Nursing professional development (NPD) is a recognized nursing specialty by the American Nurses Association, with its own scope and standards of practice. The fourth edition of Nursing Professional Development: Scope & Standards of Practice (Harper & Maloney) was published in 2022 and outlines the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the NPD specialty. The standards within delineate competencies for all NPD practitioners—serving as a roadmap to successful NPD practice.

The NPD Scope & Standards of Practice is integral to an NPD practitioner’s role and growth in the profession. Realizing this, the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD) is hosting a two-day virtual workshop: Navigating the Scope & Standards: Your Roadmap to Success. This workshop is designed for novice NPD practitioners searching for direction in interpreting and implementing the concepts and competencies found in this important text.    

As we prepare for this exciting event, consider the following benefits the Scope & Standards provides to NPDs.

1. Deep Understanding of the NPD Practice Model
   
   Understanding the NPD Practice Model helps you to articulate what you do and how it influences organizational goals and outcomes. Being able to clearly speak about the value you bring to your department and organization creates an atmosphere of professional trust and respect, empowering you to leverage NPD practice judgment and enabling you to function at the top of your NPD scope of practice. The NPD Practice Model creates a clear and concise outline for you to describe your work.

2. Role Clarity
   
   It is common for additional responsibilities to be placed on NPD practitioners, which can detract from their ability to complete the work integral to the specialty. Being able to discuss the roles and responsibilities of NPD practitioners and how different requests for your time either do or do not fit in is key to prioritizing work that aligns with NPD practice. You should be able to clearly describe each role and how it relates to the responsibilities of NPD practice, including examples within your own work of how these roles are demonstrated.

3. Clear Pathway for Professional Growth
   
   The NPD Scope & Standards defines nursing professional development and describes competent practice, providing both NPD practitioner and NPD specialist expected levels of performance (Harper & Maloney, 2002, p. 66).  As you grow in the NPD specialty, the standards and competencies provide opportunities to set a path to reach your professional goals. This can be done by incorporating work that reflects additional NPD standards that were not originally a component of your project. Additionally, this can be achieved by increasing the impact of a selected standard through addressing additional competency statements in the planned work. Another way to expand the impact and complexity of your NPD work is by incorporating specialist competencies. No matter how you choose to approach this, the standards and their accompanying competency statements provide a clear outline for your own professional growth and a way to systematically expand your NPD practice.

Below is an example of how to apply these three benefits of the NPD Scope & Standards to any initiative you are currently working on. As you continue to incorporate these steps into your NPD work, they will become more natural. You will find it easier to speak about your professional work, and you will feel more comfortable advocating for yourself and your professional needs. Additionally, you will be able to define and articulate your own professional growth and development plan.

When developing or reviewing a current project:

• Write down the inputs (environmental scanning, assessment, diagnosis, and outcome identification), throughputs (planning and implementation), and outputs (evaluation) of the project, and consider how this work will influence things such as achieving strategic goals of your organization or achieving the desired health outcomes of the populations served.

• Describe the NPD roles and responsibilities (Harper & Maloney, 2022, p. 30-32) you will be demonstrating through this work. Identify if there are any current asks of your time that do not align with NPD Scope & Standards of Practice and are negatively impacting your ability to do this work.

• Choose two to three key NPD standards that are the focus of this project. Which competency statements support this work? How are you fulfilling those competencies? Is there an opportunity for you to stretch out of your NPD comfort zone and move into a specialist competency, or identify an additional competency statement that you can intentionally include as a part of this work? This transitional thinking—to focus on ways in which you can grow yourself—will continue to demonstrate the value of your work to your direct leaders and provide a great opportunity for self-reflection and evaluation after the project.

If you are a novice NPD practitioner seeking direction to navigate the NPD Scope & Standards of Practice, be sure to register for the two-day virtual workshop, designed to empower you to apply NPD competencies, roles, and responsibilities to your unique practice setting. Join us on this journey to uncover your roadmap to success.

References

Harper, M. G., & Maloney, P. (Eds.). (2022). Nursing professional development: Scope & standards of practice. (4^th ed.). Association for Nursing Professional Development