Shine on: achieving career satisfaction as a registered nurse.

This phenomenological study focuses on the experience of career satisfaction among registered nurses. Potential participants were asked, "Do you love your work as a nurse?" A random sample of eight nurses who answered yes to this question was questioned further during semistructured conversations. Conversations were recorded and transcribed. Data collected were in the form of descriptions of times during the participants' careers when they felt most professionally fulfilled. Through narrative and poetic analysis, themes of "upholding the vulnerable," "going the extra mile," and "attending to the essential ordinary" were identified. Nurse educators play an important role facilitating career satisfaction for registered nurses. Practical implications for continuing education for educators and practicing nurses are addressed.