Academic and Professional Success Plan Template

Prepared by:

Parts 1-3 for reference 

Part 4 needs steps 1-3 needs to be completed. 

This document is to be used for NURS 6002 Transition to Graduate Study for Nursing to complete Assessments 1-4. Just as importantly the document serves to organize your thoughts about planning for your academic and professional success.

For specific instructions see the weekly assessment details in the course or ask your instructor for further guidance.

Week 1 | Part 1: Developing an Academic and Professional Network

I have identified and secured the participation of the following academic (at least two) and professional (at least two) individuals and/or teams to form the basis of my network. This network will help me to clarify my vision for success and will help guide me now and in the future.

Directions: Complete the information below for each member of your network. For more than four entries repeat the items below with details of your additional network member(s) in the ‘ADDITIONAL NETWORK MEMBERS’ section.

NETWORK MEMBER 1

Name: OC 

Title: RN, MSN

Organization: Kaiser 

Academic or Professional:  Professional 

Why I selected this individual and/or team and how they will support my success in the MSN program and as a practicing nurse:

Notes: Oscar is a nurse and friend who wholeheartedly supports my success in the MSN program. Firstly, as an MSN nurse he understands the challenges and demands of pursuing advanced education and working in the healthcare field. He can empathize with my journey, provide encouragement during difficult times, and celebrate my achievements. Secondly, he possesses firsthand knowledge of the importance of continuous learning and professional growth in nursing. He recognizes the value of higher education and how it can enhance your skills, expand your knowledge base, and open doors to new opportunities. Lastly, as a friend, he genuinely cares about my well-being and success. Oscar will be there to listen, provide support, and offer guidance whenever needed, ensuring that I have a strong support system throughout your MSN program and beyond as a practicing nurse.

NETWORK MEMBER 2

Name: DS, RN, 

Title: RN – Working on finishing PMHNP program at San Marcos

Organization: Patton State Hospital

Academic or Professional: Professional 

Why I selected this individual and/or team and how they will support my success in the MSN program and as a practicing nurse:

Notes: I chose Debbie because is a talented well-rounded nurse with many years of experience. Debbie possesses a strong sense of empathy and compassion, enabling her to establish a genuine connection with her patients. She has excellent communication skills, allowing her to effectively listen to patients’ concerns. Having a professional relationship with Debbie will help build my professional network. This relationship will help with personal development, career advice, and mentorship. She is currently finishing her program her knowledge is fresh and I can learn a great deal from her. 

NETWORK MEMBER 3

Name: GM

Title: Student Success Advisor 

Organization: Walden University 

Academic or Professional: Academic 

Why I selected this individual and/or team and how they will support my success in the MSN program and as a practicing nurse:

Notes: I have chosen Greg as I believe he will be supportive of my success in the PMHNP program. He can help guide me through the program when needed. He can also help me develop goals as well as offer important tips and insight that will help enhance my productivity in the program. The Student Success Advisor at the University also works in close collaboration with other university support teams to ensure students’ inquiries are addressed. Greg can be an advocate throughout the program making the learning experience smooth and interesting. 

NETWORK MEMBER 4

Name: Dr. 

Title: Class Instructor

Organization: Walden University 

Academic or Professional: Academic 

Why I selected this individual and/or team and how they will support my success in the MSN program and as a practicing nurse:

Notes: I have selected Dr. due to her vast experience, given that she has more than 20 years in different roles from associate degree nursing programs through doctoral programs. She has held many different roles and positions, including chair of the Education Research Interest Group of the Midwest Nursing Research Society, among many others. I’m not the type to pester others for help but if needed I feel Dr. Varga would be there for me. 

Week 2 | Part 2: Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity and Professional Ethics

I have analyzed the relationship between academic integrity and writing, as well as the relationship between professional practices and scholarly ethics. I have also identified strategies I intend to pursue to maintain integrity and ethics of my academic work while a student of the MSN program, as well as my professional work as a nurse throughout my career. The results of these efforts are shared below.

Directions: In the space below craft your analysis/writing sample, including Part 1 (The Connection Between Academic and Professional Integrity) and Part 2 (Strategies for Maintaining Integrity of Work).

