This document provides a professional progress summary for a nursing student's transition to professional nursing practice course. The purpose is for students to reflect on their growth and development through the nursing program. By reviewing their perspectives at the beginning, middle, and end of the program for each of the eight core competencies, students can see how their critical thinking, nursing practice, teaching, research, leadership, professionalism, and cultural awareness has improved. Demonstrating growth in these areas through a self-evaluation assignment provides evidence of achieving several program learning objectives related to clinical judgment, nursing care, education, research, leadership, ethics, and diversity.

1. Professional Progress Summary<br />NURS 431 – Transition to Professional Nursing Practice<br />Purpose of Assignment<br />The purpose of this paper is to guide the student through a process of self-reflection and self-evaluation to discover the scope of his/her professional development while enrolled in the undergraduate nursing program. <br />Student Approach to Assignment<br />This paper gets to come from a personal place because it is about my journey and how I have been able to grow throughout this nursing program. By going back and discovering what I thought of each of our Great Eights at the beginning, middle, and end of the program, it is much easier for me to witness my growth. <br />Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio<br />This required assignment for the portfolio shows the growth I have made throughout these past three years of nursing school. The following program objectives are highlighted in this paper:<br />Critical Thinking<br />Uses decision-making skills in making clinical or professional judgments<br />Evaluates nursing care outcomes through the acquisition of data and the questioning of inconsistencies<br />Nursing Practice<br />Applies appropriate knowledge of major health problems to guide nursing practice <br />Performs direct and indirect therapeutic interventions that incorporate principles of quality management and proper safety techniques based upon assessment findings<br />Implements traditional nursing care practices as appropriate to provide holistic health care to diverse populations across the lifespan<br />Establishes and/or utilizes outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of care<br />Teaching<br />Provides teaching to patients and/or professionals about healthcare procedures and technologies in preparation for and following nursing or medical interventions<br />Provides relevant and sensitive health education information and counseling to patients and families in a variety of situations and settings<br />Evaluate the efficacy of health promotion and educator modalities for use in a variety of settings with diverse populations<br />Research<br />Applies research-based knowledge from nursing as the basis for culturally-sensitive practice<br />Applies research-based knowledge from the arts, humanities and sciences to complement nursing practice<br />Leadership<br />Assumes a leadership role within one’s scope of practice as a designer, manager, and coordinator of healthcare to meet the special needs of vulnerable populations in a variety of practice settings<br />Organize, manages and evaluates the development of strategies to promote healthy communities<br />Delegates and supervises the nurse care given by others while retaining the accountability for the quality of care given to the patient<br />Professionalism<br />Demonstrates accountability for one’s own professional practice<br />Applies an ethical decision-making framework and legal guideline to clinical situations that incorporate moral concepts, professional ethics and advocacy for patient well-being and preferences<br />Culture<br />Considers the impact of research outcomes and the effects of health and social policies on person’s from diverse backgrounds<br />Maintains an awareness of global environmental factors that may influence the delivery of healthcare services<br />