Nursing Professional Portfolio: Practice Reflection and Learning Plan

This assignment presents a nursing student's professional portfolio, adhering to the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) format. The assignment begins with a practice reflection based on the student's experience in a long-term care facility, detailing their role, strengths, and areas for improvement. Thi...Read More

Assignment # 3: Professional Portfolio (5%)
Must use the CNO format and need to answer all
questions. See the format in second page.
Professional Portfolio assignment includes the following components (QA items are
linked to their webpages on the CNO website):
First make a practice reflection based on your work place( Long Term Care, patient
population 534). Use the CNO format given
Then based on your practice reflection make a learning plan (use the CNO format
given)
● Developing SMART Learning goals from the CNO
http://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/qa/2019/smart-goals-2019.pdf
● Learning Plan Form: See attached
● Practice Reflection worksheet: See attached
Students are expected to use the CNO Quality Assurance documents/resources
(http://www.cno.org/en/myqa/) to develop complete this assignment.

Practice Reflection Worksheet for 2019 Date printed:
Describe an experience, event or change in your practice or
practice setting that was significant to you.
I am currently employed at a 544 bedded long term facility, as a
practical nurse. Once I had been posted as a registered practical nurse
at a secured behavioural unit, where I had to look after 32 clients
during my shift of 12 hours. My duties included medication
management, supervising activities of daily living (ADLs) and patient
documentation. I did not have prior information about the patient’s
medical history, and faced significant challenge while searching about
their medications and managing their documents. Furthermore,
looking after all 32 patients was time consuming and exhausting.
What happened?
What was your role?
Based on what you described above, what were your strengths and

what were your areas for improvement?
I was able to demonstrate compassion and empathy towards the
patients, while addressing their physical needs. I tried to maintain
honesty, while establishing a sense of trustworthiness amid the
patients and their family members. Moreover, I took efforts to pay
attention to all details and was careful enough not to make any
medication errors or skip treatment steps that could be detrimental to
the patients.
However, some areas where I could have done better were namely,
time management, application of critical thinking skills into my
nursing practice, and identification of the specific needs of my clients.
Areas for improvement
will inform your learning
needs.

What input have you received from your peers about your
practice?
My peers mentioned that in order to be an essential successful nurse, it
is imperative for all professionals to possess both people and
communication skills. While working as a nursing professional, I will
have to engage in effective interaction with different patients and
healthcare personnel. Owing to this, I am expected to speak
effectively. I was advised by my peers to engage in group discussions,
which would facilitate knowledge sharing. Moreover, they also asked
me to enhance my time management skills and foster collaboration
with interdisciplinary team members.
Consider asking:
“Can you give an
example of what my
learning needs might
be?”
Consider any feedback
you have received from
clients.
Based on your own reflection and the input you received, what are
your learning needs?
An analysis of the incident and the feedback I received helped me
identify my learning needs that are given below:
 Time management
What do you need to
learn to improve your
practice?

 Confidence building
 Applying critical thinking to practice
Which elements relate to your learning needs?
Some elements that are associated to my learning needs are concept, knowledge, motivational
culture, values, skills and attitude.
Learning Plan for 2019 Date printed:
Current practice setting: Long Term Care Client Population: 534
My learning needs

What learning needs did I identify through Practice Reflection? Don’t
forget to review your learning needs with a colleague to get their input.
The learning needs that I identified from my practice reflection are as
follows:
 Time management
 Confidence building
 Applying critical thinking to practice
To identify your learning
needs reflect on your
practice, changes to
legislation and your
practice setting. The areas
where you can improve
your learning needs. Need
help to reflect? Use the
College’s Practice
Reflection worksheet.
Learning Goal #1
My goal must be based on my learning and be specific and
measurable.
I will improve my time management skills, in relation to record
keeping, medication, and delivering care by the end of March.
After you have created
your learning goal,
review and choose a
practice document
(practice standard
guideline) that relates to
your goal. Choose a

