Transition to Professional Practice: Personal Professional Development Plan

This paper discusses the personal professional development plan for transition to professional practice in nursing. It includes statements addressing selection criteria, personal philosophy of nursing practice, self-assessment and personal reflection, and future learning efforts and commitment to lifelong learning.

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Transition to Professional Practice
By (Name)
Name of the Course
Professor
Name of University
City and State
Date

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Part A: Statements Addressing Selection Criteria
Selection criteria help describe personal skills, knowledge, qualities, qualifications, and
abilities an individual requires to carry out the task effectively as described within the position
descriptions. Addressing the criteria of selection helps evaluate oneself and inform external
audiences how one will show the critical competencies needed for a specific position in nursing.
This paper aims to choose one criterion on each of the three topics that typically appear on
position descriptions, which include shared governance, clinical governance, and self-
governance.
i. Shared Governance: Teamwork Skills
Shared governance enhances responsibility and accountability for decision making which
influences the nursing practice. Shared governance is a professional model of practice
established on the critical principles of ownership, partnership, accountability and equity which
results into an empowering and sensitive framework that promotes accountability-based and
sustainable decisions in support of patient care excellence. Shared governance is mainly
characterized by accountability, collaboration and shared decision making which improves care
and safety quality, and enhances work life (Hinchliff, Norman and Schober 2008, pp. 67).
I can make an effective and active contribution to the work team in achieving the goals of
the team. I also have the potential to disperse information while working cooperatively with
other members of the team. I have a great willingness and commitment to supporting other team
members when necessary. I also understand the dynamics of the team as well as factors which
can influence its performance. I can perform my tasks under minimal or no supervision as I can

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understand personality differences of team members, use their strengths to achieve the team
goals and balance their weaknesses.
I can ascertain that both my college studies and PEP experience involved extensive
collaborations and teamwork. I worked mostly in teams as assigned by managers. My full-time
position as a clinical officer at Ballina Hospital involved working extensively in co-operation
with a team of ten people. This position involved working with a team of other professional
nurses in giving patients good health care and diagnosing their health problems. It also involved
helping the senior management staff with clinical inspection and documenting the reports.
In addition to this, my studies in college involved completing eleven group projects of
five to ten people each. The projects were both verbal and written. My group was most recently
awarded a score of 90% (A) for a clinical nursing report comprising 4,500 words. This pertained
holding regular group discussions for research, report drafting and communicating with the
course instructor for discussion of any issues.
ii. Clinical Governance: Occupational Health and Safety Skills
Clinical governance is a model that holds NHS organizations responsible for continuous
improvement in the quality of health care services provided while safeguarding high standards
through the creation of a suitable environment for clinical care excellence to flourish. Clinical
governance refers to procedures and steps that ensure patients receive health care services of the
highest quality. Clinical governance involves understanding the rules of occupational health and
safety rules (Stuart 2014, pp. 74).
I have learned occupational health and safety skills which I gained from my one-year
part-time position as a clinical officer at Queensland dispensary, before joining Ballina Hospital

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on a full-time basis. I was tasked to ensure patients were safe and did not sustain any potential
injury while at the health care facility. This equipped me well on the clinical, ethical practice. I
also have the necessary skills in applying practically the measures of occupational health and
safety in the workplace to ensuring excellence in clinical care. My study in college has also
given me a theoretical understanding of the various occupational health & safety measures,
equity and diversity principles as well as the Australian Public service Code of Conduct.
iii. Self-Governance: Ability to Work as an Individual
Apart from working effectively as part of a team, I am skilled in working autonomously
as an individual with minimal or no supervision. I take ownership of my tasks and
responsibilities, and my greatest commitment is to deliver an excellent job as per the
requirements from the management. I rejoice in completing my duties within the allocated time
frame while making sure that they are of high quality and standards (Zaccagnini and White 2010,
pp. 36).
During my study in college, I was assigned the duty of a class representative. This
involved linking the students to the course facilitators and ensuring that there was good
communication of academic matters between the two parties. Although it was challenging to
balance this with class work, I managed to do it successfully and even managed to score grade A
in my individual class projects which were very demanding. In addition to this, my part-time job
position as a clinical officer at Queensland Dispensary involved working mainly as an individual
since I worked in the evening shift when most of the workers had left for home. Regardless of
this, positive feedback was all I could get from the facility administrators concerning my good
job and happy patients.

