Take these two steps toward a successful job change.
Haven’t we all daydreamed about it at some point? Tapping out a quick resignation email to our manager, clicking “send,” and striding confidently out the door and into our new, exciting, perfect job? It’s certainly alluring, this idea that we can make a simple job change and leave all of our unhappiness and burnout behind. If only it was that easy.
As nurses, endless job and career possibilities exist for us—in clinical practice, leadership, entrepreneurial pursuits, and even in non-healthcare industries. The unfortunate reality is that many of those opportunities won’t make us any happier or more fulfilled than our current jobs.
The goal is to find the jobs that will, and you have more control over that than you might think. So, before you spend precious hours drafting cover letters and applying for those shiny new jobs, consider two impactful steps you can take to point yourself in the direction of an enjoyable, fulfilling career.
1. Why do I want to leave?
This may sound basic and silly, but frequently we don’t make the time to fully understand why we’re leaving a job. We say things like, “I’m burned-out,” “The pay is inadequate,” “They don’t respect or appreciate me,” “The culture is toxic,” or “My manager is terrible.”
Some or all of those things may be true, but what, specifically, is creating the feelings that make you want to leave? As you seek to move into your next job, how will you know if the work will prove more energizing or the environment will be better?
When I quit my job as an emergency nurse, I thought that ditching the crazy work schedule, the stress of hectic days, and the boss I didn’t agree with would make me happier. I got an administrative nursing job working 8:00 to 4:30, Monday through Friday, and a great boss. For a short time, everything seemed better. Then the dissatisfaction started creeping in again. Everything about my job had changed, but I continued experiencing many of the same feelings of frustration and unhappiness I’d felt in the emergency department (ED).
Looking back, I can see that I wasn’t dissatisfied being an emergency nurse or caring for patients. Rather, when working in the ED I felt as though I couldn’t make the changes I believed patients and staff deserved. I became frustrated with inefficient processes and a perceived lack of opportunities for creativity and playfulness in my work. Those issues aren’t unique to the ED, and many of them reappeared in my administrative job … and in the job after that. Had I taken the time to explore and understand this before making job changes, I would’ve had the awareness to consider opportunities more aligned with my needs and values.
Yes, your desire to leave your job may seem like partly (or mostly) your employer’s fault, but chances are you can discover some important personal insights as well. It’s tempting to blame it all on the organization and move on, but guess who’s responsible for choosing your next employer? You. And how can you make a better choice if you don’t take the time to understand what didn’t work with the old position?
As you work on assessing the specific reasons behind wanting to leave your job, you’ll likely start to experience a natural transition into the second step.
2. What do you want instead?
Understanding the deeper issues behind your desire for change positions you to make better choices for going forward. Frequently, what you end up with while doing this assessment is a list of things you don’t want in your next job—I don’t want to dread getting up for work; I don’t want a job where I feel unheard or unappreciated. This list seems reasonable at first, but it has limited usefulness.
For example, if I ask you where you want to go on vacation, you, having encountered unpleasant snakes on your last vacation, might say, “Nowhere with snakes.” That’s good information to some extent, but it doesn’t help me understand what you do want. So, to get this “don’t want” list into a more useful format, try this powerful question suggested by psychologist and professor Dr. Robert F. Hicks: If I don’t want__________, what do I want instead?
For instance, if I don’t want a job where I’m powerless to make the changes I believe patients and staff deserve, what do I want instead? I want to be in a position where I can influence decision-making and in a workplace that values staff and patient input. If I don’t want to continually sacrifice my family time for work, what do I want instead? I want a job with a commute under 30 minutes, I want some say in my work schedule and flexibility to request changes or swap shifts with my colleagues, and I want weekends off at least twice a month. This new framing increases clarity around what you do want and provides helpful criteria for questions when evaluating potential jobs and employers.
Taking a deep dive into better understanding your values and strengths also can help you clarify what you want in your next job or role.
Dive deep
Few things you can spend your time on career-wise have a bigger return on investment than doing the work to understand your values and strengths. The people I know who report being fulfilled in their careers work in alignment with their values and strengths; nearly everyone I meet who says they’re miserable or disappointed in their work is out of alignment with those factors.
