Professional Development Plan
Name
Institutional Affiliation

PART I: TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

Transferable Skills Survey Results and Summary Report

Survey Results

Communication 31 out of a maximum of 39 (79%)
Research & Planning 30 out of a maximum of 36 (83%)
Human Relations 36 out of a maximum of 39 (92%) Organization, Management, & Leadership 29 out of a maximum of 36 (81%)
Work Survival 32 out of a maximum of 36 (89%)

Five years in the nursing profession is long enough to enable a professional to gain enough skills and knowledge. During this period, working as a nurse makes an individual to develop humanity, compassion, maturity, understanding, work ethics, respect and a host of desirable traits. All these traits enhance the professional’s attractiveness to clients, organizations and invoke a feeling of satisfaction at heart.
Much has been said about the level of professionalism that nurses should uphold while at work. Numerous professional organizations and bodies have been formed to ensure that nurses acquire and maintain high standards of professionalism. However, the question is; what is the importance of professionalism in nursing? Professionalism ensures that individuals approach their tasks carefully and with dedication to produce quality output. A professional nurse will impress his/her client (patient) by providing a timely and quality service that hastens recovery. A Transferable Skills Survey is recommended to define skills acquired during the entire five years of nursing service. Communication, research, human relations, leadership and work survival are the five common categories of transferable skills that are assessed in a classic survey. Communication is a skill that entails clear expression, transmission and interpretation of knowledge, and ideas, and a score of 79% was attained. Research and planning involves conceptualization of skills and knowledge for future applications, and an 83% score was achieved. Human relations refer to the ability to relate well with people and solve conflicts whenever they arise. This attribute scored 92%. Organization, management and leadership encompass the ability to guide other people to achieve certain team goals and it scored 81%. Work survival is the skill that enables an individual to achieve continuity at work and it attained an 89% score.
Communication
Working as a nurse in the United States can be hectic if one lacks the necessary communication skills. The fact that I have not quit the job yet supports the idea that I have above average skills in communication. I work with a group of ten nurses; therefore, this requires good communication skills while performing the designated duties. Each nurse is assigned a specific task and all the tasks require communication to achieve the overall goal. My assignment is to receive patients in the emergency and casualty section, and direct them to the various wards where other nurses receive and attend to the patients. The five years that I have served as a nursing professional are sufficient to enable me to learn the importance of communicating with my colleagues about the conditions of casualties and recommend the appropriate wards. Therefore, the score of 79 percent in this category is uniform with the skills that I have.
I am currently not in charge of my fellow nurses but I have been able to acquire management skills while acting in the place of the Chief Nurse when she is unavailable. Occasionally, she delegates her duties to me that have made me a better communicator. I will, therefore, use such opportunities to enhance my communication skills in terms of writing memos to my fellow nurses, and informing them of the expected work standards when the chief nurse off-duty.
At the moment, my verbal and editing skills are not adequate enough for a nurse who aspires to escalate to a more senior position in future. I will need to undertake a Verbal Communication-Illumine Training offered at www.illumine.co.uk . The course will help me to develop the verbal skills needed in the professional environment. Apart from that, I will also undertake an Editing Course offered by Jane Fraser Associates at www.janefraser.com/.html. The course includes various editing skills such as vocabulary and writing papers.