Part 1: The Connection Between Academic and Professional Integrity

Academic integrity is compliance with ethical and professional principles, standards, practices, and values, guiding actions and decision-making in education, research, and scholarship (Tauginienė et al., 2019). Academic integrity ensures that writing aligns with ethical practices in research and education. According to Guerrero-Dib et al. (2020), in the educational context, academic integrity is studying and carrying out academic work with justice and coherence. Writing is one of the vital aspects of educational programs because it involves research and presentation of work that can be used by the writer and other people pursuing education in different contexts. Without ethics in writing, education would shift its meaning of carrying out academic work with justice and coherence. Academic integrity and writing go hand in hand because writing involves quoting other people’s work and concepts created by others. Academic integrity ensures that writers acknowledge such work and are honest and ethical when making any form of academic writing. 

Professional practices are also tied to scholarly ethics in various ways. Scholarly ethics binds nurses professionally and academically because it impacts their honesty in practice and decision-making. For instance, they will be involved in research, teaching, and learning. Scholarly ethics are vital when dealing with professional work because they impact the nurse as a professional and student. Grammarly is useful because it helps present quality and grammatically correct work. SafeAssign helps detect plagiarism in academic writing, which is important because it ensures that a writer acknowledges scholarly work and maintains honesty in writing, learning, and teaching. Paraphrasing is one of the best ways of avoiding plagiarism in academic work. It helps the student acknowledge the work of others while still presenting the work of others with originality. 

References

Guerrero-Dib, J. G., Portales, L., & Heredia-Escorza, Y. (2020). Impact of academic integrity on workplace ethical behavior. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 16(1), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-020-0051-3

Tauginienė, L., Gaižauskaitė, I., Razi, S., Glendinning, I., Sivasubramaniam, S., Marino, F., Cosentino, M., Anohina-Naumeca, A., & Kravjar, J. (2019). Enhancing the taxonomies relating to academic integrity and misconduct. Journal of Academic Ethics, 17(4), 345–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-019-09342-4

Week 3 | Part 3: Research Analysis

I have identified one topic of interest for further study. I have researched and identified one peer-reviewed research article focused on this topic and have analyzed this article.  The results of these efforts are shared below.

Directions: Complete Step 1 by using the table and subsequent space below identify and analyze the research article you have selected. Complete Step 2 by summarizing in 2-3 paragraphs the results of your analysis using the space identified.

Step 1: Research Analysis 

Complete the table below

Topic of Interest:	How PMHNP’s can help people with substance abuse issues.
Research Article: Include full citation in APA format, as well as link or search details (such as DOI)
Professional Practice Use: One or more professional practice uses of the theories/concepts presented in the article	Azad, A.H., Khan, S.A., Ali, I., Shafi, H., Khan, N.A., & Umar, S.A. (2022). Experience of psychologists in the delivery of cognitive behavior therapy in a non-western culture for treatment of substance abuse: A qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 16(1), 1-11.
Research Analysis Matrix Add more rows if necessary	Strengths of the Research	Limitations of the Research	Relevancy to Topic of Interest	Notes
	Relevance and Importance;Comprehensive Approach; Sample Size and Expertise;Culturally Sensitive Approach;Identified Themes;Practical Implications.	Small Sample Size;Limited Generalizability;Qualitative Nature;No Patient Perspectives;Cross-Cultural Adaptation Complexity;Potential Bias;Time Limitation;Lack of Comparative Analysis;Limited Interventional Approach.	Cultural Sensitivity;Identifying Barriers;Tailoring Interventions;Address Healthcare System Challenges;Develop Culturally Competent Interventions;Contribute to Global Health.

Step 2: Summary of Analysis

Craft a summary (2-3 paragraph) below that includes the following:

• Describe your approach to identifying and analyzing peer-reviewed research
• Identify at least two strategies that you would use that you found to be effective in finding peer-reviewed research
• Identify at least one resource you intend to use in the future to find peer-reviewed research

Approach in Defining and Analyzing Peer-Reviewed Research:

Defining the Research Topic: The first is to clearly define or be clear about the research topic or question. It helps in narrowing down the focus so that the search is relevant to a specific area of interest.

