PROFESSIONAL PLAN 14
Professional Development Plan
Sarah Rousseau
Ferris State University
Abstract
The following is a plan for my professional development over the next five to ten years. This plan includes professional goals, educational goals, and the tools I will use to evaluate my progress over the coming years. This will also include and evaluation of my current strengths and weaknesses, and why I feel it is important to have future goals and plans to achieve them.
Professional Development Plan Paper
As a student it is important to have a plan to reach academic goals. In the beginning of an educational endeavor a goal is set and the plan is made, which includes the classes taken, how many to take per semester, and the approximate date the goal is to be reached. The same approach is used when making a professional plan. As a nurse and a professional I have goals for my future career and education.
As a Registered Nurse there are “Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice” (ANA, 2004) that are set forth by the American Nurses Association (ANA). The ANA states “Nursing: Scope and standards of Practice describes a competent level of nursing practice and professional performance common to all registered nurses” (ANA, p. 1, 2004). I use the standards as a helpful tool for developing goals for the future of my career.
Current Behaviors
The nurse that I am today will not be the nurse I am a year from now or ten years from now. My quality of practice has greatly improved since I started my nursing education just three short years ago, I still have much to learn.
Strengths
I feel that I have a lot of strengths to offer of myself. My ability to adapt and learn are some of my strongest points. I welcome the opportunity to learn new things and put them into my current practice. My goals and aspirations for my education have an effect on my professional aspirations by taking in all that I am learning in the BSN program, and figure out how to apply it to my everyday practice. I also collaborate with other students in the BSN program and co-workers to discuss thoughts and feelings about what being a nurse really means. I aspire to be a leader and role model for my daughter , my co-workers, and new nurses. I think that when you show others how motivated you are to make a change and become a better nurse, it can help to motivate them to make themselves better.
Weakness
I feel that my biggest weakness is my core nursing skills, I know they will grow over time with practice but I need to take the time to practice my skills and gain a better understanding of procedures and the importance of them. If I don’t take the time to educate myself, I can not grow as a professional. Beyond using the textbooks and research books, I need to more frequently utilize the experience of other nurses as a great resource for bettering myself. There is not better resource then the experience of others. Leadership for my is another weak area. I tend to feel intimidated by the experience of others and lack the ability to assert myself and step into a leadership position. The ability to lead and be a strong leader is a key element of becoming a professional. The following are my goals and the plan to make the necessary changes to grow as a professional.
Goals
The future is always uncertain, all I can do is take it one day at a time. When goals are set and plans are made, it can be easier to decide what path to take. The first goal for me, is to finish my Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree with Ferris State University (FSU). I have just begun on this journey and plan to have it completed in the next three years. Once I have completed the BSN program and received my degree I will then work towards achieving my ultimate goal, which is to earn my masters degree at the University of Michigan (U of M). I have dreamed of earning my masters degree for a long time I just have never had a plan to achieve it.
Plan
The first step in the plan is to finish the BSN degree I am currently working on. I have just begun the program and am being challenged in new ways all the time. The ANA “Standard 8. Education” (ANA, p. 35, 2004) states “The registered nurse attains knowledge and competency that reflects current nursing practice” (ANA, 2004). To me this incorporates the nursing education that I chose to pursue as well as any state requirements for continuing education. Standard 8 has measurement criteria:
· Participates in ongoing educational activities related to appropriate knowledge bases and professional issues.
· Demonstrates a commitment to lifelong learning through self-reflection and inquiry to identify learning needs
· Seeks experiences that reflect current practice in order to maintain skills and competence in clinical practice or role performance
· Acquires knowledge and skills appropriate to the specialty area, practice setting, role, or situation
· Maintains professional records that provide evidence of competency and life long learning
· Seeks experiences and formal and independent learning activities to maintain and develop clinical and professional skills and knowledge (ANA, 2004)
The measurement criteria listed allow me to evaluate whether or not I am achieving the goals set forth by the ANA as well as to evaluate my own personal educational and professional goals. Achieving my BSN is just the first step on my path towards receiving my Masters Degree in Nursing through the University of Michigan. In order to achieve that goal I have to set other short term goals and achieve them first.
The first goal that needs to be achieved is finishing my bachelors program. My plan is to take two classes per semester for the next five semesters and I should be finished within five semesters from now. The plan will be re-evaluated at the end of each semester to see if this goal is still attainable in the time frame I have set forth, and to decide which classes to take for the next semester.
As well as pursuing my bachelor’s degree I also have a career goal for the next three years and that is to achieve a job in a critical care unit (CCU) at the local hospital. I currently work in a long-term care facility and while I enjoy my job, it does not fit within my plan for the future. I recently applied for a critical care internship at the hospital and did not get it, however there is another internship opportunity in the fall and I will apply again, hopefully this time I will have what it takes. Working in a CCU will allow me many opportunities to continue my education through work experience. There are so many different situations that occur in a CCU that very rarely occur on a medical/surgical unit. I would embrace those opportunities as a chance to advance my educational goals.
