Journey to Nursing Professional Development

Persephone Munnings, MSN, RN-BC, CM is Manager of the Continuing Nursing Education Department at Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas, as well as Adjunct Nursing Faculty at the University of The Bahamas.

As a little girl growing up on the rural island of Mayaguana in The Bahamas, I observed the nurse as she delivered quality care to the residents throughout the island. Her skill and high level of professionalism fascinated me. I dreamed of one day being a nurse just like her and upon graduating from high school, I entered the nursing program at The College of The Bahamas.

I graduated with an Associate’s Degree from a rigorous nursing program and as a graduate nurse experienced a lack of mentorship with one of my clinical assignments. This moved me to mentor all nursing students who rotated through my ward. Working with the students ignited my passion for education and I returned to college to pursue a BSN which would qualify me for a faculty position at the local school of nursing.

Three years after obtaining my BSN degree, I began searching for a new assignment, a new job, a new challenge, a new level of fulfilment, something new. This search landed me in a meeting with the Principal Nursing Officer and a temporary deployment to the Continuing Nursing Education Department. It turned out that this assignment was my best one ever. In fact, it was the start of my journey to NPD certification. Up to this point I didn’t know much about continuing nursing education; so, I took to the internet seeking to augment the principles I had learned in the teaching and learning course in the BSN program. My research led me to the National Nursing Staff Development Organization’s (NNSDO) website which was a great resource. Further search led to a book by Barbara Brunt called Competencies for Staff Educators. This book became my go-to resource for my work within the department.

The NNSDO later became the Association for Nursing Professional Development. After following ANPD for a few years and realizing that the organization catered to the needs of nurses in staff development, I became a member in July 2015. Immediately I began accessing recorded webinars and registering for the upcoming sessions. Two months later, The Princess Margaret Hospital saw its first NPD Week celebrations in September 2015. The week of activities included an opening ceremony, NPD display within the hospital, a church service, a seminar for NPD staff, and a nurturing day for nurses with outstanding participation in continuing nursing education. We even submitted our decorated board to the ANPD decorated space contest; we did not win, but we participated.

By July 2016, I was on my way to my first ANPD convention. The theme for the convention was “Aspire to Inspire.” There were so many workshops that I wanted to attend but they ran concurrently. After much deliberation, I registered for the NPD Certification Prep Course. Was I ready to sit for the certification exam? Of course not! My goal was to attend the 2-day course to gain more insight into the role of the NPD practitioner, particularly the leadership role.

The Certification Prep Course, which was facilitated by the energetic, humorous, and engaging Mr. Gregory Durkin, was much more than certification prep. Participants shared work-related experiences and best practices, and Greg shared success tips and resources for successful management of NPD. By the end of day one, a Facebook page had been created for participants to stay connected and support each other in the quest to become certified. By the closing of day two I felt ready to begin studying for the NPD certification exam; instead I returned home and completed an application to test. 

The entire convention exceeded my expectations. Speakers were inspiring; the session on the revised scope and standards of the NPD practitioner was very informative; the poster display was clearly the largest I had seen and covered a variety of themes from orientation and onboarding, to mentorship, to use of technology, to bridging generational gaps, to interprofessional education. I attended every networking session, purchased resources, and interacted with as many vendors as time allowed. One of the main highlights for me was mingling with the authors of the book Leadership in Nursing Professional Development: An Organizational and System Focus. I felt proud to be a member of ANPD.

Post-convention, I returned home inspired and with a new zest to inspire other continuing education staff members in my organization. We again celebrated NPD Week and agreed to make it an annual event. I shared my convention experience with staff members of my team and added my collection of new ANPD publications to our library of resources. I knew more than ever that I was a specialist, that not anyone could do what I did. I felt a need to validate my role and bring awareness to the value of nursing professional development to the organization.

On October 24th 2016, I passed the NPD Certification exam. I shared the good news with my fellow workshop participants. Oh, I had to tell my colleagues, Greg, and Mary, and anyone else who cared to listen. To my knowledge, I was the first person in The Bahamas to achieve NPD Certification. What an accomplishment! Of course, when I shared the news at home the popular response was: “Congratulations, what does that mean and what is NPD?” I had to educate my colleagues about my specialty. I realized that I had to prepare an elevator speech on the role of the NPD practitioner.

Today, I am proud to be a certified Nursing Professional Development Practitioner. I value my specialty because my Master’s Degree in nursing education focused more on the roles and responsibilities of the educator in an academic setting. The NPD specialty has a unique scope of practice different from that of the academic educator and requires unique competencies. Through achieving certification, a nursing professional demonstrates that he/she has achieved advanced knowledge and skills in a chosen specialty and is dedicated to improving patient outcomes. I am committed to advocating for the NPD specialty in The Bahamas, and as far as my influence reaches. I aspire to enhance my ability to articulate the value of NPD as a specialty and, as a nurse leader, use my expertise to enhance nursing practice and, ultimately, better patient outcomes.

