Professional Development Plan for Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

Introduction
My educational background has focused on building intricate skills and knowledge on biology and psychology through coursework and relevant internships. I’ve always been fascinated by mental health issues, as they offer the present day nurse practitioner some of the most scathing challenges and enigmas. I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue nursing and that I would want to complete the highest level of nursing possible. In my life I’ve known and worked with many people struggling with mental illnesses, and I’ve always been interested in what can be done to alleviate severe mental disorders. Thus, to the endeavor of receiving my psychiatric nurse practitioner degree, I bring a proficiency of knowledge of common mental disorders in specific populations, such as the elderly and adolescents. I’m proficient in a range of research techniques, particularly the interview process and administering and analyzing surveys. Upon reflection of my personal readiness to engage in graduate level study, I can confidently say that I am exceedingly ready. I’ve always known that I wanted to work with mental illness and nursing, so I’ve always read as much as I could about this and I always made sure my college coursework was made up of classes that would directly benefit me as a graduate student in nursing, such as biology, chemistry, psychology, and physical therapy courses. I feel eager and invigorated to pursue graduate study in a beloved field.
Statement of Purpose
To state the purpose of my completion in the graduate program, I plan to achieve my degree in order to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. It is my objective that the courses I complete here will give me a solid proficiency in the art and science of both psychotherapy with razor sharp physical evaluation abilities so that I can deliver the most superior level of care within medicine that I am able to deliver.
My professional goals are numerous; though my first professional goal is to further develop the advanced practice skills to successfully balance both the main medical and intricate psychobiological issues of those suffering from psychiatric disorders throughout my career. The daily professional life of a psychiatric nurse practitioner is one where the challenges are often and varied. Hence, my graduate degree needs to be able to fully prepare me for understanding the nuances of psychiatric mental health disorders, along with the mental health issues that can plague certain populations such as elderly adults. I want to fully comprehend the issues attached to child and adolescent mental healthcare, so that I understand the complexities and vulnerabilities surrounding these groups. I want to be able to develop my expertise in psychopharmacology and the most relevant biological interventions in this regard. I need to develop and expand my knowledge of statistics and research methods, along with expanding my comprehension of how I can more fully engage in the promotion of help and the prevention of disease. I want to better understand the nuances that connect to the main social determinants of health and the equality or inequality of health. Finally, I hope that by the time I finish this degree, I have fully advanced my knowledge near mastery of both advanced pharmacology and pathophysiology.
A second professional goal that I have for my time during this advanced nursing coursework, is that I want to master complete understanding of the most proper and effective way to develop holistic and cross-disciplinary treatment plans. This is something that deeply interests me because I truly believe that mental health is connected to the physical and biological wellness of the body. When a more holistic and interdisciplinary process begins for a patient, the doors of possibility open to speak to a variety of experts and empower pools of knowledge and experience to come together to heal and treat (Yusef, 2017). I’m interested in doing the most intensive research on how things like acupuncture, art therapy, yoga and meditation, can have an influence on mental health and specific disorders. The more understanding I have of alternative therapies, the more I will be able to use my talents and knowledge to effective use.
A third professional goal of mine is to develop experience with being a nurse advocate, and eventually serve a consultant for relevant community groups, companies, and agencies. I think it is my duty to understand the connection between legislation, healthcare and politics and to gain as much experience as I can in this regard. This is so important to me because I think it’s going to be a main way in how I affect change.
Thus, earning a master’s degree will undeniably assist me in meeting those goals and carrying out the mission of the university, via the indispensible knowledge that I will acquire. I believe I will be completing an essential, comprehensive education in an advanced field and that the skills I build here will ensure that I am able to excellently achieve these goals.
Learning Goals
There were several specific learning goals that I accomplished which were very important to my future success as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. One learning goal I acquired was I built a foundational knowledge in psychopharmacology applied in nursing scenarios, something that is crucial to all professionals working with mental health. This meant I had to learn about basic neuroscience in conjunction with clinical medicine, while learning about things like protein bindings, the half-life of medications and things like drug to drug interactions in patients (Sasson et al., 2017). Mastering psychopharmacology meant I also had to learn about building a therapeutic alliance with the patient during this process.
