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Personal and Professional Development Plan

Melanie C. Maltese

Department of Nursing, Northwest Nazarene University

NURS 6110: Leadership Perspectives for Advancing the Profession of Nursing

Dr. Kattie Payne

February 8, 2020
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Personal and Professional Development Plan

As a family nurse practitioner, my goal is to elevate the health of individuals and the

community by practicing preventative health care. I want to teach patients of all ages how to care

for themselves using a holistic approach that would have a positive impact on long term health

outcomes. I love my work as a registered nurse but find it challenging to promote health in the

acute care setting where patients typically present with multiple chronic illnesses and frequently

return with the same unresolved health issues. In a clinic or wellness center, I would have the

opportunity to educate and motivate patients to understand how dietary and lifestyle choices

contribute to their health and wellbeing. This approach benefits the individual and family

members and reduces emergency room and hospital admissions. I believe I will make a

significant impact in this field of health care.

In writing this personal/professional development plan, it will provide me with increased

awareness of how I must grow and evolve in order to achieve my goal. This

personal/professional development plan will help me focus my energy on becoming an effective

leader, by assessing my leadership style, strengths and weaknesses, and formulating leadership

goals. I will assess the importance of practicing ethically, practicing self-care, and lifelong

learning. This plan will be a reminder to me of what is important and what I must do to practice

to the highest level as a nurse practitioner.

Personal Leadership Assessment

To grow as a leader, one must first understand what type of leadership style they possess, I found

from the Foundation of Leadership Self-Assessment that I am a transactional leader

(http://www.nursingleadership.org.uk/). Of course, I wanted to be a transformational leader but if

I am being honest with myself, I see myself as a transactional leader even within my family. I am
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always trying to motivate my children with a reward and the challenge I face as the text clearly

states, once the reward is removed the interest of helping the organization or in my case with my

children, the interest in helping mom goes away (Roussel, Thomas & Harris, 2020).

I found my strengths to be personal and professional accountability, clinical practice knowledge

and eagerness to learn and acquire new skills, and my passion for teaching and mentoring. My

areas of improvement are influencing other’s behaviors, community involvement, and

medical/staff relationships, all of which are keeping me from evolving into a transformational

leader. I believe my strengths are essential for an effective leader and that my weaknesses are not

character flaws that will prevent me from achieving my goals but rather are rooted in a lack of

leadership skills and knowledge. As a part-time nurse, my leadership involvement has been

minimal, and my priority was raising my children, but as they are both in grade school, I now

have the opportunity to challenge myself and become involved with my organization. I know I

have the ability to be a good leader, but I do need to educate myself and find opportunities to

explore such leadership, this MSN program will foster that growth. Upon completion of my

MSN, I will be at a place where my career takes priority. I want to gain work experience, life

experience in an outpatient setting. Learn what I love about being an NP and what frustrates me

and use all that knowledge to accomplish my end goal of practicing preventative medicine,

where the focus is not treating the sick but preventing it.

Plan for Ethical Leadership

Standard #7 of Nursing Scope and Practices requires that nurses practice ethically (ANA,

2015). Justice, beneficence, nonmaleficence, accountability, and fidelity are all guiding ethical

principles and these principles are intertwined into all aspects of nursing. Throughout my career,

I have held treating my patients and coworkers ethically in high regard and I will continue to as I
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advance my career. I will practice ethically by treating all my patients fairly no matter my

personal bias. My bias is that I see obesity and a preventable condition that is at the root of many

chronic illnesses. In my practice of preventative medicine, obesity will be the most difficult

obstacle and I will strive to be just and not allow biases or stigmas to drive my care because they

can further negatively impact the health of the individual. “Weight stigma is known to negatively

affect Americans’ physically and psychologically in a variety of manners. It negatively impacts

maladaptive eating behaviors (e.g., binge eating and increased food consumption), physical

activity, weight status (e.g., increased weight gain and less loss), and physiological stress

responses” (Stanton & Smith, 2017, p.496). I will justly care for all my patients while

recognizing the autonomy of my patients and accepting that each one is unique and have their

own opinions, values, and beliefs. I will give my patients the facts and skills to holistically

promote wellness and disease prevention but also know that they ultimately will make their own

decisions.

