise your home and social life so that CPD is one of the core demands along with child care, social time with partner. Move housework and TV soaps into the ‘if time allows’ category. This way you don't end up each week trying to find time for whatever aspect of CPD you have decided upon—it is part of your core priorities. You and your family then realise that this is an important aspect of your life. After all, if you don't value this time, then you can't expect others in your life to value it and say to you: ‘You go off and write your essay. I'll do the vacuuming.’

Think through how you work best: is this on your own, with a study group or with a study friend? Do you work best in the quiet of a library or in the kitchen with the radio on? Are your CPD objectives about completing an academic study course or do you want to develop clinical skills and practical experience?

Develop a system of rewards. When you have submitted an essay, reward yourself with a night out or a day with the children. Two hours of work on the laptop could earn you a glass of wine or bar of chocolate

Recognise that there will always be ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ as you continue with your CPD. At times, you will be full of energy for what you are doing, at others you will feel like putting it all to one side and getting a job in a supermarket. This is the experience of nearly all the nurses I have known. When the downs happen, try to focus on the positives of your work and the longer-term benefits of what you are doing.

Refocus

Keeping motivated to engage with and continue CPD is never going to be easy for most nurses. For some, it will be the pressure of home life that saps our energy, for others, it will be the relentless demands of our daily clinical work, for yet others, it will be our at times fragile mental state. For a few ‘lucky people’, it will be none of these thing and, for a few less fortunate, it will be all of them often at the same time.

I've always been fortunate to work mainly with supportive and positive people in jobs that seem worthwhile and rewarding. Nursing has some amazing opportunities that include a huge variety of clinical, management and educational jobs in almost any part of the country and in many parts of the world. Nursing will never make you rich, but it has many rewards in terms of job security and job variety that many other professions do not have.

If your CPD is rather like my new year resolutions, then take time to refocus, ask yourself what is important to you over the next few months and the next couple of years, then let that be your ongoing motivation.

I'm just going downstairs to spend 20 minutes on the exercise bike!