Assignment: Developing a Professional Practice Portfolio

INSTRUCTIONS:

TASK RATIONALE / AIM:

According to the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice (2017), to provide safe, effective nursing care, nurses must maintain capability for practice through lifelong learning and professional development (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia [NMBA], 2017).

This assessment is designed to provide you with the understanding and skills required to develop a professional practice portfolio which can evidence your capability for practice as a Registered Nurse.

TASK INSTRUCTIONS:

This task comprises three components.

1. Professional practice portfolio use

Professional practice portfolios are asserted to be beneficial to demonstrate the capability for professional nursing practice.

• Describe a professional practice portfolio and the recommended components.

• Present a written argument for the use of a professional practice portfolio to demonstrate professional nursing practice. This argument should demonstrate critical thinking and analysis of the issues; include why portfolios should be used and a discussion of the benefits and challenges of using a professional practice portfolio to demonstrate capability for professional nursing practice.

• Discuss and differentiate between management and leadership competencies and describe how development of these competencies could be evidenced in a professional practice portfolio.

• Support your argument with at least seven scholarly sources from 2011 onwards.

2. Professional standards

Standard 3 "Maintains the capability for practice" (NBMA, 2016) includes seven points. The fourth point states the Registered Nurse (RN) "accepts accountability for decisions, actions, behaviours and responsibilities inherent in their role" (NMBA, 2016).

• Chose a situation from your clinical placement where you were delegated an action or responsibility by your RN clinical practice partner or clinical facilitator and describe this situation. Your description should include five key elements; context of nursing practice and health care delivery (where this occurred), who was involved, what you were delegated, how you enacted the delegated action/responsibility and the outcome of the situation.

• Critically discuss how you demonstrated professional nursing practice, within your student nurse scope of practice, and reflect upon accountability for your decisions, actions, behaviours and responsibilities.

• Support your discussion with at least three scholarly sources from 2011 onwards.

Point of clarification:

• The Registered Nurse standards document describes how the seven standards are interconnected (see Figure 1, NBMA, 2016). Your clinical situation may incorporate a description of you enacting one or more of the standards e.g. assessment (Standard 4), developing a plan (Standard 5), providing nursing care (Standard 6), or evaluating care outcomes (Standard 7).

3. Peak professional nursing organisation

A peak organisation (also known as a ‘peak body') is a term for an advocacy group or trade association (it may be in nursing, or medicine, or any ‘trade'), an association of industries or groups with allied interests. They are established for the purposes of developing standards and processes, or to act on behalf of all members. There are many peak bodies in nursing, ranging from general organisations, such as the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) to specialised organisations such as the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN) or the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA).

• Consider where your professional interests lie and identify and report on a peak professional nursing organisation relevant to your career path.

• This report must include the membership requirements, whether this organisation supports advanced or specialty practice, how this organisation supports and leads professional nursing practice, what professional opportunities are provided through the professional organisation and a justification why it is relevant to your intended career path.

OTHER ELEMENTS:

• You do not need to include an introduction or conclusion to this written assessment

• Use a heading for each of the three components of the assessment

• Provide one reference list at the end of your written assignment which presents all references (from the three components) in alphabetical order.

• State your word count (excluding your reference list) on the Assignment Coversheet.

• Do not exceed 2,000 words. Words over 2,000 will not be read or marked.