Background
Personal Development Plan (PDP) is a basic requirement that should be developed by any Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) within the various states within the country. This paper contains details of the PDP like individual action strategies that indicate personal self-evaluation such as areas of strength, personal goals and weaknesses, and leadership ability and work objectives. Furthermore, the PDP will include well-elaborated guidelines required by the state for one to acquire licensure and exercise APRN. The PDP is developed following the APRNs need of the Florida state. It also highlights techniques of networking to aid the student in creating connections during the practice.
APN Scope of Practice
Over a century, various jurisdictions and states within the United States endorsed Nurse Practice Acts (NPA) to protect the people. This was also to ensure well-established bodies with full authority to form procedures and regulations that outline specific guidelines in the nursing occupation. The rules publicized by the given board are fully enforceable by the law. Any person pursuing the nursing profession is required to be fully aware of the region’s specified guidelines for nursing practice. The APRN must be updated with the current requirement as the rules are subjected to change. NPA ensures that the practitioners achieve a minimum condition to enhance a safe practice in the field of health. Those legal guidelines prevent an incompetent person from undertaking a nursing carrier in the state.
In the US, it is upon every state to formulate and develop its regulations guiding the need for obtaining licensure, accreditation, certification, and education (LACE) for APRNs. The independence in making the guidelines makes the various states have varied requirements for an individual to practice within the given region. It is necessary for all the people practicing APRNs to adhere to the set principles. According to the requirement of practicing APRN within the state of Florida, any person applying for the Nurse Practitioner (NP) must have a postmaster’s certificate or a master’s degree in nursing, a working Florida RN license, or a multistate valid RN license. Moreover, the APRN must have completed not less than 500 proven clinical hours and have a certificate from a recognized nursing specialty board for advanced practice.
In line with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), an NP can practice in three restricted, reduced, and full practice stages. According to AANP, restricted practice is a situation where the state limits the operations of the NP, and therefore it involves supervision by the physician before nurse practitioner practice (Toney & Martin, 2018). On the other hand, a reduced practice is a scenario where the NP must agree and form working teamwork before engaging in some practices. At this level, the capacity of the NP to operate is reduced by the given state. On the contrary, full practice allows the NP to have the overall ability to exercise and work based on the need of the state nursing board. The practitioner can examine and evaluate the patients, make a diagnosis, decide and manage the treatment plans, and even recommend medication for sick individuals.
In Florida State, the administration requirements allow for restricted practice. The rules direct that an APRN should only perform medical acts of diagnosis, treatment, and operation under a procedure between the ARNP and a dentist, physician or a licensed doctor from Florida (Ritter, 2020). The procedures must contain; the doctor’s or physician’s details, APRN information, details of the practice, an outline of the APRN roles like circumstances under which APRN is allowed to treat, type of medication they can prescribe, and scenarios in which the practitioner must communicate with the doctor.
Medicaid and Medicare in Florida do not identify NPs as part of the primary caregivers. Furthermore, the state laws do not allow the NPs to sign death certificates, sign the Backer Act, and signing of DNR orders. Nurse practitioners are allowed to prescribe controlled substances for schedules I, II, and III. On the other hand, NPs are restricted from giving a prescription of psychotropic medications to individuals below the age of 18 years unless the NP is a fully qualified psychiatric nurse.
Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) Core Competencies
National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) clearly defines the basic requirements that NP should know upon completion of the school. In 1990, the NONPF body developed the first batch of competencies, and they were upgraded in 2012. The main skills apply across the medical specialty (Thomas et al., 2017). The NONPF elaborates on nine core abilities that include leadership, practice inquiry, scientific foundations, policy, quality, ethics, independent practice, health delivery system, and literacy in information technology.
Competency for Personal Strength
Ethics Competency
Ethics skills incorporate a proper understanding of the ethical dilemmas that might arise during the practice after completing the practice that involves the student’s patient. When delivering healthcare services to the population, ethics enables the practitioner to embrace and comprehend the associated ethical problems amongst the individuals. Having ethical competency would enable reliable decision-making ta attain optimal solutions concerning the circumstances in question. The abilities allow for critical evaluation of possible impacts of the decisions made.
