Portfolio for Graduate Diploma in Nursing - University Name

This portfolio, prepared by a student, outlines the journey towards a career as a clinical nurse educator in Australia. It begins with an introduction detailing the student's early aspirations and motivations for entering the nursing profession, emphasizing the desire to help others and the influence of a supportive upbringing. The portfolio then defines the importance of portfolios in showcasing individual abilities, experiences, and achievements, highlighting their role in career growth and in distinguishing candidates. It describes different types of portfolios, including student, project, professional, and e-portfolios, with a focus on the professional and e-portfolio formats relevant to the student's application for a graduate diploma in nursing. The portfolio includes a Gibbs reflective cycle, detailing the student's experiences, feelings, and evaluations related to their academic and professional background. Artefacts are presented to support the student's application, and future career development plans are outlined, focusing on the steps required to achieve the goal of becoming a clinical nurse educator in the Australian healthcare system. The student has also included an overview of Benner's stages of clinical competence.

Running head: PORTFOLIO PREPARATION
Portfolio preparation
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Portfolio and its importance:......................................................................................................2
Portfolio design and characteristics:..........................................................................................4
Gibbs reflective cycle of personal experience:..........................................................................5
Benner’s stage of clinical competence:......................................................................................8
Artefacts:....................................................................................................................................9
Future career development:......................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction:
As a child, one of my greatest career dreams has been to establish myself
professionally in the field of offering health and social care. Since childhood, the concept of
helping people had always attracted me immensely in the childhood. I have grown up in a
small town where people helping others had been the foundation of the society I lived in. My
family has always encouraged me to lend a helping hand to everyone whenever it is needed
all my life. I believe this had given me the courage and support to nurture the dream of
turning my habit of helping others into a profession or respect and dignity (Brouwer et al.,
2017). Nursing had attracted me since I understood I wanted to proceed forward in the career
of helping others and saving lives. Clinical nursing educators are the professionals who
combine their clinical expertise and passion for education into a respectful profession in the
health care industry. This profession has attracted me to no end and hence, this portfolio will
help me develop a path for myself to attain this professional role in Australia (Clark, 2017).
This portfolio will showcase and represent my achievements, both academic and
professional, in order to be able to develop myself as a clinical educator in the Australian
health care system, by first pursuing the graduate diploma in nursing, followed by a masters
and then doing a bridging program which will help me get the registration for the post of
clinical nurse educator. I would also like to develop a working practice while pursuing my
degree regarding working in the Australian health care system so that I can devote my very
best to the profession that I am choosing to pursue.
Portfolio and its importance:
A portfolio can be defined as the culmination or collection of the individual abilities,
self-expression, and experiences. The portfolio helps the individual to reflect on their own
learning experience, enhancing the personal awareness with respect to learning needs and

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strategies to address those needs (Cadd, 2016). Portfolio can be acknowledged as providing
an actual evidence of the experiences and achievements gathered through lifetime. There is
mounting evidence that suggests that portfolio is a very useful tool to help the individuals go
forward in the professional field that has been chosen by me. Researchers are of the opinion
that the portfolio has a strong and very important role in facilitating the career growth of an
individual. It has to be mentioned in this context that the portfolio allows the living and
changing collection of the records which helps in reflecting the exact accomplishments,
skills, experiences, and attributes (Kim & Yazdian, 2014).
The importance of a portfolio is extreme in the life of a professional. It has to be
mentioned in this context that each and every professional field in the present day scenario is
becoming very competitive, with the massive rise in the population and rising competition in
the professional fields, each and every candidate has to be one step ahead in convincing the
employers or the university authorities to provide them the chance forsaking all others. The
portfolio in this case works excellently as a potent tool to convince the authorities why the
candidate has the most potential and is the most deserving candidate. Hence, the portfolio
acts as an professional artefact that allows the individual to showcase all the achievements
and experience that he or she has gained to prove themselves as the best candidate for the
opportunity that they are looking to pursue. Along with that, the importance of the portfolio is
also extreme in gaining the personal awareness and ideation regarding their own personal
skillset and competencies so that they can be confident when approaching the employers or
the university authorities (Bagheri & Ghaffari, 2017).
It has to be mentioned here that the portfolio can never take the place of the resume, it
is just the attractive portion of the resume which helps the individual to showcase some of his
or her best talents to get to the position. As mentioned by Cadd (2016), the personal
information that an individual incorporates into the professional portfolio is indicative of the

