Running head: PERSONAL LEADERSHIP

Personal Leadership Development Plan
Angelica Doloroso
University of Phoenix
Nursing 587/Leadership and Management in Nursing and Healthcare
Marcia Lyles, MSN, EDD, PhD.
January 5, 2006
Personal Leadership Development Plan It has been my experience that health care professionals as well as consumers are becoming more verbal about the inadequacies of the health care system. It is clear that improvement is necessary. There are many roads to improvement of the system, one of which is the proper use of the Advance Nurse Practitioner. With this role properly developed, the Advanced Nurse Practitioner can effect many changes both in and out of the hospital setting. It is for this reason that I chose to advance my practice as a nurse. As an advanced practice clinician, I will be able to make a difference in the community by contributing to the enlargement of the primary care workforce to meet the population’s primary care needs. Within the next five years, I view myself in an advanced practice role, that of a Nurse Practitioner serving the adult population in an outpatient clinical setting. As an advanced practice clinician and leader, my efforts will be directed at ensuring that effective health care is provided to the patients that will result in improved quality and health outcomes. At the local level, I will have a strong influence on my team in my area of clinical practice. This involves identifying the steps required to develop excellence in care for a group of patients such as skilled assessments, research-based interventions and the competencies required. As a leader, I must ensure that training and development programs and learning opportunities are provided and that there is a systematic program for evaluation and mentoring. At the national level, I will be in a position to influence the national agenda to ensure that strategies across the country target the best health outcomes for patients and that resources are focused on these. I should be able to involve the public in shaping the vision, in planning, evaluating and monitoring service provision and lobbying for resources. The knowledge, skills and competencies I will need to obtain to be in a position of an advance clinician is only the beginning to a journey towards a lifelong learning experience. The lessons I have learned as a graduate student at the University of Phoenix have introduced me to my future role as an Advanced Practice Nurse. As a graduate student at the University of North Florida I will obtain the knowledge, skills and competencies in the following domain: Management of Patient Health and Illness in Ambulatory Care Setting: Assess, monitor, coordinate and manage the health status of patients over time Provide health promotion and disease prevention services Diagnose and manage acute and chronic diseases while attending to the illness experience Employ appropriate therapeutic interventions and regimens with attention to safety, cost, invasiveness, simplicity, acceptability and efficacy Monitoring and Ensuring the Quality of Health Care Practices Provide back-up system to ensure safe medical and nursing care Obtain constructive feedback from physicians and other care providers to ensure safe care practices Organizational and Work-role Competencies Obtain specialist care for patients while remaining the primary care provider Building and maintaining a therapeutic team to provide optimum therapy Teaching-Coaching Function of the Advanced Practice Nurse Creating a climate for and establishing a commitment to healing Maximizing the patient’s participation and control in his or her own health/illness care Provide emotional and informational support to patient’s families Assist patient to integrate the implications of their illness and recovery into their lifestyle Effective Management of Rapidly Changing Situations Skilled performance in extreme life-threatening emergencies Identify and manage a patient crisis until assistance is available At the end of each working day, I will derive great satisfaction from knowing that I have made a difference in a person’s life. I will derive great satisfaction from knowing that a diabetic has learned how to achieve control of his blood sugar level; a patient with hypertension has altered his diet in compliance with his medical regimen and that a child with bronchitis now runs and plays with her kid brother because she is well after completing the antibiotic regimen she was prescribed. As a nurse at the bedside, I have always embraced the values of caring, advocacy, commitment, courage, authentic presence and patience. As an advanced practice clinician, I will continue to embrace these important nursing values as I relate to each patient everyday. Caring is the human mode of being, the living embodiment of what it means to be human (Dunphy & Winland-Brown, 2001). Caring is the essence of being human, and nursing is a deeply human relationship; thus, caring is the essence of nursing. While my role as a clinician will often blend with elements of medical practice and generic primary care, the Advanced Practice role is form of nursing and is thus characterized by caring as a way of being, knowing and doing. Advocacy is a way in which nurses have traditionally expressed caring. As an advanced practice clinician, I will have many opportunities for advocacy, in which speaking up for another is an important aspect of the role. Is there any greater act of courage than the commitment to another? Commitment is a sign of that which we value (Dunphy & Winland-Brown, 2001). Choosing to be a member of the discipline and profession of nursing speaks to the deep valuing and lifelong commitment of service to humankind. As an advance practice nurse, I will have the unique opportunity to demonstrate how a commitment to the values of nursing influence the outcomes of care. In addition to the many essential knowledge, skills and competencies, a nurse must be able to create an environment of caring, advocacy and commitment to honor the patient as a person needing a humanized kind of care. The basic knowledge and experience I have gained after working seventeen years at the patient’s bedside have provided me with both the personal and professional strength to proceed to an advanced practice. I sincerely believe that I was born to nurse other people and thus is my purpose in life. I feel that I have the responsibility to further advance these knowledge and skills and acquire the necessary competencies in service of my fellowmen. A personal and professional weakness that I will have to overcome is the feeling of insecurity associated with a major role change. I am well aware of the fact that with a graduate degree, I will be in a position to take on bigger challenges and responsibilities. I will have to overcome the overwhelming sense of responsibility as a proceed with my new role as an Advanced Practice Clinician. The following is an action plan to diagram my objectives and strategies to achieve vision statement within the next five years: Year 2006 Objectives: Obtain pre-requisite knowledge and skills necessary for Advance Nurse Practitioner Program. Strategies: Complete course work for Master of Science in Nursing from University of Phoenix. Re-enroll at the University of North Florida and complete pre-requisite subjects needed for Nurse Practitioner program. Year 2007 Objectives: Apply knowledge and skills obtained to actual clinical setting/situation. Strategies: Partner with University of North Florida clinical instructor/preceptor and apply knowledge and skills and competencies learned from the previous year. Year 2008 Objective: Graduate from Advance Nurse Practitioner Program from the University of North Florida Year 2009 Objectives: Obtain Licensure to practice as an Advanced Clinician in the state of Florida. Obtain working experience and specialize in adult cardiology in an out-patient clinical setting. Strategies: Work with a cardiologist in an out-patient clinical setting. Year 2010 Objectives: With the knowledge, experience, skills and competencies acquired within the last four years, I will be ready and poised to carry out my new role as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in the state of Florida. I will be contributing to the enlargement of the primary care workforce to hopefully meet the population’s primary care needs. With my expertise, I will be able to provide easy to obtain, cost-effective, quality care to the community of Jacksonville Florida.

References
Dunphy, L., & Winland-Brown, J. (2001). Primary Care: The art and science of advanced practice nursing. Philadelphia: PA: F. A. Davis Co..

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