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Personal Strengths:
Strong pa+ent advocate
Detail oriented
Safety
Organiza+on
Time management
Teaching/communica+on with pa+ents/family members

Opportuni3es for Improvement:
Limited experience with direct pa+ent care: As a new graduate nurse, my working
experience as a nurse is limited.
Knowledge base: As a new graduate nurse, my working knowledge base is limited.
Eciency related to clustering care

Present:
Graduate
Pass the NCLEX
Obtain a new graduate RN posi+on in the Phoenix Metro area

Short-term goals (0-2 years):
Obtain a posi+on as a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse
Develop prociency in core nursing tasks
ASend con+nuing educa+on courses
Iden+fy resources and mentors that can aid in my professional development
Develop a personal self-care plan to aid in stress management, and prevent
burnout
Keep a professional development plan journal to track professional and personal
growth

Long-term goals (3-5 years):
Begin to develop exper+se as a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse
Advance my clinical nursing prac+ce through u+liza+on of up-to-date best-prac+ce
techniques
Con+nue to u+lize a personal self-care plan
Con+nue to keep a professional development plan journal

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Personal Strengths:
Rela+ng to other: I believe that I have a strong ability to relate to others. I am
recep+ve and approachable
Collabora+on: I believe that I work well with others, and perform as a strong team
member
Communica+on: I believe that I am an eec+ve communicator
Desire to become a leader
Opportunity for improvement:
Lack of experience as a unit leader: As a soon to be new graduate nurse, I have
very limited experience as a unit leader
Delega+on: I lack delega+on experience and see this as a cri+cal leadership skill.
Priori+za+on of unit wide responsibili+es/tasks: Due to my lack of unit leadership
experience, I have not been required to priori+ze unit wide responsibili+es/tasks.
Eec+veness of handling conict and complaints: As a student nurse, I had very
limited experience in handling complaints and conict. In a role as a unit leader, I
am aware that it is essen+al to be able to handle these situa+ons eec+vely and to
the best of my ability

Present:
Read Frist Year Nurse: Wisdom, Warnings and What I Wish Id Known My First
100 Days On The Job
Read 2 other books from the suggested leadership book list on D2L

Short-term goals (0-2 years):
Develop delega+on skills
Acquire charge nurse experience
Gain a working understanding of the roles and responsibili+es of the charge nurse
and CNL on my unit

Long-term goals (3-5 years):
ASend nursing leadership workshops to develop my knowledge base
Work towards becoming a clinical nurse leader

Short-term goals (0-2 years):

Obtain Neonatal Resuscita+on Program (NRP) cer+ca+on
Subscribe to the American Journal of Nursing (AJN)
Oldest and largest circula+ng nursing journal in the world; 12 issues/year
Remain an ac+ve member of STTI
Become a member of Academy of Neonatal Nursing (ANN)
Become a member of the Na+onal Associa+on of Neonatal Nurses (NANN)
Subscribe to Journal of Neonatal Nursing

Long-term goals (3-5 years):
Obtain my cer+ca+on in Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing (RNC-NIC)
Current licensure as an RN in the U.S. or Canada
24 months specialty experience as a U.S. or Canadian RN comprised of a
minimum of 2000 hours (This must have occurred some+me in your career)
Specialty experience can be comprised of direct pa+ent care, educa+on,
administra+on or research.
Employment in the specialty some+me in the last 24 months.
Both prac+ce +me and hours must be met. This is not a either/or criterion.

The leadership book that I read was First year nurse: Wisdom, warnings, and what I
wish Id known my rst 100 days on the job by Barbara Arnoldussen. I chose to read
this book because it is a compila+on of advice and guidance from more than 100
experienced nurses. It was a quick and easy read, and was chock-full of excellent
informa+on.

This book oered advice that will help me to build upon my strengths in organiza+on
and pa+ent advocacy. It also provided advice on star+ng o on the right foot as a
new nurse.

This book also provided informa+on that complimented areas for improvement. The
book had a chapter specic to professional growth that included four suggested
ac+vi+es and a +me frame to complete these ac+vi+es. It also provided wonderful
informa+on about the magic of mentors, including reasons to have a mentor and
how to acquire one. Lastly, it provided advice on how to deal with complaints and
approaching the task of delega+ng.

For my leadership shadowing experience, I shadowed a clinical nurse leader (CNL).

Responsibil+es observed include: stang in response to census and acuity, planned
and unusual ac+vi+es; making shik assignments according to pa+ent needs and sta
competencies; planning stang for the next 24 hours and make changes as necessary
throughout assigned shik; giving report to next shik CNL or charge nurse; assis+ng
individual sta members when possible; promo+ng teamwork; and providing follow-
up on problems and pa+ent/family issues as necessary.


This experience was benecial to me because it allowed me to focus my aSen+on
solely on leadership skills. I observed the clinical decision-making and
interdisciplinary collabora+on necessary for a unit to func+on safely and eec+vely.
As a result, I was able to more clearly reect on my leadership style and areas for
improvement.

For my professional ac+vity, I chose to receive my cer+ca+on in ACLS. I chose this

ac+vity because I have a strong desire to work in cri+cal care, and it helped me to
further my knowledge of cardiac life support to an advanced level.
I was able to enhance my prociency in basic life support
This cer+ca+on course reinforced my knowledge regarding reading and
interpre+ng EKGs, and managing cardiac arrest
I prac+ced essen+al skills as an individual, a team member, and a team leader.

Personal aspira3ons:
Obtain my Masters of Science in Nursing
Obtain my RNC-NIC
Possibly NP

Poten3al Opportuni3es:
Obtain a RN posi+on at an organiza+on that allows me to have room to grow
professionally, provides ongoing educa+onal resources, and tui+on
reimbursement.

0-2 years:
Pass the NCLEX
Obtain NRP cer+ca+on
ASend conferences and workshops annually
ASend in-service con+nuing educa+on courses

3-5 years:
Obtain my Masters of Science in Nursing
Obtain my RNC-NIC

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Goals:
Dec 2015: Graduate with BSN
Feb 2016: Pass NCLEX
Spring 2016: Obtain new grad RN posi+on (Hopefully in the NICU)
Winter 2016: Integrate into RN role (obtain NRP cer+ca+on)
Spring/Summer 2017: Obtain charge nurse experience
Winter 2017/ spring 2018: obtain RNC-NIC cer+ca+on
May 2019: Begin BSN MSN program
Aug 2020: Complete MSN program

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