I am grateful for the vision of the pioneers of ANPD. The current leaders inspire me; they are talented, committed, reachable and approachable. Dr. Mary Harper, Director of Nursing Professional Development, is but an instant message away. The resources and networking opportunities available through the ANPD website are limitless. The publications are specific to the needs of NPD professionals. It is my hope to one day serve on one of the ANPD committees. Who knows, one day a Certification Prep Course or even the ANPD Annual Convention could be held in the beautiful Bahamas. 

NPD Roles: Generalist vs. Specialist

Mary G. Harper, PhD, RN-BC is the Director of Nursing Professional Development for ANPD. Certified in NPD, she obtained her MSN at the University of Florida and her PhD at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Harper co-chaired the work group that revised the Scope and Standards for Nursing Professional Development in 2016. 

The publication of the new Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice (Harper & Maloney, 2016) has ushered in an opportunity for nursing professional development practitioners to clearly articulate what we do. It also challenges us to demonstrate our value to our organizations. The new document recognizes our expanded scope of practice and delineates distinct roles for our specialty informed by research (Warren & Harper, 2016). In addition, it makes mentoring/advocating for our profession and specialty a standard of practice. 

One of the more groundbreaking concepts of the new scope and standards is the introduction of “NPD practitioner” as an umbrella term to represent those who practice NPD. Practitioners may function at two levels: generalist and specialist. A generalist is an NPD practitioner with a baccalaureate degree with or without NPD certification or a graduate degree without NPD certification. A specialist is someone with a graduate degree AND certification in NPD. If the graduate degree is not in nursing, the baccalaureate must be (Harper & Maloney, 2016).

Differentiation of the generalist and specialist roles is the result of several factors. First, we recognize that many individuals who practice NPD are baccalaureate prepared. In spite of the requirement for a graduate degree as the minimal preparation for NPD in prior editions of the scope and standards, the reality is that many nurses who practice NPD do not have graduate education. Recent research indicates that nearly 40% of our colleagues have baccalaureate or associate degrees (Harper, Aucoin, & Warren, 2016). The new scope and standards now acknowledges that not all members of our specialty have graduate degrees.

In addition to nurses without graduate degrees, the requirement for certification in NPD is a baccalaureate degree. So while a nurse could become certified in the specialty, that individual did not meet the minimal requirement of the scope and standards to identify as a member of the specialty. The new scope and standards has rectified that. 

Finally, the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2010), which defines and approves specialty nursing practices, requires that a nursing specialty must be able to differentiate the responsibilities of the graduate prepared nurse in the specialty. This requirement was initiated shortly after the publication of the 2010 Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice (ANA & NNSDO, 2010), so the previous edition of the scope and standards did not identify two levels of NPD practitioners. 

The new designations of generalist and specialist have been met with overwhelmingly positive responses. Some NPD practitioners indicate that the designation provides a mechanism for career advancement within the specialty. Others applaud the ability to differentiate role functions in the practice environment. Still others state that the differentiation supports the focus on advanced education and certification.

Unfortunately, not all responses to the new differentiation of NPD practitioner levels have been positive. Some NPD practitioners indicate that the new terminology creates additional role confusion. Role confusion in NPD is not new. A plethora of titles currently exist with little consistency among organizations. Many of our diverse titles make it difficult to differentiate between academic nurse educators and NPD practitioners. While we share many similarities with our academic colleagues, our practice has unique differences, particularly in the areas of identification of practice gaps, gap analysis (needs assessment), and evaluation of educational activities. 

Others who are not thrilled with the new levels of NPD practitioners posit that their graduate or doctoral levels of education should be sufficient for recognition as an NPD specialist. While advanced education is one requirement for recognition as an NPD specialist, it alone is not sufficient. Graduate education does not typically provide specialty knowledge. Most master’s degrees in nursing education focus on the roles and responsibilities of the academic educator with little or no content on the NPD specialty and its unique scope of practice. Certification provides evidence of knowledge in the specialty.

One of the most common questions we’ve received about the NPD specialist designation in the new scope and standards is “What if I’m certified in another specialty? Can I still be recognized as an NPD specialist?” Unfortunately, no. Many, if not most of us, were selected for our NPD roles because we were excellent clinicians. Being an excellent clinician does not mean that an individual is automatically a good learning facilitator (think of the expert clinician who struggles when serving as a preceptor to help the novice nurse transition to the role of a professional nurse). NPD is its own unique specialty and requires a unique set of competencies. As a result, certification in critical care nursing, pediatric nursing, or even as an academic nurse educator does not demonstrate knowledge of the NPD specialty.

