Registered nurses. Continuing Professional Development: Critical Analysis - Essay Example

? Where to From Here, Continuing Professional Development: Critical Analysis Total Number of Words 259 Introduction Registered nurses are trained professionals who often work directly with patients. As part of providing holistic care to every patient, nurses should protect the patients from harmful effects of having physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual imbalances. To ensure that each patient is able to receive proper care, all registered nurses are obliged to engage themselves in a continued professional development (CPD) programme (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2010). Whether formal or informal, CPD programmes are designed to allow each health care professional access to education or other related learning activities designed on how they can further improve their nursing competencies and expertise (i.e. formal educational classes, rounds, meetings, symposia, conferences, etc) (Gunn and Goding, 2009). In most cases, the provision of a CPD programme can help nurses improve the service quality they give to each patient. The main purpose of this study is to be able to determine what it takes to be a highly competitive registered nurse based on gathered evidence coming from a wide range of current studies. Based on a self-identified gap in skills and knowledge, strategic ways of how nursing students can effectively transform the required knowledge, skills and competencies into practice will be tackled in detail. Self-Identified Gap Set under the national competency standards and CPD registration standards, I am aware of the 20 hours nursing CPD requirements plus a minimum of 10 hours educational intervention with regard to the endorsement of medicines each year. However, I am not aware that nurses are required to keep a written document on CPD providing that registered nurses have completed a minimum of 20 hours each year (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2010). Likewise, it was only recently that I have gained some idea that the CPD also requires all nurses to be able to identify their learning needs and plan how they can fill in the learning gap and reflect on the importance of key learning activities involved in the CDP process (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2013). Evidence for Current Required Knowledge, Skills and Competencies As evidence for the current required knowledge, skills and competencies under the CPD registration standards, registered nurses are expected to create documentation with regard to their personal initiatives and active participation in continuous professional development. As part of the documentation requirements, registered nurses are to record all data including the number of hours they spent on each learning intervention plus a short description of their learning outcomes (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2010). Also related to the documentation of CPD initiatives, registered nurses are obliged to identify and prioritise their learning needs based on what they already know and do not know. In line with this, a CPD assessment framework can be used to encourage each and every healthcare professional to create their own professional vision and goals as they increase their own knowledge with regard to nursing legislation and the expected nursing professional ethics and nursing practice standards (ANMC, 2009). It will also help the student nurses to be able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the nursing profession, and create their own career plan on how they can convert these weaknesses into one of their strengths (ANMC, 2009). However, the act of attending CPD classes does not necessarily mean that the nurses have acquired new learning (Dixon et al., 2011). Furthermore, the use of assessment framework alone does not mean an increase in the nurses’ competency (Ross, Barr and Stevens, 2013). When pursuing admission to CPD, all registered nurses should keep in mind the importance of incorporating evidence-based practice into their nursing profession (Nesbitt, 2013). As common knowledge, CPD is mandatory to all Australian nurses (Ross, Barr and Stevens, 2013). To increase their competency in the nursing profession, all registered nurses are expected to engage themselves in lifelong learning (Gopee, 2001). By doing so, registered nurses will be able to deliver high quality patient care at all times. For example, when trying to improve one’s own nursing leadership skills in an acute care hospital, it is advisable for registered nurses to go through a self-learning process using peer-reviewed journals related to nursing leadership within an acute care setting (Hauck, Winsett and Kuric, 2013). In this respect, nurses should be able to critically assess the reliability, accuracy and validity of the research findings (Cohen and Crabtree, 2008). Only then would all nurses be able to gain more knowledge on how they can further improve their leadership skills through the self-learning process. Unfortunately, most nurses have a busy lifestyle making some of them unable to have sufficient time to improve their existing management skills. Other possible barriers to CPD initiatives include: (1) financial limitations to support further educational studies (Kataoka-Yahiro and Mobley, 2011); (2) the absence of support coming from registered nurses’ employer(s); (3) no access to online learning (Penz et al., 2007); and (4) the absence of technical assistance within the workplace environment (Kataoka-Yahiro and Mobley, 2011). Ways on How the New Standard Will Help Demonstrate Clinical Competence and Commitment to Quality Nursing Care The new standards will help improve the nurses’ clinical competence by requiring all nurses to identify and prioritise their learning needs (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2010). As a universal practice, nurses should keep in mind the importance of conducting regular audit with regard to the future progress of one’s own career within the nursing profession (Smith et al., 2008). In this context, CPD assessment framework can be used when auditing one’s own professional development status (ANMC, 2009). Using CPD assessment framework, registered nurses will be able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their professional nursing experience. The application of CPD assessment framework will help guide each nursing student on how they can identify the gaps in their own knowledge, skills and competencies as they try to learn new ways of how they can address these knowledge and skills gaps. In the process of evaluating their own knowledge, skills and competencies, registered nurses should be able to identify and prioritise their own learning needs (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2010). Conclusion Applicable to all nurses in Australia, active participation in the CPD process or CPD initiatives is mandatory since engaging oneself in lifelong learning will enable the registered nurses to further improve their knowledge and skills when it comes to the delivery of quality care service to their patients. Furthermore, engaging oneself in lifelong learning will provide all registered nurses with the opportunity to update their knowledge and skills with regard to what the most current studies would suggest on how nurses can deliver holistic care to their patients. To guide the registered nurses on how to improve their nursing competencies, knowledge and skills, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia is currently active in promoting the latest CPD registration standards to all nursing graduates and students. In the process of complying with all the future learning requirements set under the new CPD registration standards, all registered nurses will be guided on how they can effectively pursue a more effective CPD intervention. In the process of assessing one’s own professional development status through the use of the CPD assessment framework, all registered nurses in Australia will have the opportunity to identify their own strengths and limitations when it comes to their professional nursing experience. By learning more about one’s own weaknesses, each and every registered nurse in Australia will be enabled to find new ways of how they can improve specific knowledge and skills that need further improvement. References ANMC. (2009, February). Continuing competence framework. [Online] Available at: http://www.equals.net.au/pdf/73727_Continuing_Competence_Framework.pdf [Accessed 24 November 2013]. Cohen, D. and Crabtree, B. (2008). Evaluative criteria for qualitative research in health care: controversies and recommendations. Annals of Family Medicine, 6(4), pp. 331-339. Dixon, D., Takhar, J., Macnab, J., Eadie, J., Lockyer, J., Stenerson, H., et al. (2011). 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