Career Development Plans - Professional Goals and Practicum Goals

This paper discusses the educational and professional goals of Ijeoma Onyejiji, a nurse with a desire to become a family nurse practitioner. It also talks about her practicum goals and the course outcomes of her graduate study program at Walden University.

Running head- CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANS
CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANS
Name of student
Name of university
Author note

1CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANS
Professional development plan
Ijeoma Onyejiji
Walden University
NURS 6001 Foundations of Graduate Study
Dr. Usama Saleh
January 04, 2018
Professional development plan
When it comes to choosing our career goals, most of us find it a very daunting task.
Looking for a graduate school that helps you to fulfill your aims in life is a tough call.
Understanding which professionals programs are most suitable for us is crucial, the purpose of
this paper is to talk about my educational and professional goals, and discuss my career plans.
Education and professional background
My name is Ijeoma Onyejiji. I am a married woman with four children and I reside in Los
Angeles in California with my family. Previously I used to live in Nigeria from where I shifted to
United States in 2008. Since my childhood, my ambition was to become a nurse. My
grandmother was a traditional medical practitioner from whom I picked up basic art of nursing. I
was her helping hand in her work and she used to call me her personal nurse. She supported me
in pursuing the Nursing profession, even when nursing was not a much-recognized profession in
Nigeria.

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I obtained by nursing degree (ADN) in Nigeria in 2001 after which I started practicing
general nursing. I had the desire to continue pursuing nursing studies, which made me, go back
to school to study Bachelors in Science in Nursing (BSN) in Chamberlain College of nursing. In
Nigeria, I studied nursing and completed my clinical trials in nursing school and internships. I
learnt to analyze and utilize my nursing knowledge and skills to help the patients to the best of
my ability. I involved myself in various areas like medical-surgical units, emergency department,
maternal and child health, obstetrics and gynecology.
Presently I am working in St Vincent Medical Center in Downtown Los Angeles as an
emergency nurse. With the help of my employer, I had the opportunity to get my advance cardiac
life support, pediatric advance life support, trauma nursing core course, basic life support and a
mandatory management of assaultive behavior (MAB). Last year I have received my emergency
nurse certificate, which would help me further in my profession. I hope to learn newer ways to
educate my students and the public about health care. During my course at Walden University, I
hope to have the chance to conduct further research in the field of nursing and related academics.
Professional goals
Presently my plan is to complete my Bachelors level of education and go on to complete
Masters in nursing because a master’s degree in nursing offers a wide range of choices and gives
a chance to influence the future of nursing. My most cherished ambition is to become a family
nurse practitioner. After spending so many years in the emergency room, working in a 12 hour
shifts including weekends; I understood this is not how I wish to continue working in the future.
I want a career that would let me grow with my family and spend more time with them. My
working in the emergency department made me aware of the crisis that the nurses face in the

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emergency, that is why I would like a career that lets me work independently and would enable
me to treat my own patients and monitor them. I am very patient, attentive, determined,
compassionate and creative. A work like this would allow me to have a flexible schedule and
pursue my education simultaneously. I have decided to continue my education to become a
practitioner nurse because I want to make a difference in the lives of the people of my
community. Going back to school to finish my master’s degree in nursing is another target in my
quest for knowledge and lifelong commitment to education.
Course outcome
The graduate study program at Walden University has helped me to learn about several
things this semester. I have learnt about new topics like effective communication ways, time
management skills in an online learning environment. It taught me a great deal about online
study environment. It has also taught me to develop new ideas to improve my scholarly resources
by utilizing the writing center of university, a facility that I had not experienced in my previous
school and I am grateful to Walden for providing me with such resources. The most crucial part I
learnt at Walden is the way to create professional development plan with the help of which I can
prioritize my objectives and analyze my knowledge. One area that I still need to work on is to get
a closer understanding practical requirements of a nurse practitioner which I hope to learn during
my study at the university.
Practicum goals
My course requires me to do 144 hours practicum. The course of the practicum requires
me to work at a family practice of my choice for which the nurse practitioner who works there
would help me to do my work. I am thankful to the nurse who agreed to help me because of

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which I can get to understand the duties of a nurse practitioner, which is my personal career goal.
With her help, I can have a practical experience of the duties of a nurse practitioner and it would
make me learn about pediatric care and woman heal that are also the requirements of my
practicum in the university. It will allow me to learn about the real world problem, heal, and treat
the patients to give them a healthier life.
Summary
Looking back on my journey of academic and professional life, I have progressed over
the years to where I now belong as a graduate level student. Though the journey has been
challenging, I am optimistic about my future and I know that my experiences will help me to
reach my target at the end. I have learnt many important skills during my study at the Walden
that will help me develop my professional goals.