The purpose of certification is to demonstrate competence in a specialty. As a group, NPD practitioners do not excel in this area. Two national research studies have demonstrated that only 16 – 20% of the NPD practitioners who participated were certified in NPD. On the other hand, approximately 50% were certified in a clinical specialty. While dual certification may be indicated for some NPD practitioners—especially those who are unit based—the lack of certification in NPD is alarming. 

In the current complex healthcare environment, NPD departments are being challenged to demonstrate their value to their organizations or face reduction in forces or even elimination. The days of simply reporting numbers of classes conducted or numbers of staff participants are gone. We must be able to demonstrate how we contribute to the organization’s goals related to patient safety and quality, staff satisfaction and retention, and financial stability. NPD practitioners who are not certified in the specialty may lack the knowledge and skill to measure educational outcomes in a meaningful way.

I challenge you to read our new scope and standards and allow it to guide your practice.  Become immersed in our specialty. If you’re not certified, become certified. If you don’t have a graduate degree, get one! Look for meaningful ways to contribute to your organization. Learn to articulate what you do so that others in the organization, and especially the C-suite, recognize your value. Get involved in your professional association on both a local and national level. If there is not an ANPD affiliate in your area, start one. Continue your own professional development. Advocate for our specialty!

References

American Nurses Association. (2010a). Recognition of a nursing specialty, approval of a specialty nursing scope of practice, and acknowledgement of specialty nursing standards of practice.  Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/Tools/3-S-Booklet.pdf

American Nurses Association and National Nursing Staff Development Organization. (2010). Nursing professional development: Scope and standards of practice. Silver Spring, MD: ANA.

Harper, M.G., Aucoin, J., and Warren, J.I. (2016). Nursing professional development organizational value demonstration project. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 32(5), 242 –247.

Harper, M. G. & Maloney, P. (2016). Nursing professional development: Scope and standards of practice (3^rd ed.). Chicago, IL: ANPD.

Warren, J. I. & Harper, M. G. (2015, July). Nursing professional development role delineation study. Presented at the ANPD Annual Convention, Las Vegas, NV.

Celebrating NPD Week 2016

ANPD celebrated NPD Week on September 18 – 24, 2016. Each year we devote an entire week toward celebrating our members' achievements and shining a spotlight on nursing professional development. This year during NPD Week we held a decoration contest for our members, offered a free webinar, "Wisdom, Passion, and Transformational Leadership," and sold NPD Week merchandise in our online store. Browse through the photos below, posted by your peers on social media, to see how some of your fellow NPD practitioners celebrated (and make sure to check out the winner of the decoration contest!). Next year NPD Week will take place from September 24 – 30, 2017. 

Adventist Health celebrated NPD Week with a workshop for staff from several of their hospitals. 

NPD Week decorations at Florida Hospital

NPD Practitioners from McGuire VA celebrate NPD Week

Cone Health celebrated with cupcakes, complete with the NPD Week logo!

Congratulations to Aultman Hospital for winning the NPD Week decoration contest!

Importance of Certification

Debbie Buchwach, MSN, RN-BC is the Director of Professional Practice for Ambulatory Nursing & Optimization for Kaiser Permanente in the Northwest Region.

Nursing Professional Development week is September 18-24. This is a great time to pause and reflect on the importance of NPD certification.

We began our nursing careers with the desire to provide the best care for our patients/clients. We participated in in-services, attended conferences, read specialty-care journals, and collaborated with other colleagues to increase our knowledge, skills, and abilities. Once we transitioned from novice to expert in our field, many of us sought certification. It was a way to recognize our depth of knowledge and commitment to our chosen specialty practice. I often wonder why some of us don’t follow this same path when we enter into the specialty practice of Nursing Professional Development.

I was acutely aware that I had entered a different nursing specialty when I was asked to implement a new interprofessional care plan. What I didn’t know as I planned my “training” was that I needed to understand change, leadership, and learning theory. Looking back, I didn’t provide the best learning experience for the learners. I was fortunate that my organization sent me to my first ANPD Conference just a few months later. I was exposed to best practices in our field, networked with fellow NPD Practitioners, and found out about the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. I left with a commitment to increasing my knowledge, skills, and abilities in order to provide the best NPD leadership to my organization.

A year later, I attended my first ANPD certification preparation class. My learning objective was to gain a better understanding of what I needed to know to be an effective NPD Practitioner. What I left with was a passion for our specialty. I actively sought out best practices through reading the journal and other professional resources, networking with NPD colleagues, and attending the ANPD convention every year. As I incorporated my learning into my practice, I became more valuable to my organization. I was better able to provide the leadership required to help the organization meet its strategic goals.