Keyword Search: The use of academic databases and search engines is a common strategy to conduct a keyword search. Using keywords that are relevant and Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) refine the results of the search so that it can be used to identify peer-reviewed articles relevant.

Academic Databases: Using respectable academic databases such as Walden University Library, PubMed, Google scholar or Web of Science. Such databases index a large collection of peer reviewed journals from different disciplines.

Limiting Search Parameters: Filtering the search results by publication date, the type of document (peer-reviewed articles), the language used and subject area helps in finding recent as well as relevant research.

Evaluating Source Quality: After locating the related articles, it is important to evaluate the credibility and quality of sources. Checking journal’s impact factor, author credentials, affiliations as well as peer-review processes help in identifying sources that are reliable about research findings.

Reading Abstracts: Reviewing abstracts help in reading an overview of the content of the article and its relevance to a research topic. It helps in deciding which to read more deeply.

Reading the Full Text: Accessing the full-text of the selected articles to look at research methodology, results and conclusions. It involves critical evaluation about study design, sample size, data analysis potential biases etc.

Citation Chaining: Looking through the reference lists of relevant articles leads to other useful peer-reviewed research that is related to the topic of interest.

Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses: Consulting systematic reviews, as well as meta-analyses can give a broad but still comprehensive summary of existing research as well help in understanding the overall body of evidence about a particular topic.

Note-Taking and Synthesis: Note-taking while reading and then synthesizing the information from different sources could help in organizing research findings besides understanding them better (Maralit, 2023).

Effective Strategies for Locating Peer-Reviewed Research:

Using Academic Databases: Quite often, utilizing academic databases like PubMed and Scopus brings up high quality peer-reviewed research articles from respectable journals.

Google Scholar Alerts: Setting up Google Scholar Alerts for specific keywords allows for the automatic alert whenever new peer-reviewed articles related to the topic of interest are published.

PubMed Central (PMC): PMC is the free repository of full-text peer-reviewed literature in biomedical and life science. It makes for a veritable goldmine when it comes to hounding out peer-reviewed research (Maralit, 2023).

In the future, I will likely turn to Walden University Online Library to find creditable sources for my papers and projects. 

References

Azad, A.H., Khan, S.A., Ali, I., Shafi, H., Khan, N.A., & Umar, S.A. (2022). Experience of psychologists in the delivery of cognitive behavior therapy in a non-western culture for treatment of substance abuse: A qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 16(1), 1-11.

Maralit, A.M. (2023). Beyond the bump: ethical and legal considerations for psychologists providing services to pregnant individuals who use substances. Ethics & Behavior, 33(2), 89-100.

Week 6 | Part 4: Finalizing the Plan

I have considered various options for my nursing specialty, including a close look at my selected (or currently preferred) specialty and second-preferred specialty.  I have also developed a justification of my selected (or preferred) specialty. Lastly, I have examined one professional organization related to my selected or preferred specialty and considered how I can become a member of this organization. 

The results of my efforts are below.

Directions: Complete Step 1 by writing 2-3 paragraphs in the space below comparing the nursing specialty you have selected – or the one you prefer if your choice is still under consideration –  to your second preference. Identify each specialty and describe the focus and the role that graduates are prepared for. Identify any other differentiators you feel are significant, especially those that helped or may help you reach a decision.

Complete Step 2 by writing a paragraph identifying and justifying your reasons for choosing your MSN specialization. Be sure to incorporate any feedback you received from colleagues in this week’s Discussion Forum.

Complete Step 3 by examining and identifying one professional organization related to your selected or preferred specialty. Explain how you can become a member of this organization.

Step 1: Comparison of Nursing Specialties

Use the space below to write 2-3 paragraphs comparing the nursing specialty you have selected – or the one you prefer if your choice is still under consideration –  to your second preference. Identify each specialty and describe the focus and the role that graduates are prepared for. Identify any other differentiators you feel are significant, especially those that helped or may help you reach a decision.

Step 2: Justification of Nursing Specialty

Use the space below to write a paragraph identifying and justifying your reasons for choosing your MSN specialization. Be sure to incorporate any feedback you received from colleagues in this week’s Discussion Forum.

Step 3: Professional Organizations

Use the space below to identify and examine one professional organization related to your selected or preferred specialty. Explain how you can become a member of this organization.