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Part B: Personal Professional Development Plan
i. My Philosophy of the Nursing Practice
I believe that nursing as a profession is a way of helping others live healthily and happily
through the application of psychology, science, and physiology to save lives. This involves
mental health nurses, nurse educators, neonatal care units, emergency room nurses and other
professional nurses who engage in the physical and mental health care of patients (Stuart 2014,
pp. 71). According to me, nursing is a calling. Nurses have the deeper spiritual meaning which
extends far beyond psychology, physiology, and medicine. Nurses give holistic care to patients
since their emotions, religion and personal beliefs play a vital role in determining the type of care
they receive.
Nurses should give professional and individualized care to patients with disregard to their
sex, age, race, socio-economic status, creed or even religion. Nurses must support and respect
diversity in patients as well as their families. The practice of nursing should encompass the
conserving of confidentiality, privacy and ethical practices of healthcare delivery. Professional
nursing practices include care planning, diagnosis, mutual respect, assessment, trust
establishment, individualized care and promotion of dignity. I believe that nurses also play a vital
role in empowering their patients to participate actively in their care and health ((Polit and Beck
2010, pp. 55). As a professional nurse, I am obliged to engage in health promotion, prevention of

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ill-health, promotion of effective and safe environments of working as well as education and
management. I should inspire, reward and respect my patients. Nursing practice is, therefore, a
calling from God.
ii. Self-Assessment and Personal Reflection (SWOT Analysis)
I lack diverse clinical experience in nursing since I am in the initial stages of my career.
However, I believe that I will gain more experience and knowledge as I advance in my nursing
career and transition into professional practice. I believe that building a great career requires high
determination and commitment. One must plan well to achieve success in a nursing career
(Stuart 2014, pp. 73).
Having worked in a nursing home for six months, I have gained skills adult care such as
helping the old patients with oral care, shower, health and safety, prevention and control of
infection as well as communication. I am also able to participate effectively in teamwork.
Furthermore, I have developed a great passion for adult care due to my experience in caring for
the elderly. This has helped me develop sympathy and empathy towards them as well as their
family in entirety. I have learned to respect the views, beliefs, and values of others through
careful listening. In addition to this, I have a strength in enthusiasm to learn as well as being a
fast learner. This prepares me adequately to pursue actions that I believe will assist me to address
my key points of weaknesses. Besides, I have both the physical and emotional strengths
necessary to put up with the demanding nature of the nursing profession.
Notwithstanding my key strengths, I have to work on my current skills and learn new
ones too. Fresh skills including patient care and observation, professionalism and medical
administration (drug administration, side effects and actions, correct dosage and precautions) are

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necessary for professional nursing practice (Alligood 2013, pp. 23). I also need to work on my
communication skills (both oral and written), presentation skills and negotiation skills so that I
can work in a diverse work environment. The following is a summary of my Strengths,
weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT analysis).
Strengths:
 I have gained skills in adult care such
as helping old patients with oral care,
shower, health, and safety.
 Active participation in teamwork.
 I have developed a great passion for
adult care.
 I have high enthusiasm for learning,
and I am a fast learner. I can,
therefore, address my weaknesses
effectively.
 I have both physical and emotional
strengths to endure challenges in the
nursing practice.
Weaknesses:
 Insufficiency in the current skills.
 The urgent need to acquire new skills
in my career as a clinical nurse.
 Poor presentation, communication and
negotiation skills.
Opportunities:
 There is a potential opportunity for
career development in professional
nursing practice.
Threats:
 The threat to loss of job due to
professional misconduct.

