Strategies for Academic Portfolios
In the realm of marketing, a successful branding strategy is one of the most important contributors to organizational success. A solid branding strategy can help add visibility and credibility to a company’s products.
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 an activity can help share the results of your efforts and contribute to your success. This Module’s Discussion asks you to consider and share strategies for building your portfolio.
ASSIGNMENT
Respond to at least three of your colleagues’ posts by offering additional ideas regarding academic achievements to include or offering alternative ways of presenting the current achievements. Post are listed below
POST A
Advancing my education was only the first step in developing myself as an individual. I also am taking steps to become certified in case management. Doing so creates a raise in salary, earning more than $100,000 annually (CCMC, 2022). The benefits of certification extend beyond salary alone. Attaining certification will also improve employment options, advance my professional opportunities available, and enhance personal growth. I have realized the immense benefits that will be added after achieving certification and the newfound respect I will gain from my colleagues.
Another strategy that I will use to include academic activities and accomplishments in my professional development goals is creating a professional portfolio. Professional portfolios can be used as a single point of reference that compiles personal achievements and skills and showcases their knowledge (Casey & Egan, 2013). The portfolio will genuinely paint a picture of who I am, the qualifications I can offer, and what I hope to achieve within a given organization. The portfolio should provide a potential employer with a clear picture of the candidate as a professional nurse. The information included should be clear and concise as it is the candidate’s first impression and may determine if one gets an interview or not (Walden University Career Services, 2022).
My goal of keeping a professional portfolio aligns with the University’s emphasis on social change because having a portfolio to show my skill level, learning path, and previous accomplishments is a way to communicate my level of nursing ability to others. Showing my work history, certifications, and awards can highlight areas of the nursing scope of practice that I have experienced in. A portfolio can be used as a form of self-promotion. As a novice nurse practitioner, I can use this to describe my previous work assignments and clinical experiences until I add my professional awards or achievements (Burns, 2018).
POST B
Being a practitioner in nursing with a keen interest in mental illnesses, I have become more curious and appreciative of the function practitioners play in the daily lives of mentally ill patients. My professional development goal is to change the physical environment for mentally ill patients, thereby making their environment conducive for living during this period f covid 19 (McMillan et al., 2014). However, I clearly understood that I had to advance my education to achieve this feat. As a result, I started searching for an advanced institution that would assist in my quest for promoting my education, specifically in the field of care for mentally ill patients. I stumbled upon Walden University and its constituent college of nursing during the search.
Advancement in education would enable me to create a successful brand that will play an essential role in my success. Branding myself would entail creating a distinct professional identity and message that distinguishes me from others in my sector of specialization. I will achieve the branding by developing an e-portfolio based on academic achievements. A portfolio should provide evidence of how an individual has designed it professionally and personally (Casey & Egan, 2010). Moreover, an e-portfolio allows potential employers to examine candidates’ capabilities, but they also help them better grasp how to communicate their strengths during an interview (Leahy & Filiatrault, 2017). Another strategy for including the academic achievements and professional development goals is using a website that will contain the portfolio as its primary content. For example, a website developed by a student demonstrates web writing skills to potential employers. It will help me to showcase a unique design and additional technical skills, and also put me in an advantaged position.
Walden University (2011) focuses on molding professionals who will bring positive social change in the workplace and the community. One of the university’s core values is integrity both as an institution and showcased through its learners’ actions for the common good. The skills I will acquire from Walden university will be reflected in the services I will offer to the group of patients I plan to serve. Mentally ill patients require a high degree of care and attending to them will require a high level of knowledge through my advancement in my career at Walden University.
POST C
A professional portfolio is a record of our academic journey that “shows documentation of our skills, professional achievements, and nursing experience” (Davis, 2015). A portfolio should contain elements of your nursing career such as licenses, continuing educai\tion units, in-services, transcripts, performance appraisals, letters of recommendation, and annual performances (Davis, 2015). These elements show your competencies of your nursing career, and can be added on to as your life long learning continues. While maintaining a portfolio, it can also enable you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, learning needs, and create a learning plan to address those needs (Cope & Murray, 2018).
One strategy I intend on completing for continuing my professional development is getting certified in critical care nursing, once I am eligible. This will allow for many opportunities that will be able to showcase my ability to work with critically ill patients. Another strategy to add onto my professional portfolio is identifying areas of weakness in my clinical setting and creating a plan to address those weaknesses.
By creating a professional portfolio, it aligns with Walden’s vision of social change because it promotes worth and dignity in myself as well as personal development as I continue my journey through the MSN program. This also showcases that education can promote social change. A portfolio can emphasize the development of your nursing career over a period of time that showcases career goals and where further learning can as be identified (Oemann, 2002).
