Running head: PROFESSIONAL PLAN

Professional Development Plan

James Kallickal
Walden University
NURS 6001, Foundations of Graduate Study
August 10, 2016

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Professional Development Plan

Introduction
As I begin my journey towards my graduate degree, a professional development plan is
necessary to outline my educational and professional background. It is also important to
understand the various personal and professional goals I hope to achieve during the course of this
journey. The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with a short background about me as a
professional and to provide the reader with a glimpse of the professional and course goal I hope
to achieve by the end of this program.
Education and Professional Background
My name is James Kallickal and I want to tell you a little bit about my life. I currently
live in Houston, Texas. I have been here for the last 15 years, originally from a beautiful place in
India called Kerala. I am a BSN with so far 3 years of experience in a cardiac IMU floor at
Memorial Hermann Southwest in Houston Texas. I always knew that nursing was the career path
for me. I completed my bachelor's degree from one of the finest colleges in India Manipal
University in 2012. After the completion of my BSN, I knew I needed to get so experience as a
registered nurse before I continued my passion to pursue higher education. I understood that
work experience will help me grow as a person and professional. Working in the IMU floor with
a BLS certification, I have developed a wide range of skills and learned to be efficient in work as
well as understood the value of characteristics like patience, and teamwork. Three years later,
after I have had experiences as a charge nurse, and team leader and even a preceptor for newly
hired nurses I now feel like I am ready to take on my next challenge and pursue this master's
degree. I feel like I am a people person and like to deal with people and work in a team, so I
believe I would have fun working in the administration level,thus I want to get my master's in
leadership and management.
2

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Professional Goals
I will just state my professional goal at the beginning, My immediate professional goal is
to complete what I set out to do that is to obtain my Master's Degree in Nursing focusing on
leadership and management. Walden University has provided me with a great platform to
achieve this goal of mine. Walden University vision and mission statement resonate my personal
goal as a working professional, I aim to further my education so that I can positively change the
society that I am part of to help the society in whatever way I can.
As a working professional I feel that I have a duty to give my 100% to the society that I
live in. I believe that we as professionals have a responsibility to our society, to help improve the
world around us for the future generations. I know that as a nurse leader I will be better equipped
to make a change in my society than my current professional level. I feel that I will have a
greater influence in making a change that will be for the betterment of the society. I understand
that being part of your society is a requirement to becoming a leader that commands influence.
Throughout my life I have been very involved in my society. I am an active member at the local
church and serve in different leadership roles in my community. I want to set a positive example
for the nursing staff that will be my co-workers and my teammates in the unit. I want them to
feel that I am one that can lead them in a satisfying way. I am excited and looking forward to
take on this new challenge. This will be a professional goal that will improve me as a person as
well as a professional.
Course Outcomes
Although I am decent with computers I was apprehensive at first to go back to school
while working at the same time. This course Foundations of Graduate Study has afforded me the
confidence I need to continue to pursue my educational goals. This course has taught me tools to

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

help manage my time more proficiently. That itself was on of the immediate outcomes of this
class. I was able to find the necessary resources and to understand a time saving way to look
through the website . One other this I learned as an outcome of this course was the better
understanding of the integrity of the work you publish. The importance of referencing your
information and giving credit to the references. Even though I understand that I am still not
perfect at citing the sources, this course has helped me tremendously. As I move forward with
this graduate course I understand that I have to develop new strategies for managing my time and
to take use of all the resources and technology available to students at Walden University. One of
the main resources that I will be continuously using for a positive course outcome will be the
writing center tool provided to the students. I have been familiar with the APA formatting and
citations for a while, but I still feel like I need to learn a lot more, This is the reason why I will be
taking advantage of that resource
Practicum
I understand that this part of the course is a very important aspect of this Master's
program, it is important to plan for this part of the program early because it will require a lot of
time and effort. It is also important to find a local leader to serve as a resource person and
mentor. I plan to ask my clinical manager at Memorial Hermann to be by guide when I begin to
prepare for my practicum exercise. She is a successful leader in the hospital setting, who has
exceptional poise and intelligence in handling pressure situations.
As a part of my practicum I would like to develop an education program for the clinical
nurses about the importance of educating the general population about the importance of healthy
lifestyle. Develop a program that helps the nurses understand what to teach the people and how
to convey the message to people in our society, maybe even help improve the new grad

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

orientation program that is already in place to help the newly graduated nurses better perform in
the clinical setting.

Summary
In conclusion, I feel ready to take on this new road that ends with the achievement of my
next educational goal that is a Master of Nursing Degree in Leadership and Management. I
believe that Walden University resources will prepare me and guide me to become a successful
gradate student. I look forward to the challenges I face as I take on this new adventure. I am
excited to seek assistance from the exceptional support systems and resources available at
Walden University such as the writing center to help with the proper drafting and submission of
my papers. As each an every student attending this university, I am also aiming for my finishing
date which is in 18 months, when I believe I will have completed my MSN degree and would be
better equipped to make a difference in my society as a nursing leader.