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 Opportunity to work in a diverse and
multi-disciplinary environment after
acquiring the necessary skills.
 Inability to advance my education due
to the extremely demanding nursing
profession.
iii. Future Learning Efforts and Commitment to Lifelong Learning
I will use the next two years of my study to bridge the gap in my current skills and
improve those that I already have. I will attend lectures, focus group discussions, workshops and
projects to help me gain fresh skills as well as knowledge. I will hold role placements and plays
to help me gain knowledge through participation and direct observation (Bulman and Schutz
2013, pp. 101). I believe that my ongoing placement will provide me an opportunity to learn and
gain mentorship through doing, corrective actions and feedback from my senior nurses who are
much experienced.
Lifelong learning is a vital expectation for a nurse in their professional nursing career.
After completing my two years of study, I will like to join NHS professionals and work with
them for a minimum of one year. This will acquaint me with more professional experience in the
nursing practice. After that, I aspire to specialize in midwifery.
Below are the three strategies that will support my professional career development and
resilience.
 Collaborative Learning
I will use collaborative learning through empathy, interaction with learning agents, and
belongingness to learn from others who have more professional experience than me. I

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hope that through group work, I will be able to achieve more in my professional career
development (Polit and Beck 2010, pp. 59).
 Researcher Thinking
As a lifelong learner, I aspire to be curiously exploratory in my research through the use
of research-based learning, questioning and continued activity of the brain. I will
appreciate new ideas and will be willing to learn new skills (Johns and Freshwater 2009,
pp. 13).
 Learning Persistence
I will be able to improve my learning persistence by developing my current and acquiring
new skills. I will also evaluate myself and set learning goals to manage my lifelong
learning (Butts and Rich 2013, pp. 46).
The Learning Plan
Learning Goal
(What to
Accomplish)
Objectives (How to
Accomplish the Goal)
Timeline (When to
Accomplish the Goal)
Reflection (How the
Accomplishment of
the Goal Will
Improve My Nursing
practice)
Pursuing an
undergraduate course
in midwifery.
I will focus primarily
on bridging the gap in
my current skills and
improve those that I
I intend to complete
the course in the next
two years.
The course will
widen my experience
and knowledge in
midwifery nursing
skills, such as

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already have.
I will attend lectures,
focus group
discussions,
workshops and
projects to help me
gain fresh skills as
well as knowledge.
providing care to
expectant mothers as
well as their babies.
Gaining knowledge
through participation
and direct
observation.
I will hold role
placements and plays
to help me gain
knowledge through
participation and
direct observation. I
believe that my
ongoing placement
will provide me an
opportunity to learn
and gain mentorship
through doing,
corrective actions and
feedback from my
senior nurses who are
I will join NHS
professionals for a
year, upon
completion of my
postgraduate course
in midwifery.
I believe that my
ongoing placement
will provide me an
opportunity to learn
and gain mentorship
through doing,
corrective actions and
feedback from my
senior nurses who are
much experienced.

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much experienced.
Improving my
learning persistence.
I will improve my
learning persistence
by developing my
current and acquiring
new skills.
I will also evaluate
myself and set
learning goals to
manage my lifelong
learning.
Improving
persistence in
learning will be a
continuous practice at
all times of my
career. There is
therefore no set time
frame for its
execution.
Upon completion of
my postgraduate
course and gaining of
knowledge through
participation and
direct observation, I
will be ready to
specialize in
midwifery as my core
nursing practice.
Persistence in
learning will help me
advance my career
and overcome the
challenges involved.

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References
Alligood, M.R., 2013. Nursing Theory-E-Book: Utilization & Application. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
Bulman, C. and Schutz, S. eds., 2013. Reflective practice in nursing. John Wiley & Sons.
Butts, J.B. and Rich, K.L., 2013. Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice. Jones
& Bartlett Publishers.
Hinchliff, S., Norman, S. and Schober, J., 2008. Nursing Practice and Health Care 5E: A
Foundation Text. CRC Press.
Johns, C. and Freshwater, D. eds., 2009. Transforming nursing through reflective practice. John
Wiley & Sons.
Polit, D.F. and Beck, C.T., 2010. Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for
nursing practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Stuart, G.W., 2014. Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health
Sciences.

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Zaccagnini, M. and White, K., 2010. The doctor of nursing practice essentials. Jones & Bartlett
Publishers.