Professional development for nurses
Professional development for nurses
Nursing Professional Development is a specialized nursing activity that facilitates the professional roles, development, and growth of nurses and other healthcare personnel. Continuing Professional Development(CPD) is a term used to describe the learning activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their abilities. CPD enables learning to become conscious and proactive rather than passive and reactive. CPD is an important foundation of long-life learning and assists nurses maintain their competence to practice their skills. Research on CPD states that engaging nurses in CPD planning results in positive learning.
Nursing personnel constitute the largest group in healthcare today. Healthcare organizations understand the importance of retaining competent and confident nurses, who can adapt and meet the rising demands of providing safe and effective care for complicated patients.
The nursing workforce experiences an inflow of millennials and a large exit of retiring baby caregivers, leading to loss of invaluable expertise and staff shortage.
Importance of Professional Development for Nurses
Well-performing organizations recognize the importance of professional development strategies for new nurses.
It promotes improvement for nurses such as patient care and population health.
It recognizes the impact of nurse competency and patient satisfaction and results.
Professional development supports nurses during pandemics by providing chances to learn about managing new diseases and patients in critical condition.
It is therefore important for organizations to prioritize professional development across every nurse’s different career stages. It is wise to consult professional development organizations as a way to accurately have the results of the development plan.
Components of nursing professional development.
1) Dedicated professional development resources for nurses- to have an organized ongoing professional development to be able to allocate proper resources for long-life learning. This is done by meeting the professional development requirements of nursing staff. An individual serving as a Professional Development Practitioner impacts an organization’s goals by ensuring staff is providing safe and effective care to patients. The role of the professional development practitioner is engaging nursing leaders across the organizations to embrace clinical results.
2) Customized professional development plan for nurses throughout the career lifespan- Nursing professional goals differ during the career lifespan.
Nursing professional development leaders have a difficult task to meet the major requirements of the organization by preparing new nurses to get ready for safe and independent practice while enhancing competency for all staff nurses. All nursing career stages matter a lot and if the experience of a newly hired nurse feels unsupported a turnover can be considered.
3) An effective measurement system process in place to identify areas of improvement for nurses-
Healthcare organizations can promote a high level of clinical personnel by providing learning opportunities to enforce knowledge and skills for professional growth. Engaging nurses in their personal and professional growth is a unique plan that matches the needs of a professional development organization and positively impacts the patient as well. Most organizations offer learning opportunities to their clinical personnel. It is therefore important to ensure nurses including newly hired nurses are aware of these opportunities.
There are several ways that organizations can meet the continuum learning needs of their clinical personnel:
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Encourage participation in local, national, and international nurse associations.
- Providing indoor continuing education opportunities.
- Offer access and review for targeted literature.
Job satisfaction for mid to today career nurses will be influenced by nursing professional development plans that include:
- Opportunities to be recognized for their experience and achievements.
- Leadership training and managerial courses.
- Ability to choose their continuing education opportunities.
- Retirement planning.
