Similarly, nurse scholars can build a personal brand to add visibility and credibility to their work. You can begin building your brand by developing and maintaining an academic portfolio. Such activity can help share the results of your efforts and contribute to your success. In this Discussion share strategies for building your portfolio.
To Prepare:
Reflect on strategies that you can pursue in developing portfolios or portfolio elements that focus on academic achievements.
Review one or more samples from your own research of resources focused on portfolio development.
Here is some of my ideas and little about my plan.
- Write plan out
- Aim high and what do you want to be 10 years from now and what strategies
- Include Clear ideas of education and certification that matches your goal
- Connection between EBP and theory (include citation)
- Serving community and profession
- Provision to participate in an active level on professional organization bcz the bring nurses together and allow more ideas allow nurse to have a voice
My plan is being a Psychiatric Mental Health NP
In 10 years, I want to be Psych mental health NP with my own practice. I want to counsel, help with treatments and diagnosing mental illnesses in East Africa countries (I am from East Africa and that is why I targeted this population, we do not have enough psychiatrists and lots of people don’t seek treatments and some of them are not even aware of this illnesses)
Right now, I work in Behavior health facility as nurse that helps me with becoming familiar with certain mental illness, their diagnosis, and treatments
Certifications include me starting to seek My Master of Science in Psych and passing my exams
Organizations that I am active in: Walden University PMHNP, National black Nurse Association, Black nurses rock, F-1 Nurses
Portfolio
Nurses, like other professionals, use portfolios to summarize their academic achievements for easy understanding by others. According to Datta et al. (2021), an academic portfolio is a tool that helps learners and professionals to highlight key areas of their achievements and reflect on their competencies and performances, thereby allowing room for improvement. My academic transcripts, indicating my scores in various courses, will be part of my academic portfolio. My portfolio will also include my state nursing license. This will prove that I have been authorized to legally offer nursing services in the state. Developing my portfolio in this manner will allow me to identify the key areas in which I should improve, including additional training that I need to undertake in order to improve my practice skills and knowledge.
I already have a clear plan that I will follow to achieve personal, academic, and professional advancements. My plan is to become a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). In 10 years, I want to be a PMHNP with my own practice. I want to counsel and help with the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses in East African countries. I am from East Africa and that is why I targeted this population. There is a shortage of psychiatrists in this region and lots of people do not seek treatments and some of them are not even aware that mental illnesses exist. Education and certifications that match my goals include starting to seek my Master of Science in Psychiatry and passing my exams.
As a PMHNP, I plan to utilize evidence-based practice (EBP) to inform my practice with clients. EBP is connected with theory in that it utilizes actual research to practically confirm the associations among theoretical concepts (Degu et al., 2022). For example, in mental health practice, EBP uses research evidence to explain the effectiveness of various psychological interventions to treat mental illnesses (Hirani et al., 2022). My profession primarily aims to address mental health issues in the community. Right now, I work in a behavioral health facility as a nurse. This role helps me to become familiar with mental illnesses that are commonly diagnosed in populations, including their diagnosis and treatments. Organizations that I am active in include Walden University PMHNP, National Black Nurse Association, Black Nurses Rock, and F-1 Nurses. Being part of these organizations has helped me to achieve personal, academic, and professional growth.
References
Datta, R., Datta, K., Routh, D., Bhatia, J. K., Yadav, A. K., Singhal, A., & Dalal, S. S. (2021). Development of a portfolio framework for implementation of an outcomes-based healthcare professional education curriculum using a modified e-Delphi method. Medical Journal, Armed Forces India, 77(Suppl 1), S49–S56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mjafi.2020.11.012
Degu, A. B., Yilma, T. M., Beshir, M. A., & Inthiran, A. (2022). Evidence-based practice and its associated factors among point-of-care nurses working at the teaching and specialized hospitals of Northwest Ethiopia: A concurrent study. PloS One, 17(5), e0267347. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267347
Hirani, S., Gowani, A., Sajjad, S., Kennedy, M., & Norris, C. M. (2022). Psychosocial interventions and mental health in patients with cardiovascular diseases living in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review protocol. PloS One, 17(7), e0271955. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271955