Assessment 4 Instructions: Creating A Professional Development Plan
Write a 6-8 page professional development plan for your work as a nurse educator.
Introduction
Having a career and job satisfaction is very important because it gives a person peace of mind knowing that you are doing what you love most and that it is what you wanted from the beginning. In some instances, people tend to lose direction along the way of their career and it discourages but finding a path that brings happiness and satisfaction is very important. In my career development, I have always wanted to be a nurse and develop my career in nursing because offering people nursing care is my passion. I developed the desire and urge of becoming a nurse when I was young when I saw my grandmother’s nurse providing nursing care for her when she needed her the most.
I admired her services and desire to be like her but after joining a nursing school, I realized that there are other opportunities in the nursing field where a person can be helpful to the patients, nursing students, and the community while having self-development at the same time. Kohler, & Dixon, (2019) advises that nursing is lifelong learning and advancing in the nursing field is very important because it allows immense career and self-development. Improving skills and expertise in this field is inevitable because of the dynamic nature of the field and technological emerging trends.
Therefore, this paper seeks to provide an outline of areas that will focus on in my nursing education, the position that I would wish to obtain educator competencies that I will need as an MSN-prepared nurse. The paper will further discuss my professional goals and how they related to my nursing educator philosophy. Additionally, the paper will explain the social, political, economic, and institutional forces that influence my nursing education role. The paper will discuss how I will conduct scholarship activities as an MSN-prepared nurse as well as explaining how I will develop leadership roles in my specific area of focus. Finally, the paper will conclude by delineating my specific plans for my professional growth, other additional and desired education, certification, and training that I will need to acquire. On the other hand, a reflection on my abilities to meet my goals and achieve my professional development plans and ethical practices will also be looked at.
Area of focus
Kohler, & Dixon, (2019) state that decision-making is a very important aspect when developing a career because among the many and ambitious nursing fields, I have to come up with one that I truly have a passion for and that I know is manageable. Nursing being extremely demanding and having to care for ailing people daily require lots of empathy and courage and therefore is important to choose an area that is enjoyable and can be fun studying. The most appropriate way of continuing education while putting the already acquired skills into action is through on-the-job training where a person can learn some short courses in the healthcare organization to better their skills and expertise (Beeber, et al., 2019). In my case, I took online classes for my second degree while working in a healthcare facility as an RN, and at that time I was still not sure what exactly I wanted to become.
I enrolled in volunteer activities while still working in the healthcare organization and the experience, knowledge, and expertise that I equipped myself with immensely changed my career path for the better. While volunteering with a United Nations agency, I mostly worked in groups and learned that I was destined to be a leader because this was where my leadership skills were unleashed. I learned that strategic planning is very important when leading a group of experts and for this reason, I decided to be an MSN-prepared nurse by pursuing a master’s of science in nursing, and upon completion, I would obtain an MSN-prepared nurse title as advised by Riccio, & Bloch, (2019). Other than being moved by the motivational experiences that I had when volunteering, I knew that acquiring the knowledge and skills for this job meant that I had to work extra hard because I would be leading a group of employees and even offering educational insights at some point.
Playing the most important roles at the capacity of an MSN-prepared nurse, which includes leading a team of healthcare professionals in implementing evidence-based practices and other guided medical interventions that are helpful in service delivery (Kohler, & Dixon, 2019). Additionally, I would take up the responsibility of offering support and encouraging other nurses and healthcare providers to take part in lifelong learning to improve their experience and expertise hence improving care in decision-making processes. Moreover, I would serve as a role model and a mentor to many healthcare providers especially with my expertise in evidence-based decision making.
Kohler, & Dixon, (2019) emphasize that the Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) program has put more emphasis on leadership, management, and evaluation techniques in their curriculum which helps in improving healthcare services in diverse levels of nursing care delivery. Therefore, ensuring that I am facilitating learning and learner development and socialization to nursing students in the healthcare facility setting while using assessment and evaluation strategies are some of the educator competencies that I need as an MSN-prepared nurse. Additionally, participating in curriculum development and evaluation of the program outcomes is another educator competency that I should possess as an MSN-prepared nurse.
