Some courses may require students writing a professional development plan to determine their goals and views on the future from the professional perspective. It is quite easy if one knows what parts make such paper clear and concise, but at the same time informative.

A professional development plan has to include the following elements:

introduction with a thesis statement (idea of the plan and why it is important);

a long-term goal (for a specified period, for example 3 years, if you develop a 3-year plan) with short-term objectives;

student’s skills and experience assessment considering the goal above;

strong characteristics of a person and weaknesses that require improvement;

an action plan to achieve the set goal considering time limits;

conclusion summarizing the main findings.

As seen from above, the most important task is to set proper goals and objectives. Here, from the professional perspective, one should remember SMART criteria:

SPECIFIC – clear, to the point, described in detail (WHAT do you want to achieve? WHEN? HOW? WHO will collaborate with you or help you? and so on);

MEASURABLE – Specific outcomes and criteria, achieving which one can measure the success of goal realization (WHAT a person wants to achieve?);

ATTAINABLE – Real based on person’s skills, resources, time, and other factors;

RELEVANT – A perfect match of the goal with individual factors above;

TIMEBOUND – the goal should have deadlines.

For example, in the development of a professional plan having skills gained after the course of Community Nursing Concepts, the long-term goal can be as follows:

* Reducing local community obesity health problems by 5% through preventive measures and educational interventions as a community health nurse within 10 years.

It is specific targeting the local community and obesity among these people. The goal is measurable: the nurse can measure its achievement if issues are reduced by 5%. It is attainable considering knowledge of community nursing concepts and relevant skills. Based on nurse’s time, expertise, and resources, it is relevant. Finally, the goal has a deadline of 10 years.

Short-term objectives are necessary to present gradual steps towards the achievement of the goal. They can also follow SMART criteria.

So, the main points are to set long-term goals and short-term objectives considering SMART criteria, evaluate skills with strengths and weaknesses, and develop certain actions to take.