Professional Summary
Instructions:
Professional Summary
This is a summary of your professional growth and achievements during your BSN program. This is a summary of who you are as a professional. The other documents in the portfolio are there to support and validate what you will say about who you are and what you’ve achieved. So it is important throughout this summary to refer the reader to specific artifacts (documents) in your portfolio as “evidence” of what you are saying. Name them. An artifact can be anything – an abstract, a task, your resume, a certificate, the Professional Reference Questionnaire. · It is often easiest to write this summary after you have written the other abstracts. · Use headings to separate items a through f. · Don’t worry about going over 2 pages. Most students take 3-4 pages because item B2d will take a lot of space if you list or bullet the outcomes, which we recommend. B.2.a. Refer the reader to at least two specific artifacts (documents) in your portfolio that represent you as a learner and also that show you in a professional nurse role. B.2.b. State at least two professional strengths that you have. To identify these, think about how you provide care. What is it that you do really well as a nurse? Refer the reader to specific documents in your portfolio that showcase those strengths, or describe how those strengths were needed to accomplish that work. B.2.c.-B.2.c.iii. what are at least two challenges you experienced in getting through the BSN program? Students have described anything from not having good computer skills to personal life challenges, to time management or difficulty with specific courses. What were yours? For each challenge you mention, describe how you overcame it to keep making progress in your program. B.2.d. Bullet or number the nine BSN program outcomes found in the Nursing Conceptual Model
1. Include an executive summary in which you do the following (suggested length of 2-4 pages):
a. Explain how the courses you take represent you as a learner and a healthcare professional.
b. Discuss how your portfolio represents your professional strengths.
c. Discuss any challenges you encountered during the progression of your program.
i. Explain how you overcame these challenges.
d. Explain how your coursework helped you meet each of the nine nursing program outcomes. The nine outcomes are mentioned below. Briefly explain each using few sentences in bulledted points.
The WGU Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Program Graduate Will: The WGU Master’s Degree in Nursing Program Graduate Will:
1. Communicate effectively in oral, written, interpersonal and electronic modes..
2. Use clinical reasoning to provide safe, quality, nursing care based on the best available evidence and ethical principles.
3. Assume accountability for providing and ensuring safe, efficient, quality care congruent with ethical, professional and legal standards..
4. Synthesize theoretical, clinical and empirical knowledge from nursing, scientific, community and humanistic disciplines within the practice of nursing. Synthesizes theoretical and empirical knowledge drawing from the arts and sciences to understand the human experience as a social advocate, and professional nurse. .
5. Provide compassionate, patient-centered care to individuals, families, and communities from a variety of cultures across the lifespan.
6. Apply leadership and education skills to engage others in creating and promoting a healing environment for continued self-improvement..
7. Engage in inter-professional collaboration to improve safety and quality of healthcare.
8. Incorporate knowledge of genomics and genethics into the care of patients, families and communities.
9. Use information technology to communicate, mitigate error and make decisions related to the provision of patient care and support incorporation of nursing knowledge in the development of patient care technology.
e. Analyze how you fulfilled the following roles during your program:
i. scientist
ii. detective
iii. manager of the healing environment
f. Discuss how your skills and knowledge have evolved or progressed in terms of personal growth and learning.
Evidence-Based Practice D. Evidence-Based Practice This area contains one 2-part abstract. The point of this abstract is for you to show that you have learned the major concepts of EBP and describe how you are applying them in your personal professional practice setting. Refer to your Evidence-Based Practice course materials and to your Organizational Systems and Quality Leadership materials as needed. D.1.a – In this first part of the abstract you describe how you are applying those three bulleted concepts to your personal practice. For example, when you look for evidence to improve your practice: · How do you assess the relevance and believability of the data you find? · How do you know when research is needed to improve something or when a quality improvement process is needed? · How do you apply research to quality improvement efforts? When you use research in clinical practice, how do you know if/when primary or secondary research should be used? Address all three bullet points. (In rubric D1a, these are the “given points” you are evaluated on). D.1.b –In the second part of the abstract, you describe how using the above concepts has allowed you to make actual improvements in your practice. · Give examples from your own practice. These examples can be related to tasks done as part of your BSN program (or can be examples of other work done in your practice where you applied what you learned to make improvements. · Try to give at least 2 examples where you initiated an improvement or participated in making an improvement using EBP concepts – this could be anything from raising a practice question, to revising a guideline, to educate your peers on some best practices for your patient population.
1. Include a summary of your Evidence-Based Practice and Applied Nursing Research course (suggested length of 1 page) in which you do the following:
a. Discuss how you are able to evaluate current primary research and apply the concepts to your nursing practice. Include the following in your discussion:
• relevancy and believability of data
• differences between quality improvement and research (places and uses of each)
• differences between primary and secondary research and resources and the implications of each in clinical practice
b. Reflect on how your experience in this course helped you achieve excellence in evidence-based practice.