Research and Planning
There are times when I am left in charge of other nurses by the chief nurse and I experience little problems such absenteeism by some nurses. However, I usually request to meet all the nurses and inform them about the day’s program. I create make-shift posts for the nurses present at work and everything runs smoothly without major hitches despite the low turn-up. A score of 83 % is thus realistic coupled by planning skills that enable me to organize tasks for my colleagues.
Nurses are integral people in the society because of the kind of work that they do. At times, the number of people seeking treatment is smaller but shoots up incase of an epidemic. Such situations are inevitable; therefore, I plan to use my research and planning skills to handle such difficult tasks. If the chief nurse will keep selecting me to act on her behalf, I will make a program that ill reduce congestion of patients in times of pandemics or disasters like war.
To improve my research and planning skills, I plan to attend two important courses in the course of this year. The Operation Research and Mathematical Planning offered by Dr. Michael Bulmer will help me to build enough skills in planning for programs. The course is available at the University of Queen’s land website at www.uq.edu.au/study at any time of the year. Another course, Research Seminars, is available at www.ersnet.com/researchseminors and runs throughout the year. The seminars are done each month and one chooses the one whose theme fits his or her career. Human Relations
During normal working days, a few conflicts arise among the nurses and patients. Some of the nurses complain that they work more than others yet they receive the same remuneration. To stop such conflicts from ruining relationships between the nurses, I usually act as an ‘informer” to the relevant officers and advice them to solve such conflicts by frequently rotating the nurses within various work stations. Majority of my recommendations work and resolves the conflicts. A score of 92 percent is no surprise because of the role that I play in solving the conflicts. I intend to discover any hindrances to human relations in our organization. Conflicts are inevitable in any organization and it is impossible to avoid them. The only remedy is to be prepared by having a designated program that will help to solve conflicts when they arise. I also intend to woe the chief nurse to invite renowned human resource managers in the region to give talks on conflict resolution.
Most of the methods that I use in conflict resolution are drawn from my experience in the nursing profession. I will relish the chance of attending seminars and doing short courses on conflict resolution. Fred Pryor Seminars are held regularly and conflict management among other topics are taught. The seminars are facilitated by Fred Pryor online at www.pryor.com/site/browsePS.aspx. Skill path Corporate Strategies offers conflict resolution courses on a regular basis at www.skillpath.com/indx.cfm/n-site.
Organization, Management, and Leadership
My responsibility in the hospital is to receive patients at the emergency and casualty section, and take them to various wards that suit their conditions. At times, when the condition of the patients is worse, our team provides first aid before taking them to the ward. I have managed to complete my tasks with great organization, management and leadership and a score of 81 % is consistent with that.
It is difficult to speculate the number of patients that our team receives on a daily basis. There are times when the number is immense thus making our work more cumbersome and demanding. However, the team has made a resolution to ask the chief nurse to add two more nurses to it every time it requests for reinforcements. The additional nurses will ease the pressure that our team faces when the number of patients is larger.
Being a member of any team requires a nurse to maintain high levels of team discipline such as respect, tolerance and support to other team members. As a result, I require a couple of courses on teamwork skills. The website www.uwaterloo.ca/center provides several tutorials on forming and maintaining teams. The website is facilitated by the University of Canada. Somerset College, in collaboration with Plymouth University, also provides online courses on team work at www.somerset.ac.uk/blog/teamwork .
Work Survival
I am well educated in the field of nursing and have a five-year experience in field. As a result, I have been able to discharge my duties efficiently and professionally over this period. I have all the skills necessary for handling patients suffering from whichever condition that they may have. A score of 89 % is thus consistent with my level of skills and knowledge.
To boost my performance in this area, I will revise some of the skills that I leant in college to conform to the current needs of the profession and guarantee survival. For instance, some methods of dressing wounds are now outdated, so, I should encourage the hospital to adopt new procedures.
To increase my chances of work survival, I will also attend seminars and workshops facilitated by the International Council of Nurses. The seminars will be held between September and December, and topics like New Technologies in Nursing among others will be discussed at length. More information about the seminars is available at www.icn.or?/seminors/workshops
PART II: DEFINING FULFILLING WORK
A. What would you like to do? Describe your ideal position. Include the AOEs, skills and competencies you would use in the position, the responsibilities you would have, and the activities in which you would participate. Reread Lesson 3 in order to help you complete this question
As a Senior Maternity Nurse
My area of expertise is Maternity Nursing. In college, I specialized in maternity nursing and I have adequate skills necessary for monitoring the health of the mother and the baby. Just like other senior maternity nurses, I will be responsible for providing prenatal and postnatal care to mothers. I will participate in hospital activities that aim to realize high-quality reproductive health.
B. Who would you serve? Describe your ideal audience. Include the type of organization, industry, and clientele or customer with whom you would be working
In my position as a senior maternity nurse, I will serve both expectant and nursing mothers. My ideal audience will be all the people seeking consultation on reproductive health. I aspire to work in a hospital, whether public or private provided it offers maternity services including prenatal and postnatal care. I am equipped with skills and knowledge suitable for the healthcare industry. The industry’s main client is the patient for which I am trained to handle.
C. Where would you like to work? Describe your ideal work conditions. Include the organization type, work environment, organization culture, geographic locations, and organization size.
I would like to work in a big hospital that offers a wide range of services including maternity. My ideal working conditions are inside an organization that values both the employee and the client. An organization that rewards its employees with good incentives for serving diligently and professionally is my destination. I will be comfortable working in hospitals inside and outside the USA. However, hospitals located in Western European countries are my dream working places