Another specific learning goal I accomplished was practiced cultural inclusiveness in research and in nursing practice scenarios. Accomplishing this goal meant I had to learn about the cultural practices of a range of different cultures and how they manifest in the professional healthcare environment. I needed to learn about what cultural inclusivity actually means and the actual practical actions I could make in order to ensure that my patients all benefited from culturally sensitive care. This is so true when it comes to psychiatric nursing, as so many people have biases that need to be addressed, at least when it comes to mental illness, culture and stigma (Frailing & Slate, 2016)
A third specific learning goal that I accomplished was I learned how to apply psychiatric nursing science to influence health systems from detailed research with a focus on aging populations. Learning the nuances of applying nursing science to specific populations empowers me with the knowledge of the specific vulnerabilities of these populations and how the healthcare industry needs to serve them better, along with what preventative care looks like to this group.
However, one area that I discovered requires improvement was my ability to develop more interactive methods in nursing study and practice through relevant and newly developed technology as that is the future of healthcare (Piscotty et al., 2015). Technology is not something that comes second nature to me; it takes me time to get comfortable whenever new software or gadgets debut. It seems that in nursing they’re often coming out with some new form of technology to make the nursing level of care even better, more efficient and more error-proof. I need to become more disciplined about staying up to date with the most recent advances in nursing technology and how these things can empower me to deliver an elite level of nursing care, such as via telehealth (Morgan & Torres, 2012). I need to spend time on my own right now and become masterful in the main forms of nursing technology right now and learn how I can apply these things to my psychiatric nursing practice.
Practicum
One potential practicum setting that matches my personal, professional and course learning would be working within a psychiatric unit for criminally insane patients. This would meet a personal goal in that it would challenge me beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It would match one of my professional goals, in that I’ve always wanted to work at least once in a setting where the patients are criminally insane. It would be interesting to me to see how holistic and cross-disciplinary therapies would impact such patients, as they often never receive alternative treatments. This would allow me to meet course learning goals in that it would help me master so many of the concepts we spent time on, by applying them to a real life situation. For example, I would be forced to diagnose patients and plan a psychopharmacological approach based on their current mental disorders and how these issues manifest.
One project that would potentially address a real world problem would be determining the childhood traumas that many criminally insane patients experienced when they were younger, and how these traumas manifested as pathology. This would allow healthcare workers to understand how certain deviant or destructive behaviors are related to a negative experience from youth, often by a caregiver, and see how these incidents plant the seeds for later pathological behaviors and what the best forms of treatment are. Researching the best ways to medicate these pathologies would be crucial based on this information. It would also be vital to determine what the best pharmacological treatments and lifestyle changes for the patient might be.
In conclusion, it has long been my statement of purpose to complete a graduate degree as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. My main professional goals are to hone the necessary advanced practice skills to be able to meet the medical and psychobiological needs of all my patients in the most comprehensive way possible. I also want to regularly create holistic and cross-disciplinary practices for patients with psychiatric disorders. And finally, I want to be able to consult on patient advocacy, as mentally ill patients are often overlooked by the system. Finally, while I was able to meet many of my goals during the nursing program, I believe that I must make a commitment to continuing education.





References

Morgan, P. D., & Torres, S. (2012). Opportunities as a nurse practitioner: Your questions answered. Retrieved from http://www.minoritynurse.com/article/opportunities- nurse-practitioner-your-questions-answered
Frailing, K., & Slate, R. (2016). Changing Students’ Perceptions of People with Mental Piscotty, R. J., Kalisch, B., & Gracey?Thomas, A. (2015). Impact of healthcare information technology on nursing practice. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47(4), 287-293. Illness. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 12(1), 54-70.
Sasson, E., James, M., Wubshet, B., Todorov, D., & Cohen, H. (2017). Implementing Psychopharmacology Rounds in a Nursing Facility to Improve Antipsychotic Usage. The Consultant Pharmacist®, 32(6), 352-359.
Yusuf, A. (2017). Holistic Nursing in Mental Health Disorder.