There was a time early in my nursing career when I thought I'd finally feel successful after I mastered everything.

After my first confident provider call.

After my first shift where nothing unexpected happened.

After I stopped asking so many questions.

After I could anticipate every physician's order.

The problem was that every time I reached one milestone, I immediately moved the finish line.

Instead of thinking, "Look how far I've come," I found myself thinking, "Now I need to learn this."

I never stopped long enough to celebrate the progress I had already made.

Looking back after more than four decades in nursing, I wish someone had reminded me that growth isn't measured only by the big accomplishments.

Sometimes it's found in the smallest victories.

Let’s dive in!

We Rarely Celebrate Progress

Nurses are often our own toughest critics.

At the end of a shift, our minds naturally replay the things that didn't go perfectly.

The medication we almost forgot.

The assessment we wish we'd done sooner.

The patient we continued worrying about after we got home.

The conversation we wish we'd handled differently.

The documentation we hope was thorough enough.

We replay our mistakes far more often than we celebrate what went right.

What we don't think about is everything we handled well that day.

The patient who received excellent care because we caught something early.

The family member who felt calmer because we took a few extra minutes to listen.

The coworker we helped without even thinking twice.

The hundreds of safe decisions we made that never became memorable because nothing bad happened.

We become so focused on perfection that we overlook progress.

Your Small Wins Matter More Than You Think

Not every victory comes with applause.

Sometimes your biggest accomplishments look like this:

You recognized a patient's condition was changing before anyone else noticed.
You made a provider call instead of putting it off.
You asked for help when you needed it.
You caught a medication error before it reached the patient.
You comforted a frightened family member.
You gave a better report than you did last week.
You managed your time just a little more efficiently.
You walked out of work feeling a little less overwhelmed than you did a month ago.

Those are victories.

No one hands out trophies for these moments. Most of the time, no one even notices them except you.

But these quiet victories are exactly how great nurses are built.

Every experienced nurse you admire was once learning these same lessons one small win at a time.

A mentor and a new nurse celebrating new accomplisments.

Stop Moving the Finish Line

One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is to stop replacing every accomplishment with something you haven't mastered yet.

Yes, there is always more to learn.

That's one of the beautiful things about nursing.

But don't let today's unfinished goals erase yesterday's progress.

Instead of asking yourself what you still don't know, pause and ask yourself:

Where am I today compared to one month ago?

You may be surprised by the answer.

Confidence doesn't usually arrive all at once.

It grows quietly.

One conversation.

One patient.

One shift.

One decision at a time.

☕ Coffee with Rhoda

One of the things I love most about Coffee with Rhoda is that we don't spend our entire conversation talking about difficult days.

Of course we talk about the struggles.

We talk about the patients that stay with us.

We talk about the provider calls that made our hearts race.

We talk about the moments when we questioned ourselves.

But we also celebrate the victories that deserve recognition.

Sometimes someone else can see your growth before you can.

Sometimes you simply need another nurse to say,

"Do you realize how much you've improved?"

Those words can change the way you see yourself.

Reflection Corner

Instead of asking yourself what went wrong this month...

Ask yourself:

What am I proud of this month?
What can I do today that I couldn't do three months ago?
What compliment have I brushed off instead of accepting?
What challenge no longer scares me?

Your answers may surprise you.

One Small Win I'll Never Forget

Before we close, I want to share one small win from my own life.

It has nothing to do with a hospital, a patient, or nursing—but it reminded me exactly why small victories matter.

Many of you know I have a German Shepherd named Quiel.

For quite a while, he seemed to prefer my husband over me. He wanted to be with him, followed him around, and honestly didn't seem very interested in spending time with me. There were days I wondered if I would ever be "his person."

Then, over the past couple of weeks, something quietly changed.

It started with Quiel choosing to sleep in my office while I worked.

Then he began crawling under my desk just to be close to me.

One day he looked up, gave me kisses, and let me love on him.

Now he does something that melts my heart every single time—he rubs against my legs like a cat, just to let me know he's there.

To someone else, those moments might seem small.

To me?

WIN. WIN. WIN.

It reminded me how easy it is to miss progress when it happens a little at a time.

Training Quiel hasn't been about one magical day. It's been built through patience, consistency, trust, and hundreds of tiny moments that didn't seem important while they were happening.

Nursing is much the same.

Confidence doesn't arrive all at once.

Clinical judgment isn't something you wake up with one morning.

Time management isn't mastered after a single shift.

It all grows through hundreds of small victories that are easy to overlook if you're only waiting for the big breakthrough.

One day you'll realize you're making provider calls without rehearsing them first.

One day you'll notice you're recognizing a deteriorating patient sooner than you used to.

One day you'll walk out of work and realize you weren't overwhelmed for your entire shift.

Those moments deserve to be celebrated.

Because those aren't just small wins.

They're proof that you're becoming the nurse you hoped you could be.

There are some conversations every nurse wishes they'd had sooner.

Thank you for sharing these conversations with me this month.

Before you go, I'd love to hear from you.

What's one small win you've had recently—inside or outside of nursing? I'd love to celebrate it with you.

Rhoda Sommer, RN, MSN Ed
Founder, One on One Tips

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Share your stories in the comments or reach out—I’d love to hear from you.

What's one small win you've had recently—inside or outside of nursing?
What are you proud of this month?
What can you do today that you couldn't do three months ago?
What compliment have you brushed off instead of accepting?
What challenge no longer scares you?

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