SMART Goals

My SMART goals aim to help me evolve from a transactional leader into a

transformational leader, improve my leadership skills and address my weaknesses. By achieving

these SMART goals I will not lead with power but instead empower others to creatively and

collaboratively work for goals that benefit both themselves and the organization (Roussel, et al.,

2020).

Goal #1

I will gain leadership skills and increase my interprofessional relationships by joining an

interdisciplinary committee at St. Luke’s and attend at least two meetings in 2020. Being an RN

at a Magnet hospital, I should be encouraged to participate and share my voice in decisions that
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improve the outcomes of the hospital and our patients. This participation will provide me the

opportunity to grow as a leader by collaborating with physicians and other medical professionals,

better understand the healthcare system and contribute to a positive change. I measure my

outcome I meet with my department supervisor and the head of the committee twice a year to

discuss progress, areas for improvement and further involvement.

Goal #2

I will improve my emotional intelligence by practicing meditation to enhance my mindfulness.

The ability to be mindful is directly connected and required for emotional intelligence. I will

practice self-guided meditation for 10 minutes a day to better help me understand my own

emotions, recognize the emotions of others and increase the ability to govern and control my

emotions. Emotional intelligence and mindfulness are valuable characteristics for effective

leaders and I will strive to improve these. I have assessed my mindfulness using the Mindful

Attention Awareness Scale (https://positivepsychology.com/mindful-attention-awareness-scale-

maas/), the average score for undergraduates is 3.85 while Zen meditators score 4.38 (Miller,

2019, http://www.postitivephsycology.com). I scored a 3.93 after 3 months of practicing

meditation I will measure my progress and take the assessment again and will improve by at least

.03 points. To hold myself accountable by discussing with a peer my baseline mindfulness, my

plan to improve my mindfulness and my progress and results.

Goal #3

I will increase my community involvement and networking abilities by attending at least one

nurse practitioner or primary care seminar each year and exchanging contacts with at least two

professionals who can potentially help me develop professionally. These seminars will provide

me the opportunity to learn about current issues in my field and in my community while putting
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me in contact with innovative and successful professionals. To measure the outcome will email

each contact within one week of the seminar to discuss professional collaboration and write

follow-up emails every three months in order to develop and maintain a professional network.

Practicing at Highest Level of Education and Competency

I currently practice to the highest level of education and competency for a registered nurse by

receiving my BSN and I have become an expert in my field by becoming a certified nurse in

maternal and newborn nursing. As I continue my education to acquire an MSN, my

competencies as an APRN will expand as will my role in leadership. I will make the foundation

of my practice one of evidence-based practice, providing my patients with safe, quality care that

is patient-centered. I will have a voice and be engaged in policy and health delivery systems. I

will focus on the recommendations that the IOM has put forth, to practice to the full extent of my

education and training and to become a full partner in redesigning the future of healthcare (IOM,

2011). And finally, I have the responsibility to continue the advancement of leadership skills by

mentoring, modeling and promoting APRN’s role in healthcare (ANA, 2015).

Life-Long Learning

It is my professional duty to practice life-long learning, as education is standard #12 of

professional performance, “The registered nurse seeks knowledge and competence that reflects

current nurse practice and promotes futuristic thinking” (ANA, 2015, p. 5). Continuing education

is essential to develop professionally and remain licensed, I will seek out valuable educational

opportunities that will better serve my practice and my patients. Research has found that

continuing professional development increases the skill mix and it broadens the healthcare team,

providing the opportunity to collaborate with others and provide a better quality of care (Lemma,

McLaren, Boudioni, & Woods, 2007).

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I will attend professional conferences, I have attended the Idaho Perinatal Winter Conference

several times and every time I am blown away by the wealth of knowledge I have acquired, the

amount of work and research that is being done by some of the brightest minds in the industry. I

will specifically seek out conferences that focus on primary care, preventative medicine, and

holistic approaches, these conferences will give me the opportunity to network and collaborate

with other healthcare professionals and fellow nurse practitioners. At these conferences, I will

learn about current research that is being done and how I can apply evidence-based research into

my practice. Pursuing my MSN will provide me abundant opportunities to investigate research

that supports lifelong learning and the personal and professional value continuing education

achieves. Keeping this in mind will allow me to overcome obstacles that may slow or prevent

lifelong learning; including workload, time constraints, and accessibility.