The final goal I have set for myself is to become an advanced practice nurse with a Master’s Degree from the U of M. The ANA states “the mission of advanced practice registered nursing is to provide expert, quality, comprehensive nursing care to clients” (ANA, p. 122, 2004). I want to use my education to become a better quality nurse and teacher. With this goal in mind, I would like to achieve it by the time I am forty years old. I do not plan to take any time off between receiving my bachelor’s degree and starting work on my master’s degree. U of M offers many different masters degree programs; the one I am focused on receiving is the “Medical Surgical Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)” (U of M, 2010). This specialist program is described as:
The Acute Care program focuses on the biological, social, psychological, and spiritual responses of adult human beings to physiological dysfunction, actual or potential. Particular emphasis is placed on investigating and validating current and emerging theories, promoting health, preventing illness and disability, and restoring the ill and disabled to a level of health in which they can function optimally. Advanced, innovative courses in nursing practice provide students with an opportunity to make their own discoveries as well as integrate existing knowledge. Practicum associated with the course work offer rich learning environments for developing expertise in acute care nursing and for refining clinical leadership skills (U of M, 2010).
There are forty-seven credits required for this program and I plan to have it completed in six years. Along with the CNS program I will also be working towards receiving my Certificate in Nursing Education (U of M, 2010). This particular certificate “is designed for advance degreed nursing candidates seeking to enhance teaching and learning skills and techniques with a particular focus on clinical education” (U of M, 2010). My goal for the long term future is to teach nursing students like myself. I feel that with more nursing instructors that can teach at the Associate Degree in Nursing (AND) level, our national nursing shortage would quickly diminish. I think the problem right now is that many nurses don’t have any desire to continue their education beyond receiving their ADN or BSN. If more nurses had long term goals in education I think we would be better off as a profession.
Evaluation
The most important part of creating any plan is developing a way to evaluate progress of that plan. Without some sort of evaluation process one can never understand how close or far away they are from completion. There are so many different ways to evaluate progress; the one I have found that will suit me best was developed by the National Science Teachers Association. The Individual Professional Development Plan (Appendix A) allows me to evaluate my progress as the years go on. I can sit down and write out what has been happening and see whether or not I am still on the right path. I have seen other review forms but they are just a checklist variation which I don’t think will give me enough insight to see where I am at in the plan. Seeing my progress written out gives me a much better picture of my progress.
Conclusion
The future can bring about many changes in life, and the plans I have right now may not be the same plans I have a year from now or five years from now, but at least I have a plan. I am a person that needs goals for the future so that I have something to work toward, that is how I evaluate the success in my life. I can not say how I will feel when I have reached the goals I have set, I am sure by that point I will have set more goals for the future beyond what is written here. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that with a plan in hand I am able to chart my course as well as check my progress along the way.
References
American Nurses Association. (2004). Nursing: Scope & Standards of Practice. Silver Springs, MD: Nursesbooks.org. (Original work published 2004)
Masters and Post-Masters Programs. (2010). Retrieved March 15, 2010, from University of Michigan website: http://www.nursing.umich.edu/academics/masters/
Steps to developing a personal professional development plan. (n.d.). National Science Teachers Association. Retrieved from http://www.nsta.org/pdfs/pd_steps.pdf
Appendix A
Individual Professional Development Plan
Goal: ______
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Objective: (use one sheet per objective)______
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Relevance:______
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Steps/Strategies
1. ______
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2. ______
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3. ______
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4. ______
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Time Frame for each Step
1. ______
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2. ______
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3. ______
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4. ______
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Evaluation for each Step
1. ______
______
2. ______
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3. ______
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4. ______
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Documentation for each Step
1. ______
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2. ______
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3. ______
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4. ______
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Appendix B
CHECKLIST FOR SUBMITTING PAPERS
CHECKDATE, TIME, & INITIAL / PROOFREAD FOR: APA ISSUES
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4/19 SR / 1. Page Numbers: Did you number your pages using the automatic functions of your Word program? [p. 230 and example on p. 40)]
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4/19 SR / 2. Running head: Does the Running head: have a small “h”? Is it on every page? Is it less than 50 spaces total? Is the title of the Running head in all caps? Is it 1” from the top of your title page? (Should be a few words from the title of your paper). [p. 229 and example on p. 40]
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4/19 SR / 3. Abstract: Make sure your abstract begins on a new page. Is there a label of Abstract and it is centered at the top of the page? Is it a single paragraph? Is the paragraph flush with the margin without an indentation? Is your abstract a summary of your entire paper? Remember it is not an introduction to your paper. Someone should be able to read the abstract and know what to find in your paper. [p. 25 and example on p. 41]
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4/19 SR / 4. Introduction: Did you repeat the title of your paper on your first page of content? Do not use ‘Introduction’ as a heading following the title. The first paragraph clearly implies the introduction and no heading is needed. [p. 27 and example on p. 42]
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4/19 SR / 5. Margins: Did you leave 1” on all sides? [p. 229]
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4/19 SR / 6. Double-spacing: Did you double-space throughout? No triple or extra spaces between sections or paragraphs except in special circumstances. This includes the reference page. [p. 229 and example on p. 40-59]
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4/19 SR / 7. Line Length and Alignment: Did you use the flush-left style, and leave the right margin uneven, or ragged? [p. 229]