Walden University NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties – Step-By-Step Guide

This task requires you to lay the foundation for how you will succeed professionally and academically. You are required to align your vision with Walden University’s mission and vision. These steps will help you find it easy to succeed as a student in the institution and during your later years as a healthcare practitioner. Another objective will be to review the vision and mission statements of the university and the course’s learning outcomes.

In doing so, you will understand how the university’s principles align with your values. Understanding how the university supports academic success and social change can further help your development. It also requires you to identify professional and academic teams and individuals that will be essential in supporting your journey toward academic and professional development. The discussion also requires that you introduce yourself to other colleagues, explaining how your personal goals align with the vision and the missions of the university.

How to Research and Prepare for NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties

The initial stage in researching Walden University NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties will be the review of Walden University and the College of Nursing resources, which includes the visions and the missions of the institution. You can access these resources from the university’s website and other academic resources provided in the learning modules. The resources will be essential in guiding you on aligning your values with them and making any necessary changes to bring about a positive change.

Subsequently, you will review the learning outcomes that articulate the competencies and skills that you will be required to develop by the end of the course. Going through the course outcomes will help you pinpoint areas where your professional and academic goals align with the course objectives, ensuring you gain the necessary skills and competencies to achieve personal and professional aspirations.

Additionally, you will exhaustively explain your choice of a nurse practitioner specialty such as acute care within the program. Be sure to adequately describe any difficulties you had (or are having) in making your choice i.e primary care, and the factors that drove/are driving your decision. Identify at least one professional organization affiliated with your chosen specialty and provide details on becoming a member. 

Another step will be to identify the potential teams and individuals you can collaborate with to progress. You will rely on various strategies to identify them, such as analyzing the profiles of the relevant faculty advisors who can mentor youth throughout the program. You can also seek the help of student support services such as career advisors to connect you with other peers. You can also join online communities and professional nursing organizations to expand their professional network.

You will look for articles and resources on nurse practitioner specialties to guide you on the best strategies for forming and maintaining professional relationships, as well as how to use platforms like LinkedIn to look for job prospects and get opportunities to attend professional seminars and conferences. The last step after the research will be to synthesize the information to be used in writing the discussion post. By following the research approach designed above, you will see that your discussion post is comprehensive and evidence-based and considers your personal goals and the help from the university and the faculty.

How to Write the Introduction for NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties

The introduction will include a summary of myself, your professional background and academic aspirations. You will also explore how the university’s mission, vision and goals align with your academic and professional objectives. You will explain how the institution’s commitment to academic success and social change can help you become an effective healthcare worker in the future. They can also expound on how the learning outcomes will be crucial to meeting their goals. They will also highlight how networking will be crucial in helping them get opportunities to interact with other people and attend professional seminars and conferences.

How to Write the body for NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties

Writing the body for NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties will involve several paragraphs, each with a main point and supporting evidence. You will highlight the importance of your selected specialty in helping a nurse like you to access multiple opportunities in the healthcare field. You will be straight to the point, ensuring your points are understood. You will also ensure that you end with a conclusion sentence to summarize the content of each paragraph to promote comprehension.

How to Write the In-text citations for NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties

In-text citations are a way for the writer to give credit to the authors for the resources they have used to write a paper. They involve informing the reader of the content about the author from which the ideas used have been borrowed. This involves mentioning the author and the date that the original resource was published, which is usually included in parentheses. The writer can choose to directly quote the author or summarize the content in their own words. In-text citations are a way for writers to inform the readers that the content is not their own words but that they have borrowed the insights from someone else.

APA requires that one include the author’s last name and the date of publication in parenthesis when citing at the beginning of a sentence, for example, as in “Author (2012) concludes that a person is innocent until proven guilty.” One can also include the author and the date in parenthesis when the statement is given first before crediting the author, as in “A person is innocent until proven guilty (Author, 2012).” When more than two writers are involved, the statement “et al.” is used to show that there are other writers who are referred to, like in “A person is innocent until proven guilty (Author et al., 2012).”

How to format the reference list for NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties

The reference list must always start on a new page with the title “References,” which should be in title case, bolded, and centered. The references should be sorted in ascending order. Each entry should start with the list of authors, the title of the journal or book, the date of publication, and the name of the journal. If a journal is referenced, the title should be in a title case, and each letter of the name of the journal should be capitalized. If a website is referenced, the date of access to the resource should be given with an active hyperlink to the resource. In the case of a journal, the hyperlink to the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) should be provided.

