Running head: PROFESSIONAL GOALS 1

Professional Goals

By: Tracy Kofflin

Spring Arbor University

NUR 660

For: Dr. Day

PROFESSIONAL GOALS 2

The biggest challenge for me when transitioning from clinical to academic is going to be

stepping out of my comfort zone. I have been in my current position since I graduated nursing

school. I am very comfortable with the unit’s policy and procedures, the day to day operations

of the unit, and confident in the care I provide to my patients. I will start stepping out of my

comfort zone this semester as I begin teaching lab at one of the local colleges. This comes with

an added challenge for me, I will be teaching Fundamentals and Med Surg 1 and I have worked

Pediatrics my entire career. The fact that I am teaching out of my area of expertise adds another

dimension to the learning curve as many of the skills I will be responsible for teaching are geared

toward the adult population and not something that I do often for example inserting a foley is not

something I do often as we typically straight cath peds patients when necessary. Not a big

difference I know, and I know how to do it, it is just not second nature to me like the straight

cath is.

Fortunately for me several of the nursing instructors at this college I have worked with in

the past and I may go to them with any questions I may have related to set up, the organization,

or how might be the best way to reach a student who may be having trouble understanding. I am

also fortunate enough to have had wonder instructors and mentors a long the way and plan to

draw from their teaching skills. “The art of teaching is primarily taught and modeled by others,

whereas the science of teaching is primarily learned by the study of related literature. Because

all nurses have been learners in one capacity or another, in assuming this new role, clinical nurse

educators can look back to those educators who made learning wondrous and magical and strive

to emulate the qualities that they possessed” (Janzen, 2010). Drawing from mentors past and

present is a great way to begin learning the “art” of teaching.

PROFESSIONAL GOALS 3

Developing a plan with goals, objective, and actions can be very helpful when

transitioning from clinical nurse to nurse educator. Goals can and should be evaluated on an

ongoing basis and revised as needed to fit in with current needs (Hunt, 2015). In planning my

transition, the three goals I have set for myself this semester are to gain confidence, apply the

knowledge I have gained throughout this program to the academic setting, and begin developing

my teaching skills.
PROFESSIONAL GOALS 4

References

Hunt, D. (2015, January 28). Transitioning from nurse to educator. Faculty Nurses.

Janzen, K. (2010). Alice through the looking glass: The influence of self and student

understanding on role actualization among novice clinical nurse educators. The Journal

of Continuing Education in Nursing, 41(11). doi:10.3928/00220124-20100701-07