Should Nurses Have a Personal Mission Statement?

Every business, profession and organization seems to have a mission statement. That’s a good thing—it’s always good to know where we’re going, how we’re going to get there and why we are going in the first place. I view that sort of mission statement as a big umbrella under which employees collectively operate. But, what about the individual employee? Should each one have a personal mission statement—a plan, a promise or a direction to strive for? The question, ‘What is your personal [nursing] mission statement?’ was asked recently on an online nursing forum. On the subject of mispronunciation of words a few months back, this same forum received over 500 responses. The mission statement question has, in the 15 days since it was posted, elicited a mere 11. I’m not sure how I would analyze the difference in the number of responses. Does it mean that nurses are just showing up and doing what needs to be done with no thought as to a greater purpose? I have no way of knowing. It can’t be that they are too exhausted at the end of the workday to bother with something as insignificant as expressing an opinion on a forum thread. If that were the case, there wouldn’t have been 500-plus responses regarding the mangling of our language. There was a mixed bag of responses to the mission statement question. Some were thoughtful and sincere: ‘to make a difference in someone’s life every day,’ ‘to treat every patient the way I’d like to be treated,’ ‘to make the world a better place,’ ‘to make people feel better about their situation.’ Trite, yes, but also noble goals. Others began with a snippy comeback: ‘welcome to the dark side,’ followed by LOL and, then, a positive statement. Others were decidedly negative: ‘to get through the day without being physically assaulted by patients or family members,’ ‘ to cover my [behind] at all times because no one else is looking out for me.’ One seemed angry that the question was even asked. Overall, if I counted those that began with jaded statements but then mellowed out, there were eight positive responses. Only three came from the seriously disheartened (or so it seemed). One respondent thanked the person who posted the question and opined that it is one we should all ask ourselves. I agree. It should be easy enough to come up with one simple sentence we can silently chant like a mantra on a daily basis, especially in challenging situations—something to hang onto when we are at our wits’ end, to remind ourselves of something positive we’d like to accomplish. What is your personal mission statement, if you have one? Please share it here.

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Should Nurses Have a Personal Mission Statement?

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