The Oxford Dictionary defines networking as “the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.” 

Simply put, networking is the deliberate act of engaging with others to form and sustain social or professional bonds.

It is no news that networking is a commonly used word in the 21st century; it is common yet underrated.

It’s more than just talking to people. 

It is not about merely gaining followers on social media.

It is an act of intent to get into the circle of like-minded people doing or who have done the same things you want to do.

It is interacting with people to get a form of publicity for your works and crafts.

It is an intentional act of building and sustaining relationships with people you can call on for assistance if needed.

And it is an essential skill for nurses to build on and scale in the interest of their career pathway.

As a nursing professional with a career to develop and manage, you need other professionals in your corner, both online and offline, for various reasons mentioned below:

• Networking allows you to create or join a tribe of like-minded people: people who share the same ambitions and goals as you. This allows you to evaluate and re-evaluate yourself, making sure you do not fall off the table.

• A channel for new opportunities and recommendations: Word of mouth is often the best way to get recommended for an opportunity, a job, or an assignment. And recommendations best come from people you’ve met before, interacted with, or belong to the same circle as.

• Sharing of knowledge and ideas: No two people can know the same thing in the same way. Nursing is highly integrated and broad, and networking allows you access to knowledgeable minds and the collation of ideas. 

• Enhances collaboration: The nursing world, especially in our country [Nigeria], is immensely fragmented. Everybody wants to do their own thing and get known for it, which is a good thing. But even better than solo building is collaboration. People in the same network can build an organization or agency, leading to a more solid foundation and opening the door to more opportunities.

• Networking fosters support from distinguished public figures, nurse celebrities and nurse influencers: The nursing journey is not often a smooth one, and one needs support from time to time in one way or the other. Networking makes you noticeable to these individuals and allows you to gain support from them (financially or emotionally) or make a connection with someone else guaranteed to help you out.

The benefits of networking are vast and nursing public figures or career-advanced nurses are where they are today as a result of the status they have gained through networking. 

With the global opportunities that come with the nursing profession, networking is key.

The contacts you keep today are, for the most part, attributed to your growth tomorrow. 

They largely influence your growth and pave the way for better opportunities in your career. 

“People you know” are part of the formula for success among professionals. 

There is also a popular saying in the social media space: “your network today is your children’s connections tomorrow.”

So, it begs the question, who do you know?

Whom are you talking to?

Whom are you connecting with?

What impact do they have on your career?

Take note of them. Do you know where they are? Do you know where they hang out? Get into those spaces.

Your connections are powerful!

Join us on Twitter spaces today!

You don’t even need to have a Twitter account to join us on our “Twitter Space”. All you need is a device and an internet connection, that’s it.

Join us here.

You don’t want to miss this event for anything in the whole world!