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abilities that the individual has developed to market him- or herself optimally and
successfully to the employers, industries, colleges and universities. Another very important
fact about the portfolio is that, if prepared accurately and attractively, portfolios can set the
candidate apart from the array of other applications, for both professional and academic
opportunities. It has to be mentioned in this context that the in this case, I am attempting to
pursue graduate diploma in nursing as a first step of the process. With the aim of establishing
myself in the Australian health care industry, the portfolio is an extremely important aspect
for me. Hence, I have attempted to develop most attractive and creative portfolio so that I can
showcase to the authorities that I am a deserving candidate for the diploma that I have applied
for.
Portfolio design and characteristics:
Portfolios can be of various types and each type addresses the differential
requirements that it serves. On a more elaborative note, there are three major types of
portfolios, a student portfolio, professional portfolio and project portfolio. Firstly, the student
portfolio is associated with academic settings (Cadd, 2016). This portfolio design
demonstrates knowledge attained in the given class or throughout the academic career of the
individual. The student portfolio design is extremely helpful for the individuals who are
planning on continuing their educational career beyond the undergraduate or graduate level.
Along with that, the student portfolio are also extremely helpful for the students who want to
pursue higher education in any prestigious Ivy League universities or colleges or any
institution overseas. The second type of portfolio design is the project portfolio, which is both
useful on the academic and professional front as well. This design is not as creative or simple
as the student portfolio and is far more systematic. It showcases the efforts or steps that has
been taken to complete the specific project or any other independent study. This particular
portfolio is the most effective and efficient for the individuals that have applied for any grant

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or are involved in any business dealings to showcase the applicative benefits or success of the
project so that is can be either proceeded forward or replicated in a large scale. The last
portfolio design is the professional portfolio, which is the most effective in the professional
setting. This particular design is associated with demonstrating the skills, background,
accomplishments and experiences of the individual top the employers. This is another very
creative and versatile portfolio design which generally encompasses a large number of
artefacts and attractive elements so that it can catch the attention of the employers
instantaneously in the array of other portfolios. There is also an additional portfolio design
which is gaining rapid popularity which is the online portfolio or the e-portfolio. It is also
useful in both the professional and academic setting (Bagheri & Ghaffari, 2017). The benefits
associated with this particular portfolio design is that it enables the credentials shared by the
candidate to be more easily accessible via the internet. In this case, I will also be taking the
assistance of the e-portfolio design to apply for the diploma of nursing in Australia.
Gibbs reflective cycle of personal experience:
Description:
This portfolio showcases my personal achievements and experiences to the authorities
of the university so that I can be selected for pursuing the diploma in nursing (Smith &
Roberts, 2015). I would like to mention the fact that my career goal is to become a clinical
nurse educator and this diploma is the first step for me to make the dream into a reality. I
would like to mention in this account that I have been a good academic student all my life
and I have always achieved satisfactory marks in my secondary, higher secondary and
Baccalaureate degree of nursing exam. On a more elaborative note, I would like to mention
that I have gotten more than 70% of marks in the Baccalaureate degree of nursing exam
which I believe had been a great achievement for me. Post graduating I had the opportunity to
work in a local clinic as a staff nurse and I have gained a lot of experience for the year that I

