Nursing Professional Development Practitioners' Self-Perceived Influence.

In a quantitative study to determine nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners' self-perceived influence, influence was operationally defined as political skill. A sample of 989 NPD practitioners reported high-average overall levels of political skill. For those without formal leadership positions, networking ability, a subscale of political skill, was predicted by NPD certification and a graduate degree or higher. NPD practitioners can enhance their influence competency through education, certification, professional development, mentoring, and coaching.

Findings From the 2021 Organizational Value of Nursing Professional Development Practice, Part 3: A Comparison of Pediatric and Adult Hospitals.

In 2021, the Association for Nursing Professional Development commissioned a national study to examine relationships between nursing professional development (NPD) staffing and organizational outcomes and to compare NPD staffing in pediatric and adult hospitals. This report compares data from children's and adult hospitals, which indicate that children's hospitals, in general, have significantly more staffing resources, including NPD practitioners. Insufficient data were obtained to examine relationships between NPD staffing in children's hospitals and organizational outcomes.

Findings From the 2021 Organizational Value of Nursing Professional Development Practice Study, Part 1: Overview and Descriptive Data.

A 2015 study exploring the correlations between nursing professional development (NPD) staffing and organizational outcomes was replicated in 2021. Part 1 of this two-part report provides background information and descriptive data, including organizational characteristics, NPD department structures, and NPD practitioner ratios per employee, per RN, and per hospital bed. Findings reflect the proliferation of hospital systems, expansion of NPD practice to include other professions and all employees, and little change in NPD certification.

Findings From the 2021 Organizational Value of Nursing Professional Development Practice Study, Part 2: Relationships Between Nursing Professional Development Staffing and Organizational Outcomes.

A 2015 study exploring the relationship between nursing professional development (NPD) staffing and organizational outcomes was replicated in 2021. The background, including literature review, methods, and descriptive statistics, were presented in Part 1 of this report. Part 2 explores the relationships between NPD staffing and organizational outcomes. Evidence suggests that higher levels of NPD staffing are associated with many positive nursing and patient outcomes and provide financial benefit to the organization.

The Multisite Nursing Professional Development Leader Competency Determination Study.

In recognition of the emerging role of the multisite nursing professional development (NPD) leader, the Association for Nursing Professional Development commissioned a study to obtain consensus around the competencies needed by individuals in this position. Electronic Delphi surveys with NPD practitioners who have responsibility for multiple sites identified competencies related to executive nursing, business acumen, organizational alignment, communication and relationship building, and NPD practice.

Informing the Nursing Professional Development Scope and Standards: Exploring Current and Future Nursing Professional Development Practice Through a World Café Methodology.

A two-phase research study was conducted to inform the upcoming fourth edition of Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice. This column describes Phase 1, which used a virtual world café methodology to gather qualitative data from 32 nursing professional development experts. Eighteen themes emerged from the data supporting the six responsibilities of the nursing professional development practitioner. Researchers found the virtual world café to be a useful technique for eliciting expert opinions.

Three Years' Experience.

Since its publication in 2016, the third edition of Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice has generated excitement for the specialty. The scope and standards has promoted uniformity of title, stimulated changes in position descriptions, fostered adherence to scope of practice, and served as a unifying framework for system-wide nursing professional development departments. However, continued action is required in the areas of advocacy, research, and engagement with the specialty organization.

Meritorious Academic Partnership Designation: Recognizing Nursing Professional Development in Graduate Curricula.

Graduate nursing education programs' focus on preparation for academia results in many graduate nurses being unprepared to function as nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners in the practice environment. This article describes the development of an innovative collaborative partnership designation program and how a specialty organization, health system, and academia partnered to create an educational program to prepare NPD practitioners. The designation program provides a practical tool for use by NPD departments to advocate for the NPD specialty.

Meritorious Academic Partnership (MAP) Designation Program.

A common concern of leaders of nursing professional development (NPD) or education departments in practice settings is hiring nurses with a master's degree in nursing education who lack the requisite knowledge and skills to adequately fulfill the position. As we speak with NPD practitioners around the country, we typically find less than one third who report NPD content in their master's in nursing education curriculum. Like NPD department leaders, these nurses recognize that they were prepared to work in academia but not in the practice setting. The irony of this gap in graduate nursing education content is that in many cases, opportunities for master's-prepared nurses to teach in an academic setting are limited. Furthermore, many master's-prepared nurses prefer an NPD role in the practice setting. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2019;50(7):293-296].

Ninety Years and Counting: The Past, Present, and Future of the Nursing Professional Development Specialty.

This article describes the long history of the specialty of nursing professional development (NPD), the founding of NPD's specialty organization, National Nursing Staff Development Organization, and the organization's transformation and growth to meet the ever-changing needs of NPD practitioners. Finally, the future of the NPD specialty is envisioned. This article provides the NPD practitioner with critical information to advocate for the specialty.

Nursing Professional Development's Spirit of Inquiry Focus Areas.

An Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD) task force was charged with redesigning the association's small research grant process. One step in this process included identifying focus areas for the specialty's spirit of inquiry. Using input from a round table discussion with ANPD annual convention attendees, the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development Editorial Board, and the convention evaluation query, 10 spirit of inquiry focus areas were identified that align with the Nursing Professional Development Practice Model.

Relationship Between Nursing Professional Development and the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Primary Accreditation Framework.

This article is the final one in the series addressing how nursing professional development practitioners operationalize the education design process criteria as delineated in the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Primary Accreditation Provider Application Manual to ensure high-quality continuing education activities. Specifically, this article explores the relationship between the ANCC primary accreditation framework's educational design process criteria and the Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2018;49(9):390-393.

Looking Back and Looking Forward Through the Lens of the Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice, 3rd Edition.

This final column in the Nursing Professional Development (NPD) Scope and Standards department provides five exemplars of incorporation of the scope and standards into NPD practice and ends with a call to action for all NPD practitioners.