Creating a Professional Development Plan

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Resources: Leadership in Nursing Education

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Resources: Evidence-Based Nursing Practice

 

Creating a Professional Development Plan

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliations

Creating a Professional Development Plan

Career development is one of the goals that are common among employees. Like other staff members, nurses should have clear professional development plans that identify and describe the specific skills and the resources required to support the realization of identified career goals (Midgley, 2019). Using a professional development plan, employees usually document the required goals, skills, and competencies they should possess to attain continuous development in their careers (Mlambo et al., 2021). MSN-prepared nurses can assume a number of positions including serving as nurse leaders and as nurse educators. The United States health system needs adequately trained nurse educators who can lead meaningful healthcare reforms (Thomas et al., 2016). The purpose of this assignment is to create a professional development plan that will support continuous improvement in my personal role as a nurse educator.

Area of Focus

Selecting an area of focus helps nurse educators to develop clear goals that will guide them towards realizing their professional goals. The specific area of focus in nursing education that will form the basis of this professional development plan is the BSN Nursing Faculty. As a BSN Nursing Faculty, I will teach student nurses who have enrolled in a nursing institution for various academic programs (Thomas et al., 2016). The specific position that I wish to obtain is that of a Senior Nurse Educator. As a Senior Nurse Educator who is a member of the BSN Nursing Faculty in a nursing institution, I will take part in the development and implementation of curricula that support continuing education for nursing students. I will ensure that the developed and implemented curriculum reflects the contemporary nursing practice and is able to prepare graduates with relevant skills required in the job market (Thomas et al., 2016; Eddy et al., 2018). MSN-prepared nurses can serve as members of nursing faculty in their states because they have been trained to do so.

Nurses who have completed their Master’s programs and are interested in becoming nurse educators should possess relevant competencies that will enable them to perform their roles effectively. For example, I need a number of nurse educator competencies as I transition into a higher-level career in nursing education. The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented eight core competencies for nurse educators (World Health Organization, 2016). The competencies include; understanding theories and principles of adult learning, curriculum development and implementation, effective nursing practice, application of nursing research and evidence to inform clinical practice, communication and collaboration/partnership, ethical/legal principles and professionalism, monitoring and evaluation, and management/leadership and advocacy (World Health Organization, 2016). As an MSN-prepared nurse educator, I will need these competencies to accomplish professional goals. With these competencies, I will be able to contribute to the provision of quality education and the production of skilled nurses who can effectively respond to the health needs of patients and populations.

Professional Goals

My professional goals are aligned with my nurse educator philosophy. My first goal is to improve the learning experiences of nursing students enrolled in a nursing institution where I will be teaching. I am a lifelong learner who adequately understands the importance of education for nursing students and how this impacts patients and healthcare organizations (Mlambo et al., 2021). With the skills acquired through rigorous academia, fellowships, and professional experiences, I believe that I am in a position to impact the lives of nursing students by enabling them to gain learning experiences that prepare them for their clinical roles. My second professional goal is to complete a scholarly project that aims to promote nurses’ transition into practice. I intend to complete mentorship programs with students in the scholarly project. I will utilize the skills gained from the project to improve the knowledge and attitudes of nursing students as they prepared to transition from education to practice (Midgley, 2019). My third goal is to become an adept nurse educator by enrolling in certification programs that support the advancement of nurse educator skills.  Such programs will help me to gain problem-solving skills and increase my ability to address challenges that I might encounter in my role as a nurse educator. The fourth goal is to maintain meaningful communication and collaboration will learners and members of faculty. I believe that I will become a skilled nurse educator when I manage to accomplish these goals.

My professional goals are related to my nurse educator philosophy. The focus of my nurse educator philosophy is on learner development. It is embedded in Bloom’s taxonomy of learning. Guided by my nurse educator philosophy, I strive to ensure that my students can understand, remember, and apply the taught content. I also ensure that they can analyze and evaluate the impacts of the applied content (Nascimento et al., 2021; Eddy et al., 2018). I always aspire to cause exponential growth in the lives of students. I am determined to achieve this by serving as a role model for the learners and creating an environment that promotes learning. The four professional goals named above are related to my nurse educator philosophy in that they promote learner development, encourage the transition of nursing students from education to practice, address challenges faced by nursing students, and encourage communication and collaboration with students and faculty.

Influences

Numerous forces have an influence on my nurse educator role. The influences can be categorized as social, economic, political, and institutional influences. The skills that I have learned through personal experiences are by interacting with successful nurse educators keep motivating me to become a nurse educator. I have acquired some of these social impacts from fellowships and residencies that I have attended. I have witnessed the impacts of nurse shortage and limited skill levels among nurses on the health of patients (Thomas et al., 2016). Therefore, I believe that I can be part of that team that will contribute to the education of additional nurses to address the problem of the nursing shortage and improve nurses’ knowledge and skills regarding clinical practice issues.

Professional development has been linked with positive economic impacts. According to Ortan et al. (2021), professional development increases a person’s chances of getting a job promotion and of being employed to occupy higher job ranks in an organization. Such promotions and better employment opportunities come with better pay which is a positive economic impact on staff. Therefore, part of my motivation to develop my professional competencies in the nurse educator role is the anticipated economic benefits associated with such accomplishments.

The need to contribute to institutional reforms has influenced my nursing education role and professional development in this area. Nursing institutions need nurse educators who can come up with innovative and creative ideas that will generate lasting reforms in nursing education (Thomas et al., 2016). This has influenced my decision to develop professionally as a nurse educator to be able to take part in institutional transformations. The fact that state regulations allow nurses to engage in life-long learning as part of their professional growth has served as the primary political factor that has influenced my professional development decision in nursing education.