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had worked in there. I had learned a variety of applicative practice skills while working in the
clinic such as handling patients, addressing the demands of the patients and their family
members, providing effective care interventions and also collaborating or co-operating with
the rest of the care staff members in the health care facility. Based on my academic records
and the experience that I have had, I can state that I am a deserving candidate for the diploma
that I have applied for.
Feelings:
First and foremost, I would like to state that I am extremely grateful for the
opportunities that I have had which has helped me gain the experience and expertise to apply
for this course. I would like to mention the fact that providing help and supportive assistance
to the sick and ailing had been a passion for me. Hence, this opportunity to take the first step
towards becoming a clinical nurse educator is a euphoric moment for me. I would like to
further mention the fact that although this had been a very ecstatic moment for me, yet the
nervousness and uncertainty is also present in my subconscious. Exploring more, the fear and
uncertainty is not just associated with immigration or leaving my family and loved ones
behind, the fear is also associated with the complexities I will overcome in the acculturation
procedure, the language barrier and accustoming process with the completely different
Australian health care system. However, I believe that with the strength of my academic
records, good English proficiency, and experience for working in a community clinic for a
year, I would be successful in overcoming all hardships.
Evaluation:
The evaluation is the section of the Gibbs reflection cycle which provides the
individual with opportunity to reflect on the good and bad aspects of the entire experience
(Tanaka, Okamoto & Koide, 2018). In this case, I would have to mention I have mostly good

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experiences to highlight. First and foremost, I would like to highlight the fact that my
academic records have been pristine all my life and I have been a dedicated and sincere
student all my life. The dedication and sincerity is a very important aspect of the professional
attributes of a nurse. Furthermore, a clinical nurse educator is an individual who is associated
with being responsible for preparing and mentoring current and future generations of nurses.
Hence, dedication and sincerity is a very important trait that an aspirant nursing profession
must have. Along with that, I have been praised as a hardworking and co-operative employee
with very good leadership competences in my previous workplace. It has to be mentioned in
this context that clinical nurse educators have a pivotal role in strengthening and improving
the nursing workforce, and in many instances1 they have to serve as positive role models to
motivate the employees and provide leadership in order to implement evidence-based
practice in to the clinical scenario. Hence, I believe that I possess both good communication
and leadership styles along with being extremely dedicated, hard-working and sincere
employee as well, which indicates I will be a good nurse.
Analysis:
In terms of analysis of the experience that I have had, I would like to mention that I
possess almost all of the skills that is required to study further to attain the career of
professional clinical nurse educator in the Australian health care industry. Australian health
care industry is one of the most flourishing health care industry with innovative technologies
being implemented to improve practice standards and care quality. There is mounting
evidence that suggests that the Australian health care industry is one of the most flourishing
industries to settle down in as a professional with immense career growth opportunities.
Hence, I believe that my career as a clinical nurse educator will be a turning point in my life,
which is why I require this opportunity desperately. Along with that, I am also a deserving
candidate as I already have had a year- long professional experience of working in a clinic.

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The most important challenge for transitioning nurses is the gap between theoretical and
practical knowledge, fortunately for me my experience has been able to bridge the gap
effectively, setting me apart from many other applicants (Dalton, 2014).
Conclusion and Action plan:
On a concluding note, I can confidently state that I possess all the necessary skills to
develop myself into a competent nurse and then grow as a clinical nurse educator. I would
also like to hereby commit that I would be equally dedicated and hardworking to bring out
my best while studying in Australia and will be an efficient clinical nurse educator when I
start practice in the future. Although, one drawback that I have is that I have no basic idea
about the Australian health care system, the practice principles and legislations. I would
hence conduct extensive research to gather as much knowledge or information as possible to
be able to adjust to the Australian health care system perfectly (Grealish et al., 2018).
Benner’s stage of clinical competence:
The nurses have to go through five interdependent stages of development according to
the stages of clinical competence by Benner. These stages are Novice, Advance beginner,
Competent, Proficient and Expert. The first stage is the novice or the beginner, and this stage
is characterized by absolute lack of experience. The second stage is the advanced beginners
which refers to the individuals that have certain level of experience, and can be able to
provide marginally acceptable performances. The third stage of development is the competent
stage which refers to the individuals that are associated with nursing professional that have
experience of at least 2 to 3 years and has a clear ideation regarding the his or her actions in
terms of long-range goals or plans. The fourth stage of development according to this
framework is the proficient stage which refers to the stage where the nurse can perceive
situations as a whole rather than in terms of segmented parts or aspects, and performance is