Professional goals
Beeber, et al., (2019) delineates that pursuing academic research that will bring changes into the nursing field is one of my professional goals in leading and managing operations in healthcare organizations. Academic research is essential for healthcare facilities because it helps in introducing new interventions and better methods of solving nursing-related problems as well as attaining educational needs for nursing students in the healthcare facility setting. Synthesizing organizational leadership systems is another professional goal that I always strive to achieve because each day comes with its challenges. Therefore, ensuring that leadership systems are strategized in a way that cost-effective services as well as delivering high-quality services are provided for patients. Additionally, this professional goal ensures that there is nursing profession advancement and social change among the patients, students, and healthcare providers. As a nurse educator, Beeber, et al., (2019) highlight that designing curricula and programs that facilitate learning for students in the healthcare facility setting, patients, and other healthcare providers is another professional goal that I would wish to attain in my career among many other goals.
Influences
Institutional forces can influence my nursing educational role by providing contradicting curricula and methods of delivering educational services. This can hinder nursing students from achieving their set targets as per their calendar hence causing confusion and conflicts. Social and economic forces can influence nursing education roles during research where data need to be collected in the rural areas where challenges like inaccessibility and inaccurate responses are expected to be high. Riccio, & Bloch, (2019) report that political forces that can influence nursing education are concerns like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that has been a controversial topic even though presidents have the mandate to introduce new health policies. There is a huge percentage of uninsured American citizens who do not get the value of nursing education provided in healthcare facilities because of the high cost of medication and pharmaceutical drugs.
Analysis
As an MSN-prepared nurse, I would carry out scholarship activities in a healthcare organization by designing curricula and programs that will be used to disseminate relevant information to nursing students and other healthcare professionals. Additionally, ensuring that I offer support and encourage all staff to participate in lifelong learning and improve their experience, expertise and knowledge is another way that I would carry out my scholarship activities. On the other hand, O’Connor, (2019) suggests that I should employ Boyer’s scholarship model of discovery, integration, and teaching because it supports the nursing profession that is committed to developing social relevance and scientific and technological advancements.
O’Connor, (2019) continues to add that this scholarship model has four important aspects and they are discovery which explains where the new and distinctive knowledge was generated. The second essential aspect is teaching and this is a common ground where my understanding as an MSN-prepared nurse and educator meets with students understanding of a concept. The third aspect is the application and this is when the information gained from nursing education and the new knowledge is used in solving societal problems. The last aspect is integration and this is where new interactions among different disciplines are discovered.
Leadership roles
One of the ways that I will use in developing leadership roles in my area of focus is by leading change that will improve the quality of services provided hence improving patient outcomes. MSN has greatly integrated leadership responsibilities for MSN-prepared nurses in the curriculum and so I have equipped myself with knowledge, expertise, and experience in leadership. Therefore, developing and implementing change supported with an evidence-based practice will e helpful in quality improvement and patient outcomes (Riccio, & Bloch, 2019). Cultivating and advancing lifelong learning culture in the facility and among all the employees is another way that I will use to develop leadership roles. A lifelong learning culture will help healthcare providers to improve the knowledge and expertise in different nursing fields and it will help in reducing mortality rates in the facility.
Development plan
It is important to diversify skills and acquire more knowledge in different disciplines in healthcare because it helps in building a nurse into an all-around nursing specialist. Despite being happy and contented with the services that I offer to the student and other employees in the nursing field, Kohler, & Dixon, (2019) suggest I must champion lifelong learning as a role model and a mentor. Therefore, I would enroll as a family nurse practitioner, and with my level of education, few refresher courses would be offered to me the acquire certification as a nurse practitioner.
Conclusion
Being the hardworking nurse that I am, dedication and determination have always pushed me to always remain committed to my studies and work. Through my commitments and the desire to achieve my goals, I have been able to achieve my goals at every stage and achieve my professional development plans. Remaining ethical at all times and being compliant with diverse rules and regulations is what has contributed greatly to the success and achievement of my goals. I have achieved career and self-development in diverse ways and I have been able to influence other people through designing and developing nursing school curricula and implementation of different policies that emphasize lifelong learning and improvement of service quality.
References
Beeber, A. S., Palmer, C., Waldrop, J., Lynn, M. R., & Jones, C. B. (2019). The role of the doctor of nursing practice-prepared nurses in practice settings. Nursing Outlook, 67(4), 354-364.
Kohler, J., & Dixon, J. (2019). Delivering Leadership Experiences for Master’s-Prepared Clinical Nurses via a Nurse Residency Program. Journal for nurses in professional development, 35(4), 215-221.
O’Connor, L. (2019). Boyer’s Pillars of Scholarship. Like Scholarship, a Career Legacy Map and Advanced Practice (pp. 17-29). Springer, Cham.
Riccio, P. A., & Bloch, J. R. (2019). MSN perceptions of practice-based problems and research-based interventions. Journal of Professional Nursing, 35(6), 499-504.