Analysis

I will carry out numerous scholarship activities in a manner that promotes learning. The specific activities that I will perform are outlined in Kern’s six-step scholarship model. As Schlegel et al. (2021) explain, nurse educators have successfully applied aKern’s six-step scholarship model to organize scholarship activities. Based on the model, I will perform six scholarship activities in chronological order whenever I am teaching nursing students. The first step in Kern’s six-step model is problem identification and general needs assessment. The scholarship activities that I will accomplish in this step include the identification of the specific scholarship problems to be solved and the selection of specific topics to teach including why it matters.

The subsequent steps in Kern’s model will focus on the problem or topic chosen in the first step. The second step of the model entails conducting a targeted needs assessment. The specific scholarship activities that I will carry out in this step include identifying the learners, locating the setting that works best for the learners, and the identification of resources required for teaching (Schlegel et al., 2021). Kern proposed that the third step of scholarship design should entail the documentation of the goals and objectives of teaching. The scholarship activity that I will perform in this step is to develop learning objectives based on Bloom’s taxonomy. The fourth step of Kern’s model is the selection of educational strategies for accomplishing the documented goals and objectives. The scholarship activity that I will carry out in this step is the identification of the best approaches that I will use to teach the learners (Schlegel et al., 2021). Examples of educational strategies include the use of group discussion, simulation, and webinars, among other approaches.

Step five and six of Kern’s six-step scholarship model are implementation and evaluation of curriculum effectiveness respectively. The scholarship activity to be completed in step five is putting resources into use to deliver the actual teaching. In step six, I will evaluate the learners based on the learning objectives to establish whether they have learned what was intended. Additionally, I will evaluate the program using the teaching objectives to establish whether the learners were comfortable with the teaching approach used (Schlegel et al., 2021). Generally, Kern’s six-step scholarship model is a good framework for directing nurse educators to develop a plan for scholarship activities.

Leadership Role

A leadership role that is the most appropriate for the nurse educator role in BSN Nursing Faculty is serving as a mentor for both nursing students and new nursing graduates. One of the specific ways to develop my leadership role as a mentor is to guide nursing students on how they will be evaluated. Knowing what to expect in the examinations helps nursing students to develop confidence and to approach the exams with courage (Kourtney, 2016). The other way is to guide new nursing graduates about their roles and responsibilities as clinical practitioners. Mentorship helps new nursing graduates to understand their roles and responsibilities, a factor that helps to eliminate uncertainties and ambiguity during initial days at work (Kourtney, 2016). Serving as a nurse educator and as a mentor will promote professional growth and improve the lives of nursing students and new nursing graduates.

Development Plan

My plans for professional growth are to learn from successful nurse educators, practice repeatedly, advance my education, and obtain relevant nurse educator certifications. By practicing repeatedly, I’ll acquire relevant experience in the field of nursing education and identify my strengths and weaknesses as far as nursing education is concerned (Mlambo et al., 2021). Additionally, spending time with successful nurse educators will help me to learn new skills and improve in my areas of weaknesses. Again, I will advance my education by enrolling in the Doctor of Nursing program and in training programs to obtain nurse educator certifications. For example, I am planning to complete the Certified Nurse Educator exam in the next few months in order to obtain a certificate.

Reflection

I am confident that I have the abilities to meet the goals identified in this professional development plan and the ethical practice requirements for my role as a nurse educator. The little experience, as well as the skills and knowledge that I already possess, are enough to start me off through my professional goal of becoming a Senior Nurse Educator focusing in BSN Nursing Faculty. I believe that I am in a position to effectively utilize Kern’s six-step scholarship model organize scholarship activities appropriate for my role and for nursing students. I am planning to develop my nursing education skills further by enrolling in the Doctor of Nursing program and by obtaining relevant certifications for nurse educators. Achieving my professional development plan will place me in a good position of becoming a qualified nurse educator and a mentor.

References

Eddy, L. L., Hoeksel, R., Fitzgerald, C., & Doutrich, D. (2018). Innovative practice in advancement of academic nurse educator careers: Developing scholarship from program grants. Nursing Education Perspectives, 39(4), 257–258.

Kourtney, B. L. (2016). Mentoring new nurses. American Journal of Nursing, 116(10), 13. doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000503278.70682.ab

Midgley, J. (2019). Professional development for nurses. https://www.ourphn.org.au/professional-development-for-nurses/

Mlambo, M., Silén, C. & McGrath, C. (2021). Lifelong learning and nurses’ continuing professional development, a metasynthesis of the literature. BMC Nursing, 20, 62. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00579-2

Nascimento, J., Siqueira, T. V., Oliveira, J. L. G., Alves, M. G., Regino, D. & Dalri, M. (2021). Development of clinical competence in nursing in simulation: the perspective of Bloom’s taxonomy. Revista Brasiliera de Enfermagem, 74(1):e20200135. English, Portuguese. doi: 10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0135. PMID: 33787788.

Ortan, F., Simut, C., & Simut, R. (2021). Self-Efficacy, job satisfaction and teacher well-being in the K-12 educational system. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12763. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312763

Schlegel, E., Bird, J. B., Burns, C. M., Cassara, M., O’Neil, J., Weisholtz, Y., & Le, T. T. (2021). Curriculum Design and Scholarship for New Educators: A Professional Development Workshop for Medical Students. MedEdPORTAL : the journal of teaching and learning resources, 17, 11130. https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11130

Thomas, T.W., Seifert, P.C., & Joyner, J.C. (2016). Registered nurses leading innovative changes. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21 (3), Manuscript 3. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol21No03Man03
https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol21No03Man03.

World Health Organization. (2016). Nurse educator core competencies. https://www.who.int/hrh/nursing_midwifery/nurse_educator050416.pdf

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