References

Walden University. (n.d. a). College of Nursing. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/fieldexperience/son#s-lg-box-3837398

Walden University. (n.d. b). Writing Center. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter 

NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties Instructions

In this Assignment, we will focus on NURS 6003 Discussion: Examining Nursing Specialties. As a nurse practitioner, you have probably seen one or more of the many inspirational posters about decisions. A visual such as a forked road or a street sign is typically pictured, along with a quote designed to inspire.

Often decisions are not so easily inspired. Perhaps you discovered this when choosing a specialty like acute care within the MSN program. In nursing practice, this decision is a critical part of your plan for success, and you no doubt want to get it right. This is yet another area where your network can help, as well as other sources of information that can help you make an informed choice.

To Prepare

Reflect on your decision as a nurse practitioner to pursue a specialty within the MSN nursing practice program, including your professional and academic goals as they relate to your program/specialization.

By Day 3

Post an explanation of your choice of a nurse practitioner specialty such as acute care within the program. Describe any difficulties you had (or are having) in making your choice i.e primary care, and the factors that drove/are driving your decision. Identify at least one professional organization affiliated with your chosen specialty and provide details on becoming a member.

Support the main post with 3 or more current, credible sources and cite source within content of posting and on a reference list in proper APA.

By Day 6

  • Be sure to offer support from at least 2 current, credible sources in each required response to classmates’ main post and cite per APA.
  • Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days, by sharing your thoughts on their specialty, supporting their choice, or offering suggestions if they have yet to choose.

Submission and Grading Information

Example Paper on NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties – Choice of Nursing Specialty

After considering all the nursing specialties in the MSN program, I decided on population-focused nurse practitioner (NP). A population-focused NP works in a variety of settings in the healthcare field, including hospitals, academia as nurse educators, and leadership as policymakers and influencers. Clinical expertise, communication skills, and advanced education and training enable NPs to perform effectively in various settings. 

An NP goes beyond registered nurses (RNs) in terms of education and clinical training by earning a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)-Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) with a specific focus such as pediatrics, family medicine, or gerontology (Population-Focused Competencies Task Force, 2013). While NPs work in various settings and have a wide range of competencies, their primary roles in patient care revolve around disease prevention and health management.

Difficulties in Making the Choice

One of the most challenging decisions to make before beginning an MSN program is the specialty. There are several nursing specialty programs from which to pick, which is a difficult undertaking. Furthermore, although one may be interested in a certain specialization, it is pretty easy to succumb to the pressure and influence of friends, family, and peers who may have conflicting perspectives about a particular nursing specialty. My greatest dilemma, I confess, was the several nursing specializations from which I had to choose one. Also, I had friends and family who expected me to choose a specific path, only to be disappointed by my decision to pursue a different nursing specialization. 

The fact that a population-focused nurse practitioner specialization focuses on the whole population and allows a nurse to practice in pediatrics, gerontology, or family medicine (Population-Focused Competencies Task Force, 2013) was the motivation for my choice of the area. As a result, despite the difficulties, I ducked all other influences from family and friends and picked this specialty.

Factors that drove my Decision

This nursing specialty has always piqued my curiosity. Since my first years of practice as an RN, I have encountered a wide range of patients and have been able to address their difficulties. Regardless of the patient’s age, whether pediatric or geriatric, I have always carried out my responsibilities with rigor and the necessary skill. Aside from my enthusiasm for the subject, I have an FNP preceptor, and the knowledge and skills I have gained from her have contributed to my interest in population-focused nursing practice. 

During clinical rotations, I also got to know nursing students pursuing FNP MSN programs, which piqued my interest even further. As I look forward to pursuing a population-focused nurse practitioner-FNP course, my major inspirations are my interest and the impact of prominent persons in the specialty.

Professional Organization Affiliated with the Chosen Specialty and Details of Membership

The International Family Nursing Association (IFNA) is one of the professional organizations with which FNPs are affiliated. IFNA believes in a compassionate family on health, human dignity, social justice, and respect for everyone (IFNA, 2022). The organization’s mission is to improve family health by (1) serving as a global unifying force and voice for family nursing, (2) sharing knowledge, skills, and practice to foster family nursing practice, and (3) fostering nursing leadership through education, scholarship, and research (IFNA, 2022). 

To become a member, a nurse goes to the IFNA website and clicks on the membership icon to select the membership level that best fits them. Level 1A, the Sustaining Active Member, for example, requires a $225.00 prescription that is valid for one year and has no automatically repeating payments (IFNA, 2022). However, one must have the requirements, including academic credentials, before applying for membership.

NURS 6003 Discussion Examining Nursing Specialties References

Also Read: 

NURS 6003 Assignment Academic Success and Professional Development Plan Part 5

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