D. What would be your ideal scope of work? Scope of work encompasses the range of activities; you anticipate your ideal job will demand of you, as well as the range of places and people with whom you will interact. Describe how narrow or wide the impact or results of your work would be. Include whether you would work with individuals or groups; locally, regionally, nationwide, and/or globally.
Working as a maternity nurse means that I will interact with women and a few men concerned with the health of their relatives and friends. From the maternity services that I will be charged to lease, I expect to improve the health of mothers and that of children. Furthermore, I will form a team that will fight to reduce infant mortality and the number of mothers that loose their lives during childbirth. As a healthcare worker, I will be part of community and social workers whose aim is to ensure that locals live in a healthy environment
E. What characteristics would your manager and colleagues have? In order for you to perform at your full potential, describe the ideal person you would like to work for and the ideal colleagues to work with
In any case, fate gives me a manger, I expect him to identify and understand my strengths and weaknesses. I also expect my colleagues to understand my strengths and weaknesses, and at the same value teamwork and team spirit. My ideal manager is the one who will utilize my strengths and improve on my weaknesses. My ideal colleagues are those that have high levels of professionalism and respect for fellow professionals.
F. What would you like your compensation and benefits to include? Describe your ideal the yearly salary, bonus, vacation, sick days, medical and dental coverage, plus other benefits that would meet your needs (for example, day care, life insurance, education tuition).
Although compensation and benefits are not my top agendas, a fair package that is consistent with my work is desirable. My ideal salary is $ 100, 000 with a 6-week leave per year. I do not expect to receive any bonus as long as I am given a realistic salary and at least 2 days off per week.
G. As a reality check, access O*NET at http://online.onetcenter.org/ or other similar source that will enable you to search for your ideal job title and likely compensation and benefits for the geographic region in which you wish to live and work. Include the job title and number you searched. How different are your ideal compensation and benefits from those stated in O*NET?
According to http://online.onetcenter.org/, my job title would be a senior nurse earning a basic salary of $80 000 per year. The realistic job locations are inside the United States. The real compensation and benefits are not too far from the ideal ones with the former being higher by only $ 5 000.
PART III: DEVELOPING THE PLAN
A. Ideal Job Statement: Include in your statement what you want to do, why you want to do it, the tasks and activities involved, the geographic or physical location, other people involved, feelings it will generate, its effect on your life, and the difference it can make for others. I desire to work in a big hospital located in Western Europe that offers wide range of services including maternity. Once I reach my dream hospital, I will serve clients from all walks of life to generate a feeling of satisfaction. A health care worker serves anybody at any time, and being choosy is never the option. I want to help mothers to feel the beauty of having children and make them cherish the moments. Working with managers and colleagues that share my dreams is part of my ideal working environment.
B. Goal Statements: List your professional goals in terms that are specific and measurable, including a date for completion and the expected results. Explain how they fit into your life goals.
I. Rising to become the Chief Nurse by 31/12/15
II. Earning Master’s degree by 31/12/15
III. Attend the International Conference for nurses twice in by 31/12/15
IV. Become an active member of trade union of nurses by 31/12/15 The above goals fit into my life’s goal of realizing financial stability and travelling to other parts of the world. Becoming a chief nurse does not only come with responsibilities, but also, an attractive remuneration. The international conferences for nurses are held in different countries each year thus enabling me to travel the world.
I. Short-term goals (one to two years):
a. Attend the International Conference for nurses twice in by 31/12/515
b. Become an active member of trade union of nurses by the end of 31/12/515
II. Long-term goals (three to five years)
a. Rising to become the Chief Nurse by 31/12/55
b. Earning Master’s degree by 31/12/55
C. Professional Niche: Refer to your assigned readings in Lessons 2 and 3. Describe the professional AOEs, competencies, skills, experience, and accomplishments you plan to bundle to create your customized place in the WLP field. Include both the technical and transferable qualifications relevant to the goals that you will be describing. Also include qualifications that you currently lack but plan to obtain and indicate these under short-term goals. As a maternity nurse, there are several AOEs, competencies, skills, experience, and accomplishments that I plan to create. First, I plan to do a master’s degree in Reproductive health by end of 2015 to enable me to become an expert in the field. I also aspire to gain excellent communication skills that will come handy when giving instructions to my juniors. I will also attend nursing workshops and conferences to gain more experience in the field. At the moment, I lack enough qualifications in Maternity medicine but I plan to obtain the knowledge in the next 2 years.
D. Practical Considerations: List all the needed resources, as well as, include all of their realistic limitations you can think of that will affect your strategy for accomplishing your set goals and lessening your chances of delays, setbacks, or failures. Be as specific as possible.
i. Needed Resources
Finances
Time
Reading Materials
Travel Documents
Air Tickets
Recommendation form employers
Professional documents ii. Limitations
Financial Constraints
Limited Time
Unavailability of reading materials
Family and work Demands
Sickness
E. PART IV: ACTION PLAN

Think of each short-term goal as a project you need to manage and complete. For every goal statement that you listed above, lay out in chronological order the requisite steps or activities, including deadline dates. Take into account the practical considerations that you spelled out above as you start this listing.
a. Attend the International Conference for nurses twice in by 31/12/15
Registrations for the Melbourne Conference by 25/08/15
ICN conference in Melbourne, Australia 22-28/11/15
b. Become an active member of a trade union of nurses by the end of 31/12/15
Go through the terms and conditions of various nursing trade unions by 22/08/15
Start the process of registration 5/09/15
Complete Registration 5/11/15