Preparing for Professional Transitions

In the 21st century, nurse executives face many challenges, including navigating the interdisciplinary healthcare environment, addressing the nursing shortage, adopting ever-evolving technology, and using complex business and financial models. To best address these challenges, nurse executives need to develop a range of competencies—from communication and relationship management to business acumen.

Considering your professional and educational experiences, where are your strengths and where are your areas for improvement? How can you advance your skills to achieve your professional aspirations?

To prepare:

Think about the professional role changes you have undergone or that you may undertake following completion of this MSN program.

Review the information related to professional development and role change in the Learning Resources, and conduct additional research as necessary to address any questions or concerns you may have.

Consider the following questions:

What types of professional positions interest you? Are they significantly different from the types of positions you have held in the past? If so, how?

What challenges are you likely to encounter as you transition into a new role?

What resources could help you to manage this change? Consider your inner resources (e.g., drawing on previous experiences, stress management), resources available to you through your relationships with others, and institutional supports.

Think of two or three objectives that could help guide your professional development during your practicum. These objectives, referred to as your practicum professional development objectives, must be:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Results focused

Time focused

Reflective of the higher order domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy (i.e., Application level and above)

Post an explanation of your professional aspirations and how you intend to use the practicum experience to promote career change and/or enhance your performance. Describe at least one objective to facilitate your professional growth, and explain the steps you could take to achieve the objective(s) during your practicum experience. Support your response with examples from the literature.

Learning Resources

Required Readings

American Organization for Nursing Leadership. (2015). Nurse executive competencies. https://www.aonl.org/system/files/media/file/2019/06/nec.pdf

Armstrong, P. (n.d.). Bloom’s taxonomy. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

Bergren, D. (2020, January 22). Setting SMART goals for career success. https://waldencareerservices.com/2020/01/22/setting-smart-goals-for-career-success/

Kiper, V. (2019). Navigating a role transition: How to use your nursing leadership skills in a new career chapter. Nursing Management, 50(9), 49–52. https://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000579036.86223.bb

Lankshear, S., Kerr, M. S., Laschinger, H. K. S., & Wong, C. A. (2013). Professional practice leadership roles: The role of organizational power and personal influence in creating a professional practice environment for nurses. Health Care Management Review, 38(4), 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1097/HMR.0b013e31826fd517

Nix, M. (2017). Nurse executive professional development. Nursing Management, 48(12), 52–53. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000526920.69840.a3

University of North Carolina Charlotte. (2004). Writing objectives using Bloom’s taxonomy. https://teaching.uncc.edu/sites/teaching.uncc.edu/files/media/files/file/GoalsAndObjectives/BloomWritingObjectives.pdf

University of North Carolina Wilmington. (n.d.). Writing SMART learning objectives. Retrieved from https://uncw.edu/career/documents/writingsmartlearningobjectives.pdf