Leadership Competencies
These abilities are more of encouragement, professional responsibility, and scholarship. The competencies allow the practitioner to improve self-development by understanding the focus and standards of the practice. This will enable them to lead various healthcare groups after finishing their schooling. The leadership skills allow the student to embrace communication abilities, the population’s culture, and professional involvement in the organization.
Competency Areas for Growth
Practice Inquiry
These skills focus on research translation; the competencies allow the student to apply the academic knowledge effectively and transform it into a useful clinical idea. By practicing inquiry competence, the nurse practitioner will comprehend how to use research to better the outcome of patient health (Geddie, 2019). Through these abilities, NPs will be able to use investigative knowledge to improve health results. Similarly, NP will have the ability to manipulate and translate new information.
Independent Practice Competencies
The skills obtained through independent practice will allow the NP to be self-reliant in providing the health services once licensed. At this stage, the practitioner will not need any supervisor to give directives concerning the type of diagnosis to be done, prescription, or treatment. The achievement of these skills promotes the growth of the NP in the area of specialty. It makes them work more effectively, maintains a high level of accountability.
To achieve NP competencies, I would practice and develop strong communication skills. For an individual to become a good leader, he should convey information well to inspire, motivate and guide others. Understanding and embracing the importance of effective communication like good listening will make it easier to nurture the competencies. Additionally, I would expand my knowledge to increase idea generation to enhance innovation and effective solutions. Being exposed allows one to identify possible opportunities and upcoming threats. Extensive knowledge will allow for tactical action against any misfortune.
Leadership skills
Emotional Intelligence
As an NP leader, there is a need to control personal emotions and the ones from other people. Good leaders should be in a position to handle a technical case without tampering with other people’s feelings. The NP is supposed to be fully aware of the empathy and other social abilities that can influence and motivate the population within the facility.
Openness
For effective leadership, openness creates room for interaction with colleagues and patients seeking medication. The skill will enable people to come for queries and consultations, especially when they did not get clear. An interactive atmosphere brings together the organization and therefore promotes efficiency in all duties delegated.
Problem-solving ability
A good leader should be able to handle challenges that may come through in the course of office work. As a leader, you should inspire and show courage to other individuals no matter the situation at hand to keep their hopes alive. The NP should be able to think critically and formulate solutions that can manage the situation. Such skills will be vital to leading a complex institution.
Strategies of Developing NP Leadership Skills
I will practice discipline. To be a good leader, one should be self-discipline, especially in both carrier and personal life. Being disciplined will enable NP to inspire other members to discipline (Saravo et al., 2017). Furthermore, to develop the leadership skills I will learn to follow. Giving room for other people’s opinions is significant in helping to develop an open mind in guiding a group of people.
In conclusion, developing PDP while in school is essential to the NP since it makes them understand the rules and regulations guiding securing a license in the nursing specialty. Every NP should be aware of the state legal requirements of APRN. Self-assessment is significant for NPs and developing good leadership skills required in the field. By achieving all the necessary needs of PDP, NPs students will then graduate and join the certified NP.
References
Geddie, P. I. (2019). Using Clinical Nurse Specialist Competencies for Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Designation: Our Time Has Come. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 33(4), 195-197. Web.
Ritter, A. Z. (2020). Nurse Practitioner State-Required Collaborative Practice Agreements: A Cross-Sectional Case Study in Florida. Nursing Economic$, 38(4).
Saravo, B., Netzel, J., & Kiesewetter, J. (2017). The need for strong clinical leaders–Transformational and transactional leadership as a framework for resident leadership training. PLoS One, 12(8), e0183019. Web.
Thomas, A., Crabtree, M. K., Delaney, K., Dumas, M. A., Kleinpell, R., Marfell, J., & Wolf, A. (2017). Nurse practitioner core competencies content. The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. Web.
Toney-Butler, T. J., & Martin, R. L. (2018). Florida Nursing Laws and Rules. Web.