E. Applied Leadership
1. Include an abstract of your Learning Leadership Experience task (suggested length of one paragraph to one page) in which you do the following:
a. Discuss the importance of professional collaboration for effective nursing leadership.
Solution.
Professional Summary
My BSN program has developed me both as a learner and a professional nurse. Through the program, I have been able to develop proper research skills that are of great importance to my personal and professional development. On the other hand, the skills imparted in me throughout the courses are important in my professional practice as they have allowed me to define myself as a nurse. I have gained skills in patient care and in general professional conduct including teamwork and proper interpersonal communication. My resume reflects the various skills that I have gained in leadership through leadership training, interpersonal communication, and nursing care. I am able to effectively communicate with other individuals, skills that will be of great importance in the health care environment considering the need to maintain a proper relationship with both the patients and the other health care providers on the health care delivery team. On the other hand, my placement allowed me to gain more insight into the practicability of nursing, exposing me to the health care environment and the various challenges that come with health care. Through my placement, I was able to develop strategic thinking skills, patient centered care skills, and improved on my communication skills, all of which will be of great importance in my future practice.
During the BSN program, I have faced various challenges, most important of which were the lack of financial support and employing current technology in online research. To overcome the challenge of lack of financial support, I looked for part time employment and was able take care of my financial needs. On the other hand, I took computer classes that allowed me to gain skills that allowed me to effectively navigate the internet and effectively use the various computer packages at my disposal including the Microsoft Office package. My coursework has also allowed me to effectively meet the WGU Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Program outcomes. Through training in interpersonal communication skills and the use different technology to communicate in the health care environment, I am able to meet the outcome of effective oral, interpersonal, written, and electronic communication. The course on evidence-based research has also allowed me to meet the second outcome as I am able to apply clinical evidence in strategic reasoning, in view of providing the patient with quality, ethical, and safe care. Through my coursework, my mindset has been transformed to adopt an understanding of my role as the patient’s advocate, an aspect that has allowed me to meet the third outcome of accountability in providing the patients efficient, quality, and safe care, as per the legal standards.
To fulfill the fourth outcome, the BSN course coursework has also exposed me to an understanding of nursing care as a holistic process that involves an understanding of not only the clinical factors, but also the social, economic and cultural factors that may affect the health of an individual. The course coverage of cross-cultural practice has allowed me to understand the significance and sensitive nature of cultural diversity, and the various considerations that one has to make when working across different cultures in order to provide the patients with quality patient-oriented care, while remaining cognizant of their cultural expectations. I have also gained skills in patient education, which are important in facilitating self-care among patients by creating awareness of the positive health behavior and promoting change. As a nurse, I have gained skills in teamwork, which are important in facilitating inter-professional collaboration in the health care environment, considering the importance of the role of each of the professionals on a health care delivery team and the importance of coordinating professional efforts towards facilitating quality patient care. The study of genetics and genomic has also allowed me to understand the importance of genetic screening as a preventive measure in promoting quality patient care and allowing the patients to make informed decisions. My knowledge in computer skills coupled with training in healthcare information systems have allowed me to develop competence in the application of information technology to make decisions, eradicate medical error, and communicate effectively in patient care.
Throughout my BSN program, I have been able to fulfill the role of a scientist through engaging in primary research to test the various theoretical hypotheses that I develop. Through this, I have been able to gather date and use it to prove or develop concepts. On the other hand, my placement allowed me to fulfill the role of a detective as I was able to interact with a practical healthcare environment and to experience the various factors that affect nursing practice and health care at large. As a manager of the healing environment, I have been able to identify a problem in the health care environment through research, and hence made recommendations that, if implemented, could eradicate the problem. Apart from the general nursing knowledge and skills, I have experienced personal growth in view of other skills such as time management, cultural competence, research and writing skills, cost-benefit analysis skills, and listening skills. With the increasing call for evidence-based care, I have been able to develop skills that allow me to review the credibility of researchers, and the reliability and validity of the research tools in order to assess the believability of the data. I have also gained a clear understanding of research as any investigation that is aimed at establishing facts and quality improvement as any efforts put in place to improve value. Research is applicable in investigating the various factors that underlie disease conditions and patient care. On the other hand, quality improvement is applied in making patient experience better and facilitating patient satisfaction. Through assignments and term papers, I have been able to gain skills in research and establishing of evidence that can be used in nursing practice, thus increasing my skills in evidence-based care. Lastly, I have been able to understand the importance of each profession in the health care environment and the need to merge efforts towards promoting quality care. Professional collaboration thus allows nurses to step up into leadership positions, where they not only contribute to the care process, but coordinate the efforts of other health care professionals.