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guided by maxims. The last and fifth development stage is the expert performer which is
associated with a job role where an individual as both higher level of experience and skill set
which enables the professional to have the ability rise above the analytic principles namely
rule, guideline and maxim to connect her or his understanding of the situation to an
appropriate action (Monaghan, 2015).
In terms of my career development, I would like to state that I still am in the novice
stage or the beginner stage, even though I have had an experience of one year of working in a
community clinic of my hometown. I would like to mention here that there are various factors
associated with me designating myself as the novice. First and foremost, my experience had
been only of a year which might have given me a few core practice skills, is not enough to
help me carry out care practices like diagnosis and making clinical judgments independently.
Along with that, it also has to be considered here that my knowledge and understanding of
the Australian health care system is negligible and hence even though I know certain core
professional skills, without guidance and supervision I will not be able to complete any care
activity on my own (Huisman‐de Waal et al., 2018). Hence, I believe I fall under the first
stage of the Benner’s stages of clinical competence which is novice and this diploma will
help me proceed forward in my career successfully and effectively.
Artefacts:
Brief Biography:
Introduction of an individual has a potent impact on the first impression that is
developed regarding the individual. Hence to introduce myself, I am Bhawandeep Kaur Brar
and I belong to Punjab by birth. Since the childhood, I have been brought up looking at my
parents and grandparents looking after people that were sick, ailing or vulnerable. My
upbringing has developed a passion in me to spend my life providing care, assistance and

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support to the sick and ailing, which is why I have chosen to pursue a career in nursing. I
have done a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and I also have the experience of working in the
local community clinic for a year after obtaining the degree. My future goal is to become a
clinical nurse educator practicing in Australia.
Hobbies:
I believe hobbies reflect the personal interests and personality traits of an individual. I
have many hobbies, however the most important hobby of mine which takes up most of my
leisure time is reading. Along with that, my other hobbies include writing, dancing, singing
and painting.
Education:
I have finished both my secondary level education and higher secondary level education from
PSEB in my hometown in Punjab.
I have completed my baccalaureate degree in Nursing Science from an esteemed university in
Punjab as well.
I have also completed an internship of 1 year in a local community clinic as a staff nurse.
Vision and mission:
My vision is to develop a society where health care is provided to each and every
individual of the society in terms of need and requirements not race, gender, or socio-
economic status. Along with that, my vision also includes revolutionizing the health care
education system where each and every deserving aspirant nurse has equal opportunity to
pursue a course in health care, and the curriculum is improved in terms of recent needs and
health care priorities.

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My mission is to provide safe and effective health care to each and every individual
devoid of any disparity or discrimination. My second mission is to improve my skills and
knowledge and progress through my career, so that I gain the opportunity to become a
clinical nurse educator in Australia.
Nursing philosophies:
The nursing philosophies that I firmly believe in encompasses equality and respect in
health care, and each individual in the society should be given equal access to health care. I
also believe that cultural diversity should be respected at all circumstances in the health care
environment and patient dignity and identity should be respected at all costs.
Future career development:
My future career development plan consists of becoming a clinical nurse educator
within the span of 5 to 7 years in Australia. I would further like to mention the fact that as I
do not have any clear idea regarding the Australian health care system, the practice standards,
key competencies and legislative policy frameworks, my first step in the career development
will be to pursue the graduate diploma in nursing within the next 2 years. Followed by which
I would be applying for the registration which is a fundamental element of nursing practice in
Australia. For which I would first complete my Master’s degree in nursing right after
graduating from the diploma course. After obtaining both by diploma and Master’s degree
from the university of Australia, I would be quickly enrolling myself in a bridging program
which would be the final step making me eligible for the registration to practice as a nurse in
the Australian health care system. Obtaining the registration will be an extreme achievement
for me as it will take me several steps closer to achieving my dream to practice as a clinical
nurse educator in Australia (Kenny, Reeve & Hall, 2016). It has to be mentioned in this
context that a clinical nurse educator has to possess diverse knowledge and expertise in each