Page 141 - Keys To Community College Success

RISK ACTION
RISK ACTION

FOR COLLEGE, CAREER, AND LIFE REWARDS

Complete the following on paper or in digital format.

KNOW IT Think Critically

Make an Important Decision

Build basic skills. List the steps of the decision-making process.
Take it to the next level. Think about how you would put the decision-making process to
work on something that matters to you. Write an important long-term goal that you have, and
define the decision that will help you fulfill it. Example: “My goal is to become a nurse. My
decision: What to specialize in.”
Move toward mastery. Use the empty flowchart (Key 4.14) to apply the decision-making
process to your goal. Follow the steps below.
■ Examine needs and concerns. What are your needs, and how do your values come into
play? What is most needed in the health market, and how can you fulfill that need? What
roadblocks might be involved? List what you come up with in the “Analyze the problem/
decision” section. For example, the prospective nurse might list needs like: “I need to feel
that I’m helping people. I intend to help with the shortage of perinatal or geriatric nurses.
I need to make a good living.”
■ Generate options. Ask questions to imagine what’s possible. Where might you work? What
might be the schedule and pace? Who might work with you? What would you see, smell,
and hear on your job? What would you do every day? Make a separate list of all of the
options you know of. The prospective nurse, for example, might list perinatal surgery, neo-
natal intensive care unit, geriatric nursing in a hospital or in a retirement community, etc.
■ Evaluate options. Think about how well your options will fulfill your needs. Select three
options to analyze. Write potential positive and negative effects (pros and cons) of each.
■ Imagine acting on your decision. Choose one practical course of action, based on your
thinking so far, that you might follow. List the specific steps you would take. For example,
the prospective nurse might list actions that help him determine what type of nursing suits
him best, such as interning, summer jobs, academic goals, and talking to working nurses. If
you eventually act on this choice, you can fill in actual positive and negative effects in the
flowchart, as well as a final evaluation.

An additional practical action is to go where the job is and talk to people. The prospective
nurse might go to a hospital, a clinic, and a health center at a retirement community. Get a feel
for what the job is like day-to-day so that can be part of your decision.

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