Four years into my NPD career, I decided to seek certification. I wanted to validate the specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities I had developed. I attended another ANPD certification preparation class to prepare for the exam. This time, I validated what I had learned and identified a few opportunities for additional preparation. A few months later, I took and passed my board exam. I’m now entering my second recertification cycle.

Why is certification important? Certification is one of the measurements used to validate professional growth and competence in a specialty field. Because we are role models for lifelong learning, I believe it is important that NPD Practitioners are certified. NPD certification increases our credibility with staff, interprofessional colleagues, and organizational leaders. The journey to NPD certification, which begins with professional development, ultimately leads to evidence-based programs that change nursing practice which improve patient outcomes. Certified NPD Practitioners provide leadership that is critical in meeting the challenges of our current healthcare systems.

What are your thoughts on the importance of NPD certification for NPD Practitioners?

Celebrating our Role: A Tribute to NPD Specialists

Joan Warren, PhD, RN-BC, NEA-BC is the President of the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD). 

Greetings and congratulations to all Nursing Professional Development Specialists!

We are celebrating NPD week in honor of all of us and the work that we do every day as NPD specialists. As practitioners we should be proud. Our role is unique and diverse. As our recent NPD Role Delineation study found, we fill several important roles.

First, transitioning new graduate and experienced nurses for success in their practice specialty is a key role. As an NPD specialist role we prepare student nurses to transition to the “real world” of nursing.  We also partner with experienced nurses as they transition to new practice areas or new levels of leadership. Through this NPD role new graduates as well as experienced nurses gain competence and confidence, are retained by the organization, and are prepared to meet the needs of our constantly evolving healthcare environment. Not only do we impact the professional growth of individual nurses, we impact the organization. Successful role transition ensures high quality and safe patient care.  Our impact on positive patient outcomes and nurse retention saves organizational dollars. Take a moment this week to walk the halls and meet with the many nurses you transitioned into practice.

As NPD specialists we are also facilitators of learning. In this role, we are accountable for educating staff for the future. Every day we are challenged to create and implement cost effective, efficient, and timely education for staff. We use innovative teaching methods and technology to facilitate knowledge retention and competence. Not only are we expected to be knowledgeable about patient populations, we must be experts in learning - two very diverse yet complimentary skill sets. Take advantage of NPD week to highlight the many innovative education programs you have conducted and demonstrate how these have impacted nurses’ knowledge and patient outcomes.  Both staff and leadership should know!

Next we are change agents. Healthcare is rapidly changing and we are essential in translating new knowledge into practice and then motivating and educating staff to adopt these new practice changes. As an adaptive expert, we must implement sustainable rapid cycle change and must be knowledgeable about strategies to influence practice change and ultimately patient outcomes.

As change agents, we must ensure that changes we promote are evidence based.  The Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Evidence-Based Medicine (2008) set a goal, that by 2020, 90% of clinical decisions will be supported by the best available and most accurate evidence. Our role as Champion of Scientific Inquiry serves as a driving force in translating knowledge into practice. As a consumer of research we guide nurses in interpreting evidence and managing practice change to improve patient outcomes. Take a moment this week to highlight the many practice changes you facilitated and the resulting patient outcomes.

Perhaps one of the most rewarding roles of NPD specialists is the role of mentor. Think about it - we influence and change people’s livelihood. Helping others to help themselves to become successful in achieving their personal and professional goals is a rewarding experience. Reflect on the many nurses you assisted in obtaining certifications or advanced nursing degrees and how these nurses have advanced professionally in their careers either at the bedside or as nurse leaders.

Leadership is the most important role we have as NPD specialists. In today’s healthcare environment we must demonstrate leadership to be successful in our roles. Yet we often fail to think of ourselves as leaders.  Learn from Miss Colorado and do not refer to yourself as “just the educator”. If we are to be true organizational leaders we must be engaged at all meetings.  Since we are experts in facilitating learning, practice change, nurse transitions and patient care, it’s important for us to highlight our expertise and let members of committees know our value to the organization.  Further steps to enhance your leadership include the following:

• Learn and be able to articulate your hospital’s, department’s, and unit’s quality, patient safety and patient experience scores.

• Know your organization’s strategic plan and be able to explain your role in helping to achieve it. 

• Lead teams and share your outcomes.

• Don’t wait for others to acknowledge you – take an active role in sharing your value.

• Participate in ongoing learning, growth and development opportunities to enhance your leadership abilities.
  

Finally, as NPD specialists, we must advocate for our specialty practice.  This is our week to articulate the value of the role of the NPD specialist. As you continue to advance in your practice, enroll in an advanced nursing degree program or obtain certification.

This week’s blog is full of suggestions for optimizing our roles and promoting our specialty.  Develop your action plan – not just for this week, but for the whole year!

Have a wonderful NPD week………