Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to help the student determine a plan for career and professional development that will include both short and long-term goals, as well as specific actions, which will help the student to attain the goals. Instructions are attached.

Course Outcomes
This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:

Examine current nursing standards and practice.

Explore ethical nursing practice responsibilities of BSN prepared nurses.

Examine own professional goals within the context of the profession.

Discuss models of organizational structure in nursing practice.

Develop techniques for reflective nursing practice.

Due Date: Sunday of Week 6

Module 6 Final Assignment

Professional Development Plan

Nursing Role of the Future: Assessment, Reflection and Goal Attainment

For this assignment, the student will write a paper using APA format. A title page and reference page are required. Use the headings that are “Bold” print in this assignment description. Use a running head of your choosing. Include page numbers as required by APA.

The opening paragraph in Chapter 6, “Advancing and Managing Your Professional Nursing Career” in the textbook by Kathleen Masters states,

“Successful management of your professional nursing career does not occur by accident or default. Rather, it is a delivered, purposeful, informed process requiring self-appraisal of your need for further professional growth and development, attentiveness to projected trends in healthcare delivery, dialogue with nurse colleagues who have demonstrated success in advancing their careers, exploration of nursing career programs that will support your career advancement, consideration of how to balance work and study demands and remain healthy, and investment of self to pursue these professional nursing career options” (p. 161).

For this assignment, you will use both assessment and reflection to develop a plan for your future nursing career. Masters writes that, “Critical thinking uses reflection. Reflective thinking is deliberate thinking and careful consideration. It is the process of analyzing, making judgments, and drawing conclusions. Reflective thinking involves creating an understanding through oneâ€s experiences and knowledge and exploring potential alternatives—assessing what you know, what you need to know, and how to bridge the gap (2020, p. 133).

Current Status

Write a paragraph which describes your current professional role as a nurse. Discuss where you went to nursing school and when you graduated. Identify where you now work and what your nursing role is.

Novice to Expert

Using Patricia Bennerâ€s theory and model, “From Novice to Expert, identify the level of nurse that best fits you at this time. Explain why you chose this level according to Bennerâ€s theory.

Use the link below to access an article on Bennerâ€s theory.

https://www-jstor-org.proxy1.nku.edu/stable/pdf/3462928.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A46fe29a7891de745b18a84e7d9fa3eb4 (Links to an external site.)

(If the link does not work, copy and paste the link into a new browser page and the article should open. Scroll past the cover page from Wolters Kluwer to find the first page of the article by Benner.)

Masters makes the argument that based on research findings, “Factors theoretically related to expertise [and corresponding role development as an expert] have been associated with patient outcomes. For example researchers have found the proportion of staff nurses with a BSN degree, nurse experience, and the nursing practice environment to be significant predictors of patient outcomes.

Nursing of the Future: Nursing Core Competencies

Refer to the discussion and model on pages 122-125 of your Masters†textbook.

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education collaborated with nursing leaders in the state to develop this list of 10 core competencies for nurses of the future. The process combined competencies from the American Nurses Association (ANA), the American Academy of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the National League of Nursing,(NLN), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Quality and Safety in Nursing (QSEN), and the Inner Disciplinary Education Collaborative (IPEC) into a common list of 10 items.

The model demonstrates that nursing knowledge is at the center of the wheel. The 10 competencies surround the hub and shows that the energy flows both ways between acquiring knowledge and influencing further development of the competency itself. This knowledge influences both nursing practice and the nursing practice environment which form the inner and outer rims of the wheel respectively. The 10 competencies identified in this model are:

Professionalism

Communication

System-based practice

Teamwork and Collaboration

Evidence-Based Practice

Quality Improvement

Safety

Informatics

Leadership

Directions:

Conduct a self-assessment as it applies to the 10 core competencies for the nurse of the future.

Copy the core competency name and its corresponding definition from pp. 123-124 of your textbook.

Following each competency definition, reflect where you are in your career in terms of development of this competency. Write a narrative explaining your experiences with this competency.

Project into your future and discuss what development is still needed for yourself i.e. describing the gap (the difference of where you are verses where you need or want to be.) Example: you are a novice based on your self-assessment and Bennerâ€s definition of the term and you want to become an expert in the future based on Bennerâ€s definition.)

Nursing Role of the Future

Read page 110 in your Role Development textbook.

Based on what you have read choose a future nursing role for yourself. Identify and define what this role is. How will you make this journey from where you are today to where you want to be as a future nurse? How do you see yourself developing the needed expertise for this role?

Support your decision with information from 1 professional journal article that applies.

Will you be an expert nurse at the clinical bedside?

Will you be a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) or Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)?

Will you be an advanced practice nurse (APN)? If so what type?

Or will you consider a Nurse Educator, Legal Nurse Consultant, Nurse Anesthetist, or Nurse Informatics Specialist?

Others option that you choose and why?

What qualifications do you need in order to achieve your career goal?

What is your plan for achieving this transformational goal?

What additional education will you need?

What certification or license will you need?

What need in the community will you meet in this new role?

What population do you intend to serve? Explain.

Where will you practice? Acute care, emergency room, ICU community clinic in an urban setting, rural setting, etc.

How will you evaluate your goal achievement?

Describe your role transformation process. Example: “I see myself transforming from a staff bedside nurse to a Clinical Nurse Leader.

Future Goal Attainment:

Where do you see yourself in 5 years in terms of your goal attainment?

10 years?

Mentor Selection

Read pages 169-170 in your textbook on mentoring relationships.

Describe a nursing professional that could be a potential mentor for you as you progress in your career.

Professional Organization

What professional organization(s) would support you in this new role? Support this with information from a professional .org web site(s).

Timeline

Draw a timeline which demonstrates how and when you will achieve this goal. Take a photo of your timeline and upload it with your assignment.

Submit your writing assignment and photo of your timeline using the link provided.

References:

Patricia Benner. (1982). From Novice to Expert. The American Journal of Nursing, 82(3), 402. https://doi.org/10.2307/3462928 (Links to an external site.)

The MA Nursing Core Competencies: A Toolkit for Implementation in Education and Practice. Retrieved from: https://www.mass.edu/nahi/documents/Toolkit-First%20Edition-May%202014-r1.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Masters, Kathleen. (2020). Role Development in Professional Nursing Practice (5thed.) Jones & Bartlett Learning: Burlington, MA.

Grade

This assignment is worth a total of 20% of your grade.

You may submit your plan using the link below.

Module 6: Writing Assignment –Professional Development Plan (SLO 1, 2, 3, 5, & 7)

This assignment is due on Sunday night prior to 11:59 PM.

It is worth 100 points and 20% of your course grade.