Code of Ethics Provision #5

As a nurse practitioner practicing preventative medicine is crucial that I lead by example for my

patients. Provision 5.2 of the Code of Ethics for Nurses states “Nurses should model the same

health maintenance and health promotion measures that they teach and research, obtain health

care when needed, and avoid taking unnecessary risks to health or safety in the course of their

professional and personal activities (ANA, 2015, p. 19).” Self care is not only vital for personal

health but it is also critical for enhancing leadership, promoting resiliency and retaining staff.

Incorporating yoga and meditation into my practice will show my patients the importance and

dedication I have to holistic health promotion and it will provide my staff with the resiliency and

stress relief necessary to prevent burnout.

Professional Organization Involvement

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As a family nurse practitioner, I will become a member of the American Association of

Nurse Practitioners. Being a member of AANP will give me the voice to advocate for my

profession and expand the role of nurse practitioners., thereby improving the health of our

country (AANP, https://www.aanp.org). Membership to the AANP will also promote lifelong

learning, with access to nurse practitioner journals and continuing education courses. I am also

very interested in becoming involved with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments,

their mission statement resonates with me, it states “Promoting healthy people and healthy

environments by education and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating

evidence-based practice, and influencing policy” (Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments,

2019). This is also a goal of Healthy People 2020, promote health for all through a healthy

environment (Healthy People 2020, 2020). I will become a more well-rounded practitioner and

person by becoming involved in professional organizations that incorporate ideals that I feel

passionately and resonate with health promotion.

Promoting Nursing’s Future

The IOM advocates that “advanced practice registered nurses (APRNS) should practice to

the fullest extent of their education and training” (IOM, 2011, s8), but there are a multitude of

barriers that are preventing this from happening for many nurse practitioners. With the

education, skills, training, and leadership I will acquire from completing my MSN and becoming

a family nurse practitioner, I will make it my mission to decrease these barriers. By being an

active member of the AANP, will advocate for policy change and fight to make healthcare more

accessible by decreasing the restrictions that 2/3 of states have on the scope of practice of

APRNs (Hain, D. & Fleck, L. M., 2014). I will assert myself as a leader and contributor when

working in interdisciplinary teams and promote collaboration with physicians and other members
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of the healthcare team so that the gifts and knowledge of all team members contribute to best

practices and better patient outcomes (Hain, D. & Fleck, L. M., 2014). Finally, I will do my part

to mitigate the effects of the nursing shortage and the shortage of primary care providers by

mentoring and precepting future professionals. I will strive to make a difference in healthcare

and in my practice of preventative medicine by providing better care, promoting better health

and ultimately lowering healthcare costs.

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References

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, 2019. Retrieved from https://envirn.org/

American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Retrieved from https://www.aanp.org

American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements.

Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.

American Nurses Association. (2015). Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. (3rd Ed.).

Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.

Dawes, D. (2015, March 12). The foundation of nursing leadership. Retrieved from

http://www.nursingleadership.org.uk/

Hain, D., & Fleck, L. M. (2014). Barriers to NP Practice that Impact Healthcare

Redesign. Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 19(2), 23-31. Retrieved from

https://search-proquest-com.nnu.idm.oclc.org/docview/1629332646?accountid=36492

Institute of Medicine (IOM). (2011). The future of nursing: Leading the change, advancing

health. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press

Lemma, F., McLaren, S., Boudioni, M., & Woods, L. P. (2007). Training experiences,

educational priorities and career plans of primary care staff. Education for Primary

Care, 18(1), 67–75. https://doi-org.nnu.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/14739879.2007.11493527

Miller, K. (2019, August 28). The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Retrieved from

https://positivepsychology.com/mindful-attention-awareness-scale-maas/

Partin, B. (2007). A New Vision of Advanced Practice Nursing. Nurse Practitioner, 32(7), 9.

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Roussel, L., Thomas, P.L., & Harris, J.L. (Eds.). (2020). Management and Leadership for Nurse

Administrators. (8th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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Stanton, M. V., & Smith, J. A. (2017). Law, Stigma, and Meaning: Implications for Obesity and

HIV Prevention. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 45(4), 492–501. https://doi-

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