The practice document relevant to this learning goal is titled
‘Independent Practice’ and can be accessed from the link:
http://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/prac/41011_fsindepprac.pdf
practice document
Goal #1: Activities and Timeframes
How am I going to achieve my goal? Identify a minimum of three (3) specific learning
activities with timeframes and timelines.
1. To prepare a dynamic list of tasks within a week and continue maintaining it. This task list
will help me capture the activities and tasks that I have to complete in a day and would
require regular update. I will also ensure that the list provides me an overview of the tasks
that are important and urgent, thereby prioritising the jobs that I am supposed to perform.
2. To enroll at an effective time management workshop within the next month. This workshop
will help in setting and accomplishing goals, while facilitating establishment of priorities
and realistic boundaries. The workshop will also break procrastination habits.
3. To learn the use of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) within March. This mobile device
will offer information storage and encoding properties and help in maintaining a calendar
accordingly.

Learning Goal #2
My goal must be based on my learning and be specific and
measurable.
I will become proactive and use my clinical expertise and knowledge,
in order to build my confidence within three months. The practice
document relevant to this learning goal is titled ‘Practice Guideline-
Working in different roles’. The document identifies the accountability
that nurses have for their practice and conduct and also emphasises on
the fact that the primary responsibility of a nurse is not to the
employers, but to the patients.
This practice document can be accessed from the link given below:
http://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/prac/45027_fsdiffroles.pdf
After you have created
your learning goal,
review and choose a
practice document
(practice standard
guideline) that relates to
your goal. Choose a
practice document

Goal #2: Activities and timeframes
How am I going to achieve my goal? Identify a minimum of three specific learning activities
with timeframes and timelines.
1. To stop comparing myself from my peers and interdisciplinary healthcare members, with
immediate effect. Instead of inculcating fear by associating own work with that of others, I
intend to be grateful and self-assured in the abilities I already possess.
2. To attend skills training workshops for practical nurses within the next three months. This
workshop will increase confidence in different domains of nursing practice like treatment
room setup, anesthesia, adequate lighting, instrumentation, sterilization, and procedural
assistance.
3. To engage in effective communication with others with immediate effect. Not only will this
productive relationship increase confidence, but will also help to speak up and resolve
patient problems.
Learning Goal #3. (applicable to NPs only)
My goal must be based on my learning needs and be specific and
measurable.
I intend to enhance my critical thinking skills for improving my

nursing practice, by the end of April. The practice document that will
prove beneficial to this learning need is titled ‘RN and RPN Practice:
The Client, the Nurse and the Environment’. This document
recognizes the importance of collaborative relationship in nursing
profession and also elaborates that in order to make best care
decisions, it is necessary to focus on three core factors that are namely,
the nurse, the client, and the environment. The document can be
accessed from the link given below:
http://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/prac/41062.pdf
Goal #3: Activities and timeframes
How am I going to achieve my goal? Identify a minimum of three specific learning activities
with timeframes and timelines.
1. To successfully complete a decision-making and problem solving course within April. This
will help in obtaining information about the encountered problems and recommend best care
solutions.
2. To gain a sound understand of the Code of Ethics for Canadian nurses within the next two

months. This will help in delivering care while remaining bound to ethical conduct.
3. To learn evidence-based practice within May. This will help in implementation of
interventions that are most appropriate to each patient.

How do my learning goals support my commitment to continuing
competency?
How does my learning relate to the competencies of my practice?
All nurses are expected to have time management skills, confidence,
self-assurance, while engaging in critical thinking during delivery of
services. The learning goals identified above will therefore ensure
success in the nursing profession. However, all strategies need to be
maintained all year long, in order to work with several patients in a
challenging environment, while steering away from encounters.
Continue to maintain
and update your learning
Plan throughout the
year.
Evaluation of changes to my practice
Did I achieve my learning goals? What did I learn? What impact has
my learning plan had on my practice?
I did accomplish the learning goals identified in the previous sections.
The learning goals had been printed out for personal record and this
You can print your
learning plans for your
records.

helped me monitor my progress at regular intervals. I learnt that there
might be times when while adorning the role of a nursing professional,
we might feel overwhelmed with pressure. This can be particularly
true during workload or staff shortage. However, completion of the
activities helped me to handle extreme workload and also improved
my critical thinking and communication skills.