By Lee Ann Harrison MSN, RN-BC

Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound

How does this relate to nursing? Alexander Graham Bell once said, "Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought into focus" (Uzuegbunem, 2019). Setting achievable goals is essential to our professional and personal lives. Leaders often utilize goal setting to focus their teams. However, SMART goals are not just for leaders and managers. One can find many uses for SMART goals, including personal career goals, setting goals each day during orientation, or even setting goals for patients. The SMART goal acronym provides the clarity, focus, and motivation needed to make realistic and achievable goals. Before we venture into how to use SMART, let’s discuss what SMART represents.

SMART goals are useful in many areas in your career and personal life. You can use the SMART goal acronym during Focal Point Review. For instance, if you want to become a certified nurse, you can make your goal: "I want to obtain my specialty certification by November of this year." Analyze this goal. Is it specific? Yes, I want to become a certified nurse. Is it measurable? Yes, my measure is passing the exam and becoming certified. Is it achievable? To answer this question, you need to investigate the requirements to obtain this certification, such as years of experience required in that nursing specialty, review course options, and when and where the exam is offered. All of this information will help you know if this goal is achievable. Is it relevant? Yes, obtaining my certification advances my career. Is it timely or time-bound? Once you set a date, you will need to know how much time you have to take a review course or take time to study to meet your November time frame.

SMART goals can also be used when precepting. You can make both short and long-term goals for your preceptee. However, the most important thing is that you make them WITH your preceptee. As a preceptor, you know the direction the preceptee needs to go, but sometimes getting their buy-in on how to get there is challenging. Keeping them involved in the creation of SMART goals can help you guide them. At times, it may be hard for the preceptee to see how they can achieve some of the long-term goals, especially for graduate nurses. Breaking the long-term goal into achievable chunks can usually help alleviate anxiety around the goal. For example, suppose a preceptee needs to attain proficiency in starting IVs. In that case, your goal might be, “I will be able to start an IV per policy without assistance two months from now.” This statement is an example of a well-crafted SMART goal. It is specific: IV starts; measurable: per policy and without assistance; achievable: with practice, any nurse can start an IV; relevant: this is on the orientation pathway; and timely: within two months. Now that you have defined your SMART goal, you could help the preceptee determine shorter, achievable sub-term goals. For instance, short-term goals may be to read the policy on starting an IV and reviewing how to start an IV using Elsevier Clinical Skills. They can also review techniques with you, practice on a simulation arm, and practice on actual patients. These progressive milestones will help the preceptee get closer to their goal of achieving successful IV starts.

Bedside and clinic nurses can utilize SMART goals when creating goals for their patients. By implementing care with specifically designed SMART goals, you will ensure that the patient is a partner in their care and improves their health recovery quality. For example, if the patient's goal is to walk without a crutch six months, set achievable milestones: attending physical therapy sessions three times per week, completing daily exercises each day as instructed, utilizing hot and cold compresses as directed, etc. Patients need to be involved in setting goals for their care with a healthcare team member. This will assist with buy-in, which will help the patient see each milestone's relevance to their recovery.

Leaders have also been utilizing the SMART acronym for quite some time. Leaders can use SMART goals to achieve success for their team, individual staff members, or themselves. One way a leader can apply this to their practice is through professional development. They can set small, achievable SMART goals over time to help them eventually achieve a more extensive, long-term plan.

SMART goals are easy when you understand the format for utilizing the acronym. Make sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Setting goals will help you in all aspects of your career, patient care, and personal life. It will guide you as you formulate plans. When it comes to writing SMART goals, it is crucial to begin with a positive attitude. Crafting achievable goals does not have to be a painful experience--it can be quite the opposite. Remembering to set smaller achievable milestones for your goals will help you to experience small successes along the way. Feel free to practice writing your own SMART goals utilizing .