Professional Progress Summary

NURS 431 – Transition to Professional Nursing Practice

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to address the student’s attainment of all eight behaviors and/or competencies that are specific outcomes of the program including: critical thinking nursing practice, communication, teaching, research, leadership, professionalism, and culture.

Student Approach to Assignment

This paper summarized the progression made from my sophomore to senior year. I provided specific examples of the eight core competencies demonstrating how I grew in each objective. From this activity I learned how I performed holistic nursing interventions on a daily basis.

Reason for inclusion of the Assignment in the Portfolio

The Professional Progress Summary Paper is a required component for my portfolio that showcases the progression I have made throughout nursing school and shows the attainment of the eight program behaviors: critical thinking, nursing practice, communication, teaching, research, leadership, professionalism, and culture.

Critical Thinking

Uses nursing and other appropriate theories and models to guide professional practice

  • Example: See page 2 – paragraph 3 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 3 – paragraph 2 (Junior)

Uses decision-making skills in making clinical or professional judgments

  • Example: See page 2/3 – paragraph 3 (Sophomore)

Evaluates nursing care outcomes through the acquisition of data and the questioning of inconsistencies

  • Example: See page 4 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Revises actions and goals based on evidence rather than conjecture

  • Example: See page 4 – paragraph 1 (Senior)
  • Example: See page 2/3 – paragraph 4 (Sophomore)

Engages in creative problem solving

  • Example: See page 4 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Nursing Practice

Applies appropriate knowledge of major health problems to guide nursing practice

  • Example: See page 4 – paragraph 2 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 5 – paragraph 2 (Junior)

Performs therapeutic interventions that incorporate principles of quality management and proper safety techniques based upon assessment findings

  • Example: See page 5 – paragraph 2 (Junior)

Implements traditional nursing care practices as appropriate to provide holistic health care to diverse populations across the lifespan

  • Example: See page 6 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Demonstrates an awareness of complementary modalities and their usefulness in promoting health

  • Example: See page 6 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Establishes and/or utilizes outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of care

  • Example: See page 6 – paragraph 2 (Senior)

Communication

Uses therapeutic communication within the nurse-patient relationship

  • Example: See page 7 – paragraph 2 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 8 – paragraph 1 (Junior)

Adapts communication methods to patients with special needs

  • Example: See page 7 – paragraph 1 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 8 – paragraph 2 (Senior)

Expresses oneself and communicates effectively with diverse groups and disciplines using a variety of media in a variety of contexts

  • Example: See page 9 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Accesses and utilizes data and information from a wide range of sources to enhance patient and professional communication

  • Example: See page 8 – paragraph 1 (Junior)

Teaching

Provides teaching to patients and/or professionals about health care procedures and technologies in preparation for and following nursing or medical interventions

  • Example: See page 10 – paragraph 2 & 3 (Junior)

Provides relevant and sensitive health education information and counseling to patients, and families, in a variety of situations and settings.

  • Example: See page 10 – paragraph 1 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 11 – paragraph 1 (Junior)

Uses information technologies and other appropriate methods to communicate health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention across the life span

  • Example: See page 9 – paragraph 2 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 11 – paragraph 1 (Junior)
  • Example: See page 12 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Evaluates the efficacy of health promotion and education modalities for use in a variety of settings with diverse populations

  • Example: See page 10 – paragraph 3 (Junior)
  • Example: See page 11 – paragraph 2 (Senior)

Uses information technologies and other appropriate methods to enhance one’s own knowledge base

  • Example: See page 11 – paragraph 1 (Junior)

Research

Differentiates between descriptive nursing literature and published reports of nursing literature

  • Example: See page 12 – paragraph 3 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 13 – paragraph 1 (Junior)
  • Example: See page 13 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Applies research-based knowledge from nursing as the basis for culturally sensitive practice

  • Example: See page 14 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Applies research-based knowledge from the arts, humanities and sciences to complement nursing practice

  • Example: See page 12 – paragraph 1 (Junior)

Evaluates research that focuses on the efficacy and effectiveness of nursing interventions

  • Example: See page 14 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Leadership

Assumes a leadership role within one’s scope of practice as a designer, manager, and coordinator of health care to meet the special needs of vulnerable populations in a variety of practice settings

  • Example: See page 15 – paragraph 1 (Junior)
  • Example: See page 15 – paragraph 3 (Senior)

Articulates the values of the profession and the role of the nurse as member of the interdisciplinary health care team

  • Example: See page 14 – paragraph 2 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 15 – paragraph 3 (Senior)

Delegates and supervises the nursing care given by others while retaining the accountability for the quality of care given to the patient

  • Example: See page 15 – paragraph 2 (Junior)

Professionalism

Applies an ethical decision-making framework and legal guidelines to clinical situations that incorporate moral concepts, professional ethics, and advocacy for patient well-being and preferences

  • Example: See page 16 – paragraph 1 (Sophomore)

Understands the effect of legal and regulatory processes on nursing practice and health care delivery, as well as limits to one’s own scope of practice

  • Example: See page 18 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Differentiates between general, institutional, and specialty-specific standards of practice to guide nursing interventions

  • Example: See page 17 – paragraph 3 (Junior)

Demonstrates accountability for one’s own professional practice

  • Example: See page 17 – paragraph 2 (Junior)

Advocates for professional standards of practice using organizational and political processes.

  • Example: See page 18 – paragraph 2 (Senior)

Culture

Articulates an understanding of how human behavior is affected by culture, race, religion, gender, lifestyle, and age

  • Example: See page 19 – paragraph 1 (Sophomore)
  • Example: See page 20 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Demonstrates sensitivity to personal and cultural definitions of health, and how these beliefs influence an individual’s reactions to the illness experience and end of life.

  • Example: See page 19 – paragraph 2 (Junior)
  • Example: See page 20 – paragraph 1 (Senior)

Integrates knowledge of cultural diversity in performing nursing interventions

  • Example: See page 20 – paragraph 1 (Senior)