Foundations Graduate Study Professional Development Plan

Looking Ahead
Stephen Covey is credited with promoting the imperative to begin with the end in mind. As you start your Master of Science in Nursing program, you are asked to consider how your program of study will help you to achieve your long-term goals.
In this week of the Foundations of Graduate Study course, you reexamine the professional and academic goals you identified in Week 1. You then create a Professional Development Plan to guide your progress through the MSN program. Doing so not only allows you to articulate how you will stay current in the complex and rapidly evolving field of health care, it also provides an opportunity to apply the principles of scholarly writing introduced in previous weeks of this course.
Reference: Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Inc.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Develop a Professional Development Plan
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Learning Resources
Note: To access this week's required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
View the Program of Study (POS) Template appropriate for your specialization located at the Walden Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Forms site: http://inside(dot)waldenu(dot)edu/c/Student_Faculty/StudentFaculty_5495.htm
Casey, D., & Egan, D. (2010). The use of professional portfolios and profiles for career enhancement.British Journal of Community Nursing, 15(11), 547–552.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Throughout your degree program you will build a professional portfolio. Review this article, and consider what sort of artifacts you would like to include in your portfolio.
Smith, L. S. (2011). Showcase your talents with a career portfolio. Nursing, 41(7), 54–56. doi:10.1097/01.NURSE.0000398641.62631.8e
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This brief article provides suggestions for building and using a professional portfolio.
Thompson, T. (2011). Electronic portfolios for professional advancement. Clinical Nurse Specialist: The Journal For Advanced Nursing Practice, 25(4), 169–170.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
An electronic portfolio can be easily kept up to date and may even be preferred by potential employers. As you read this article, consider the advantages of keeping an electronic portfolio.
Registered Nurses Association of Northwest Territories and Nunavut. (n.d.). Continuing competence: My professional development plan (PDP)—Information. Retrieved from http://www(dot)rnantnu(dot)ca/?page_id=28
Walden University. (2012k). Walden University writing center: Paper templates. Retrieved from http://writingcenter(dot)waldenu(dot)edu/57.htm
Download and review the School of Nursing APA and Writing Guidelines and School of Nursing Sample Paper located under item 8. Use the sample paper as a guide when completing your Assignment.
This website presents strategies for developing a professional development plan.
Document: Walden University School of Nursing Faculty. (2012). Annotated School of Nursing sample paper. (PDF)
Document: Professional Development Plan (PDP) (PDF)
Document: PDP Sample Paper (Word document)
Document: APA Basics Checklist: Citations, Reference List, and Style (PDF)
Optional Resources
Morgan, P. D., & Torres, S. (2012). Opportunities as a nurse practitioner: Your questions answered. Retrieved from http://www(dot)minoritynurse(dot)com/article/opportunities-nurse-practitioner-your-questions-answered
Assignment: Application:
Professional Development Plan
The Program of Study (POS) for your specialization and the Professional Development Plan (PDP) help you to become familiar with the courses you will take, when they will be completed, and how the degree program fits into your overall academic and professional goals. For this Assignment, you write a Professional Development Plan to submit to the Week 5 Assignment submission link.
Throughout your degree program you will create a professional portfolio. In each course, one Assignment will be designated for inclusion in your portfolio. This portfolio provides a rich opportunity to evidence your growth as a scholar-practitioner. For this course, your PDP will serve as the artifact for your Portfolio.
Note: As you progress through the program, ensure that you save all of your portfolio assignments on your computer and to backup those files to a secure device such as a flash drive or external hard drive. You will have a variety of Instructors throughout your program, and it is your responsibility to save these assignments for your portfolio.
TIP: Create a new folder for each course on your computer's hard drive using the course number and title. Within each course folder, create an additional folder and label it “Portfolio.” Then, save the Portfolio assignment with a clear title such as “Professional Development Plan.”
To prepare:
Review the information on the Program of Study (POS) and Professional Development Plan (PDP) presented in this week's Learning Resources.
Review the Week 5 Assignment Rubric presented in this week's Learning Resources.
Develop your Professional Development Plan (PDP) following the example presented in the Learning Resources and the assignment grading rubric criteria. Ensure that all content required is included in paper.
By Day 7
To complete:
Utilizing Microsoft Word, begin by formatting the paper in correct APA (i.e. title page, double space, Times New Roman size 12 font, headers, page numbers, headings).
To ensure that all content required is included in the paper, review Week 5 Professional Development Plan assignment rubric and the Professional Development Plan example.
Write your PDP using scholarly writing, correct grammar, and proper APA citations. Review the APA Basics Checklist: Citations, Reference List, and Style to make sure that your citations are correct. This document should represent your best professional effort.
Due by Day 7 of this week.
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK05Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click the Week 5 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click the Week 5 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK05Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 5 Assignment Rubric
Check your Assignment draft for authenticity
To check your assignment draft for authenticity
Submit your Week 5 Assignment Draft, and review the "SafeAssign Originality Report"
Suitability of Walden University on my Journey as a Scholar-Practitioner
The poor service delivery in a public health care center at the age of eleven paved my career choice. I became obsessed with gaining the skills and competence that would help me change the service delivery. I gained more motivation following the support of my friend's mom who allowed me to visit a private health center she worked during my high school vacation as a volunteer. The service delivery differences between private and public hospitals is huge, and with significant number of people more likely to visit public hospitals, I believe that it is time for the public sector to become more competent in their service delivery.
The professional and academic goals identified in Week 1 are below
MSN Public Health Nursing will help me gain the skills and knowledge needed to achieve that dream. While finding a school that compliments and enhances one's skills may be challenging to most, my choice for Walden University was easy. The vision of the School of Nursing is evidence to my goal. The vision and mission are focused on envisioning health, nursing, and other sciences to aid in the transformation of service provision to boost human life span, from the individual to local, and global society ("School of Nursing Mission and Vision - Walden University - Acalog ACMS™", 2017). To accomplish the vision, and mission, the social changes and outcome of the school and the former graduates have demonstrated that the school strategies have helped improve nursing and the health sector.
The use of online studying method to its student-centered mode of education suits my busy schedule and encourages critical thinking and practical experiences that are important in enhancing the quality of nursing practitioner ("Online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Degree | Walden University", 2017). The embracement of modern technology in studying and projected outcome will make me achieve my dream with fewer constraints as I will learn to be an effective leader, gain skills to address the disparities within the health sector in the bid to make quality healthcare accessible to all ("Online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Degree | Walden University", 2017).