This podcast originally appeared on NurseKeith.com.

Podcast: Click here to play.

If you’re an older nurse, you might remember TV shows and movies with a private eye or detective carrying a magnifying glass as he or she doggedly searched for clues to solve a perplexing case.

You might remember “Columbo,” “The Rockford Files,” or any number of shows or movies. If you’re a younger nurse, you might be more likely to think of “Sherlock” with Benedict Cumberbatch.

When it comes to your nursing career, you need to be your very own private eye or detective because good ol’ Sherlock or Columbo won’t be able to help you with this particular case.

Your assessment of your nursing career is the gathering of facts and clues. And what are you looking for exactly?

Here are some potential questions to ask yourself — this is only the beginning of the assessment, but you’ll get the picture.

• Am I happy in my nursing career?
• Do I feel well taken care of by my employer and colleagues?
• Is the culture of my workplace supportive, kind, and collaborative?
• Does my workstyle interfere with my lifestyle?
• Is there something I want that I don’t have (in my work or my life)?
• How could I make my career even more satisfying and fun?
• Am I bored or engaged in my work and career?
• Are my contributions seen as valuable?
• Could I earn more money and receive more respect elsewhere?
• Is there room for advancement in my current workplace?
• What are my values?
• What is my personal mission as a nurse and human being?
• Does my work reflect my values and personal mission?

How do we know what to do next and solve the case? Well, dear Watson, it’s elementary.

Some workplaces are simply too toxic to tolerate, and we simply need to parachute out of there and land in a new situation. Just leaving can work, but a little healing along the way can help.

Other workplaces may actually be just fine, but we may be carrying such negativity with us that we project it onto our colleagues and employers, creating a scenario where just can’t let go of our seething anger about what’s happened to us in the past. This is a recipe for chronic dissatisfaction.

If your workplace is deadly toxic and beyond the hope of change, you clearly need to get out of there. If you realize you’re physically unhealthy and the source of your unhappiness is that you’re in pain, out of shape, eating poorly, sleep-deprived, and not looking after yourself, then by all means do what needs to be done to turn that around. If an addiction is nipping at your heels, get help. If nights are killing you, switch to days in the interest of your survival as a nurse.

A healthy, fit nurse who feels good about his body, prioritizes his health, and loves his work will be much more effective on the job. That’s elementary, for sure.

Your well-being in your career is elementary because you simply need to break down the elements of your career, workstyle, and lifestyle, and then do your due diligence and the hard work that will bring you to the next glorious chapter of your life and career.

For now, case closed. But keep your Sherlock Holmes hat and magnifying glass on hand — you never know when your career will need further investigation down the road.