Academic Success and Professional Development Plan-Finalizing the Plan
Nursing specialties allow nurses to expand their knowledge base and skills toward individualized approaches to care. Specializing demonstrates a combination of interest in patient care and in-depth knowledge of nursing roles in providing care in specific areas of healthcare. I have considered various options for my nursing specialty. In this paper, I closely examine psychiatric nursing, which is my preferred nursing specialty, and cardiac care nursing. I have also developed a justification for my preferred nursing specialty. Lastly, I have examined a professional organization related to my preference and considered how to become a member.
Step 1: Comparison of Nursing Specialties
Psychiatric and cardiac care nursing specialties have found considerable utility in modern healthcare. They, however, differ on several fronts. Psychiatric nursing focuses on providing mental health support to patients with various psychiatric illnesses. Nurse graduates with psychiatric nursing specialty assess and monitor the progress of patients with various mental health illnesses, collaborate with other mental health specialists in designing therapeutic care plans, and build trust relationships with the patients to understand their needs and define points of care. They also administer medications to these patients (Kichefski, 2022). Conversely, cardiac care nurses focus on caring for patients with cardiovascular disorders. Their role in this regard is to monitor the cardiac functionalities of patients presenting with cardiovascular disorders, administer medications, collaborate with the cardiologist and other cardiac specialists in designing therapeutic plans for these patients, and perform stress test evaluations.
Cardiac care nursing and psychiatric nursing differ in their remunerations. The national average for a cardiac care nurse is about 59 495 dollars per year. This is roughly 90,000 dollars less than the national average for a psychiatric nurse. Unlike cardiovascular care, which has received greater attention in healthcare, mental health care remains underlooked with traditional barriers of stigma as well as financial and human resource restrictions impacting healthcare response to these disorders. This partly informed my decision to pursue psychiatric nursing.
Step 2: Justification of Nursing Specialty
My selected specialty is psychiatric nursing. My preference was informed by the growing need for mental healthcare services in healthcare systems across the US and globally. Mental health remains common in the US. Demographic data reveals that over 52 million American adults live with a form of mental health illness. WHO estimates reveal that the prevalence of mental health illnesses is increasing (Whitney & Peterson, 2019). Access to mental healthcare has remained a challenge in the US and globally. This is attributable to financial and resource limitations in addressing mental health illnesses, societal stigma against these disorders, misconception and poor understanding of these disorders, and insufficient policies on mental health impeding access to mental health care (Carbonell et al., 2020). It is for this reason that I prefer psychiatric nursing. My preference is informed by the pursuit to alleviate the suffering of patients with mental health illnesses by providing quality care and championing the welfare of these patients through advocacy and involvement in policy formulation targeting this patient group.
Step 3: Professional Organizations
The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) is an umbrella body that continues to champion access to mental healthcare services. Founded in 1986, APNA has been on the front foot in championing psychiatric nursing and advocating better mental health care for all psychiatric patients. It is involved in disseminating information on assessing, diagnosing, treating, and evaluating mental health illnesses (DeCapua, 2022). All psychiatric nurses can be members of this association. Membership in this association follows a formal application and proof of qualification, which includes being a psychiatric nurse specialist, clinical nurse specialist, licensed nurse practitioner, and registered nurse. Full membership is attained upon paying the prerequisite membership fee of 135 dollars.
References
Carbonell, Á., Navarro‐Pérez, J. J., & Mestre, M. V. (2020). Challenges and barriers in mental healthcare systems and their impact on the family: A systematic integrative review. Health & Social Care in the Community, 28(5), 1366–1379. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12968.
DeCapua, M. (2022). American Psychiatric Nurses Association. APNA. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://www.apna.org/.
Kichefski , K. (2022). Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing – psychiatric nursing. APNA. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://www.apna.org/about-psychiatric-nursing/.
Whitney, D. G., & Peterson, M. D. (2019). US national and state-level prevalence of mental health disorders and disparities of mental health care use in children. JAMA Pediatrics, 173(4), 389. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.5399.
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Question 
At some point in every construction project, efforts turn from design, and the focus moves to actual construction. The blueprint can be finalized and approved with the vision and tools secured. Then, it is time to put on hard hats and begin work.
Academic Success and Professional Development Plan-Finalizing the Plan
You have developed aspects of your Academic and Professional Development Plan throughout the course. You have thought a great deal about your vision and goals, your academic and professional network of support, research strategies and other tools you will need, the integrity of your work, and the value of consulting the work of others. With your portfolio in place, it is time to finalize your blueprint for success.
As builders remain aware of the building standards as they plan and begin construction, nurses must remain mindful of the formal standards of practice that govern their specialties. Understanding these standards can help ensure that your success plan includes any steps necessary to excel within your chosen specialty.
In this Assignment, you will continue developing your Academic Success and Professional Development Plan by developing the final component–a review of your specialty standards of practice. You will also submit your final version of the document, including Parts 1–4.
Note: For students in Nursing Education, Executive Nursing, Nursing Informatics, or Public Health Nursing, this Assignment is the first Portfolio Assignment in your program. You will have one Portfolio Assignment in each of your courses. You must save these Assignments for inclusion in your portfolio that you will submit in your Capstone course.
To Prepare:
- Review the scope and standards of practice or competencies related to your chosen specialty in the resources for this module.
- Review the MSN specializations offered at Walden by viewing the module resource, Walden University. (n.d.). Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).
- Examine professional organizations related to your chosen specialization and identify at least one to focus on for this Assignment.
- Reflect on the thoughts you shared in the Discussion forum regarding your choice of a specialty, any challenges you have encountered in making this choice, and any feedback you have received from colleagues in the Discussion.
The Assignment:
Complete the following items and incorporate them into the final version of your Academic Success and Professional Development Plan.
- With the resources specific to the MSN specialization and Walden University. (n.d.). Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), shared in this module, write a paragraph or make a Nursing Specialty Comparison table, comparing at least two nursing specialties that include your selected specialization and second-preferred specialization.
- Write a 2- to 3-paragraph justification statement identifying your reasons for choosing your MSN specialization. Incorporate feedback you received from colleagues in this Module’s Discussion forum.
- Identify the professional organization related to your chosen specialization for this Assignment, and explain how you can become an active member.