Professional Development Plan Essay

Nursing as a career is about providing quality care while upholding the people involved with dignity. Nurses are thought to offer quality care to all regardless their tribe, race, gender, religion or social status in the society. Nurses are called to serve others. As a nurse I want to be the patient’s advocate and do all within my powers to see to it that I put a smile on the patient’s faces. I will offer a patient centered care and the interests of the patient will come first. (Delaney C. and Piscopo B, 2002) A person’s health is affected by many factors including emotional needs, physical needs, spiritual needs and cultural needs. Addressing these needs will be offering quality care as they all work for the well being of the whole person. I personally value caring for others and this will be easy for me. Â  Nursing entails or comprises of three parties for it to proceed successfully. These are the environment, the patient and health. The patient includes the sick person, his or her family members and the community as a whole. A nurse is responsible in ensuring that quality care is offered. This is only achievable if an all inclusive approach is used. I would incorporate the patient and his family in the decision making so that our relationship with the patient and his family is not dead. Failure to include all parties calls for negative appraisal by the patient or his relatives. The environmental factors include internal and external factors and they comprise the social, economic, political, legal and ethical perspectives. Â  A better understanding of people’s cultural backgrounds and spiritual aspects explains why some regard health the way they do. Patient’s satisfaction levels will be higher if their needs are well addressed. A baccalaureate prepared nurse has developed from a generalist nurse to a complex nurse who exercises leadership in disease prevention or illnesses. He or she is an instrument of change who can invent creativity in ensuring that nursing incorporates emerging health needs an addresses them amicably. Such nurses are leaders and change agents. On completion of the degree course one can advance by taking a masters program. The nurse will be able to better handle prevention of diseases and thus works to see a healthy community. Â  The nurse will provide a patient advocate care where care will be through collaborative interactions between the patient and other care givers. He or she will be an advocate of change and will work tirelessly innovating new concepts or ideas that will improve the current predicaments in health care provision. Such a nurse has the capacity to make clinical judgments in all areas be they industries or hospitals. They are qualified for community health nursing. Options of where such a nurse can pursue include in home care, community based health agencies, nursing homes, government and industries. A baccalaureate nurse provides competent care and is a good teacher who can organize transcultural nursing care for all parties in the community. He or she is able to use critical thinking in providing therapeutic care. Communication with other health care givers should be effective and he ought to be at the fore front in advocating for positive changes in the health system. He will be able to manage care for all parties and provide preventive care measures like educating the masses on the critical issues. He will adopt an all inclusive approach in care giving in meeting the health needs. The nurse should read, well interpret and analyze nursing practices. He should be keen in the society and he should follow the professional growth and hence a member of a nursing organization that offers such supportive background. Such a nurse will offer competent care while respecting beliefs and values of patients. (Archer A, 2000) Role transition from acquisition of the BSN will work to increased skills or attributes like unique skills, know how and nursing expertise through learning. It will equip me with appropriate skills. The BSN will help me advance in my career. My thinking capacity will be replenished through the program and critical thinking in sensitive issues will be possible. I will be able to come up with other measures that ensure that quality community health is attained. I will improve my self awareness which will be an important step in enabling me to produce culturally sensitive care. (Eckhardt et al, 2002) My short term goals will be to improve on the quality of care I offer. Acquisition of necessary skills will equip me in achieving this cause. I also want to better understand myself so that I can better understand others. I would also like to advance my leadership skills and communication skills to better link with parties in the health care facilities. My long term professional goals are to be among the policy makers so that I can better advocate for the patients. I want to be contributing in the designing and implementation of quality community health care programs. I also want to pursue a master’s degree to enhance my skills and this will see me move to becoming a nurse manager in the community health department. To achieve the desired professional development I will graduate from a RN to BSN or Baccalaureate nurse and achieve a master’s degree. I will also join an organization that will work to enriching my skills by providing a conducive environment. Advancing in education is crucial as it translates to acquisition of more skills and thus becoming better qualified to perform tasks at hand. Continued education enables one perpetuates his or expertise thus making people better of in their areas of specialization. Mentorship programs are very crucial for all nurses regardless their gender or area of specialization. Mentors help one to learn the tricks in the career or how to go about challenges that are bound to occur. (Eckhardt et al, 2002) Nursing entails a lot of challenges that see many quit. Male nurses are quite vulnerable in quitting due to the discrimination that they face. Introduction of mentors and support systems will encourage them to persevere despite the challenges. Achieving the set goal will entail a lot of studying and one must be committed to multitask between the studies and the practical lessons for instance the research on the fields. Critical thinking will only be achieved through serious concentration and losing such focus will hinder attainment of the goals. Financial constraints could also threaten attainment of the goals as one need to pay for the masters program which is expensive. Intrapersonal and cultural factors encourage pursue the program while racism poses a threat to the effective establishment of baccalaureate nursing programs. Time frame for the steps on the development plan will entail approximately 10 years. Qualifying as a registered nurse or RN with a baccalaureate will take 4 to 5 years 3 of which will entail attaining diploma education and 2 in acquiring an associate degree. Transition from RN to BSN will take 2 to 3 years and from BSN to MSN will take 2 years. References: Eckhardt A, Anderson M, Campbell E Clarke E., Pavlish L. 2002: A theoretical framework for RN to BSN education. Nursing Education Perspectives. Archer A.2000. Fundamentals of nursing. There really is a Difference: Nurses’ Experiences with Transitioning from RNs to BSNs. Springhouse. Delaney C. and Piscopo B. 2002. Journal of Professional Nursing, Volume 23, Issue 3, Pages 167-173.