I spent years of my career in jobs that felt somewhat restrictive but provided a level of certainty—predictable work, steady income, and benefits. When I realized what I value more than certainty is freedom, flexibility, creativity, and the ability to help drive meaningful change, it became clear why I’d struggled to find contentment in these rigid structures (not to mention in the military!). As I’ve shifted my work pursuits to align with what I value, I’ve found greater satisfaction and enjoyment, despite having less certainty.
Some people value security and stability over freedom and flexibility. Others, the opposite. Some people value variety and constantly changing work, while others are happier in roles with consistency and predictability. Some love being leaders and others thrive as individual contributors. One set of conditions isn’t inherently better than another. However, some conditions are better for you, and trying to operate under the wrong conditions can feel like constantly swimming against a powerful current.
Many online resources can help you evaluate and explore your values and strengths. What you find helpful probably depends on how you think. I recommend performing an online search for “how to identify core values” and checking out a few options to see what speaks to you. Other resources include personality and strengths survey and assessment tools. Several validated tools offer free versions you can access online. These instruments can help provide insight into positive character traits and natural abilities, which you can then nurture and develop.
As with many tools, the measuring part is easy; it’s interpreting the data, asking thoughtful questions, and applying what you’ve learned effectively that ultimately make them useful. Consider learning more about these surveys and how to understand and benefit from the assessment results, or work with a professional who can help you make the most of these insights.
Digging into your values and strengths offers an excellent way to gain clarity about what you do want. It’s also likely to help you identify additional reasons why you’re dissatisfied with your current work. (See Don’t go it alone)
Don’t go it alone
At a glance, the two steps of understanding why you want to leave and getting clear on what you want instead may seem simple, but this deeply personal work can prove challenging. Sometimes insights with the potential to be most powerful and life-changing for us are the ones we have the most difficulty seeing. Consider inviting some or all of the following to join you in this work:
- A mentor or colleagues you trust.
Don’t turn only to people who will tell you what you want to hear or commiserate with you about your job complaints. You want people who can give you honest input and feedback about how you’re showing up when you’re excelling at work—those times when you’re lit up and thriving. Others frequently notice things about us that we can’t see for ourselves. Our skills and strengths that seem normal to us can make us extraordinary in the eyes of others. This input can lead to some powerful insights. - Supportive friends and family.
Much like your colleagues, these individuals may offer helpful perceptions from their perspectives. What observations do they have about what makes you shine in your day-to-day life? What greatness do they see in you? Not just in the things you do, but in how you are when you’re doing those things. - A coach.
Career coaches and life coaches are just two of the many professionals available to partner with in taking a deep dive into these questions and exploring your values and strengths. - A therapist.
Sometimes past experiences or trauma influence the choices we make and the struggles we encounter. Therapists serve as ideal partners for identifying and addressing larger underlying issues that may contribute to job, career, and life challenges.
It’s worth the time to find your fit
Job and career transitions take considerable time and energy, which can impact every aspect of your life. They’re simply too important to leave to chance, and randomly jumping to a new job and hoping it will be an ideal fit will rarely work in your favor.
Too many nurses feel stuck and unhappy in jobs that aren’t a right fit for them. Others have tried a few different roles only to find themselves feeling unfulfilled or unsatisfied at each. Still others think they’ve made a wrong choice with nursing and decide to leave the profession altogether. That’s like listening to two random songs and deciding music just isn’t for you when so many other songs and genres exist to explore.
Nursing offers thousands of different job roles. Fortunately, you have many options to improve your odds of finding a positive and fulfilling fit. You don’t have to stop daydreaming, and you’re welcome to go ahead and draft that resignation email. But before you click “send,” take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about yourself and to create informed, intentional next steps that will move you toward finding (or creating) the right job for you.
Karen Steinbock is a leadership and career coach at Karen Steinbock Coaching in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
References
Coppola PJ, Young AF. Making the difficult career transition: Writing the next chapter during the great resignation or in the future. Front Psychol. 2022;13. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.90581
Gander F, Hofmann J, Ruch W. Character strengths: Person-environment fit and relationships with job and life satisfaction. Front Psychol. 2020;11:1582. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01582
Ghielen STS, van Woerkom M, Meyers MC. Promoting positive outcomes through strengths interventions: A literature review. J Positive Psychol. 2017;13(6):573-85 doi:10.1080/17439760.2017.1365164
Hicks RF. The Process of Highly Effective Coaching: An Evidence-Based Framework. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: Routledge; 2023.
American Nurse Journal. 2025; 20(7). Doi: 10.51256/ANJ0725104
