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NURS 6002: Foundations of

Graduate Study

Academic and Professional Success Plan

Prepared by:

Lisa A. Cooper, RN, BSN, CWS

This document is to be used for NURS 6002 Foundations of Graduate Study to
complete Assessments 1-6. 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: My 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: Assigned Ambassador

Title: RN, BSN, MSN, NP

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: To help me navigate as I complete
my journey through this degree program and provide reassurance when I am
struggling.

Notes: Called Lorraine today and she will have an ambassador reach out to me.
NETWORK MEMBER 2

Name: Alicia Allen

Title: MSW, MEd

Organization: Spectrum Recovery

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: I know Alicia because I was in a
group that she taught over the course of three years. I learned a lot about
mindfulness, CBT, DBT, and anger management from her and her colleagues.

Notes: Not sure if this would be a conflict of interest for Alicia since I am a past
patient.
NETWORK MEMBER 3

Name: Southern Gulf Coast Alliance of Nurse Practitioners

Title: N/A

Organization: Southern Gulf Coast Alliance of Nurse Practitioners

Academic/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: They are local, and I will be able to
participate in meetings and volunteer work.

Notes: Have been emailing their contact person and they have a decreased rate
for students. I have joined and have already been invited to a dinner and two
meetings.
NETWORK MEMBER 4

Name: American Psychiatric Nurses Association

Title: N/A

Organization: American Psychiatric Nurses Association

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: This association has a large
number of clinical resources for its. I will be able to network with other nurses
and other nurse practitioners who have the same interests.
members
Notes: Still need to do more research on organization, benefits, and publications.

ADDITIONAL NETWORK MEMBERS

NETWORK MEMBER 5

Name: Clinician1

Title: Internet Networking site

Organization:

Academic or Professional: Professional

Why I selected this individual and/or team and how they will support my success
In my nursing program and as a practicing nurse: I will hopefully connect with a
group of people who have similar interests, values, and clinical views so we can
discuss clinical changes that occur, etc.

Notes: There is another networking site I will probably join that is also specific to
healthcare providers called Blue Pipe. I found out about it earlier today and it is
somewhat of a “LinkedIn” for healthcare professionals.

NETWORK MEMBER 6

Name: Conferences (in person events) & Journals

Title: Different Names

Organization: American Psychiatric Nurses Association; American Academy of
Nurse Practitioners; Nursing Ethics Network; etc
Academic or Professional: Academic & Professional

Why I selected the individuals or team and how they will support my success in
my nursing program and as a practicing nurse: I will need to go to conferences
and read scholarly journals in order to stay abreast od everything that is
changing in the world of medicine. Going to conferences, reading journals, and
trying to stay up to date via the internet are the best ways to accomplish this g
Week 2 | Part 2: Academic Resources and Strategies

I have identified the following academic resources and/or strategies that can be applied
to success in the nursing practice in general or my specialty in particular.

Directions: In the space below Identify and describe at least three academic
resources or strategies that can be applied to the MSN program, and at least three
professional resources that can be applied to success in the nursing practice in
general or your specialty in particular. For each, explain how you intend to use these
resources, and how they might benefit you academically and professionally.

ACADEMIC RESOURCE/STRATEGY 1: Walden Nursing Research

Library and the nursing specific librarians are going to be
indispensable resources and my strategy will be to use them to help
me find clear and concise research material to assist me in
completing papers, projects, and my own research while I am a
student here at Walden University and hopefully even afterwards. I
will use them via the website and possibly make appointments with
them to have some one on one time.

ACADEMIC RESOURCE/STRATEGY 2: I will use the SON template

already developed to execute my papers to ensure they are in the
proper format and to ensure that I don’t get points taken off my grade
because of formatting problems. I will also use other available
Walden templates as necessary and when called for to fulfill the same
purpose. The templates were clearly developed as an academic
resource to be shared and utilized by all students and to not use them
and get points taken off for incorrect formatting just doesn’t sound
like a good strategy to me. I will also use the massive amounts of
educational article about how to write a scholary paper, how to read
and write with critical thinking skill, how to use revision as a tool, the
MEAL plan, and the many other subject that are fount in the Walden
Writing Center

ACADEMIC RESOURCE/STRATEGY 3: The internet & magazines: I

will use the internet to search for recent articles (some from peer
reviewed journals, some not) as well as the nursing magazines I
receive in the mail, to find articles to support, or to not support, my
opinion or my view on certain subjects r/t papers and projects I have
to do. I receive the ANA magazine, Nurse 2019, the new magazine
dedicated to opiod addiction, and I have hundreds of wound care
journals and nutrition journals from the past few years.

PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE/STRATEGY 1: Southern Gulf Coast

Nurse Practitioner Council. I have already been invited to one dinner
meeting and two informational meetings through this group and will
use these meetings as a way of networking to increase my number of
professional resources. I hope to meet NP’s of all types, but
especially PMHNP’s. I’m excited about the possibility of speaking
with, and forming relationships with other NP’s, regardless of their
specialty.

PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE/STRATEGY 2: Clinician1 Internet

networking website. This will be somewhat of a challenge for me as I
prefer not to spend my spare time on the computer. However,
realizing that this is an important part of my academic and
professional success plan will provide motivation for me to sign in
and post and respond to other posts and develop relationships.
PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE/STRATEGY 3: The staff at Spectrum
Recovery (Alicia, David, & Michelle); all masters and one doctorate
prepared therapists that might be a part of my clinicals and
preceptorship. They are amazing resources and when you add
together their years of experience, it is quite impressive. Their facility
is on the cutting edge of mental health therapy without using
medication (although they do partner with 2-3 Psychiatrists in the
area). They also run numerous group therapies for many different
types of clients every week and are truly dedicated to helping each of
their clients.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES/STRATEGIES:
BLUEPIPE.COM: THIS IS ANOTHER INTERNET NETWORKING SITE
FOR HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL ONLY AND COULD BE A
VALUABLE RESOUCE AS WELL. SINCE I HAVE ALREADY JOINED
CLINICIAN1, I AM NOT SURE ABOUT JOINING THIS WEBSITE, BUT
MORE THAN LIKELY, I WILL JOIN AND USE THIS TO MEET MORE
PROFESSIONALS.

Although this group is already listed in week on, the Southern Gulf Coast Nurse
Practitioner Council is going to be an indispensable professional resource because I
am going to meet many local Nurse Practitioners whom I will be interacting with after I
graduate. The practitioners will have words of wisdom for me as I go through school
and prepare to take the exam, It is so important to surround yourself with people who
have what you want in this world.
Week 3 | Part 3: 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: Writing Sample: The Connection Between Academic and Professional

Integrity

In the space below write a 2- 3-paragraph analysis that includes the following:

 Explanation for the relationship between academic integrity and writing

 Explanation for the relationship between professional practices and scholarly
ethics
 Cite at least 2 resources that support your arguments, being sure to use proper
APA formatting.
 Use Grammarly and SafeAssign to improve the product.
 Explain how Grammarly, Safe Assign, and paraphrasing contributes to academic
integrity

Academic integrity can be found in numerous places on the internet. Each definition is
comprised of mostly the same components with a few variations. For purposes of this
explanation, I used the definition from the International Center for Academic Integrity, 2013.
Academic integrity is based on six essential pillars; respect, honesty, trust, fairness,
responsibility, and courage (The Fundamental Values, 2013, p. 16). Academically evolved
communities/universities value the individuality brought into the community by a diverse
population. Having respect means being able to face challenges with integrity and not letting it
“get under your skin” as most people would. Honesty is indispensable to any institution that
strives for academic integrity. When there is honesty, the resulting value of trust is easily
solidified. Fairness results from a community of transparency. It is necessary that faculty and
students maintain a level of clarity with each other in order to foster a feeling of fairness (The
Fundamental Value, 2013, p. 22). When it comes to upholding the value of integrity, academic
communities must have people and groups willing to be accountable; to take action when they
see wrongdoing (The Fundamental Value, 2013, p. 26). This is what responsibility looks like in
academic environments. Courage is the value that ties it all together. You can have the other 5
values, but without the courage to act on them, you have nothing. You must be willing to stand
up for your values in the face of adversity, because the world will certainly show you adversity
when you attempt to live with integrity. Courage will help you accomplish your goals.

Academic writing is a direct reflection of this, as well as the other 5 pillars. The only
way to thrive as an institution is to exhibit academic integrity in all work by all scholars. There
is no room for plagiarism or self-plagiarism.

Each social science discipline must have a code of ethics. For nurses and advanced
practice nurses, it is the ANA Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements. This code outlines
how a nurse is to go about her professional practice and stay within the context of scholarly
ethics. The Code of Ethics discusses the nurses’ duties, responsibilities, and obligations to
his/her patient, the nursing profession, and his/her colleagues. When one takes on the title of
nurse, one accepts the Code of Ethics and agrees to act in a scholarly manner to fulfill the code.
The ANA states that, “All nurses must participate in the advancement of the profession through
knowledge development, evaluation, dissemination, and application to practice” (p27). This
relies mostly on scholarly inquiry. How a nurse practices shows others what her scholarly ethics
are. If you see her taking extra narcotics when she thinks no one is looking, that tells you she has
no scholarly ethics. On the other hand, if you see her accidentally pop an extra narcotic out, then
go find another nurse, explain the situation, and waste the pill, that tells you something totally
different about her scholarly ethics. We all have ethics. It’s what we do when no one is looking
that really defines us.
 When you believe you have completed an assignment, don’t forget to utilize the tools that
Walden offers to help ensure you have created the best possible product. SafeAssign compares
your work against thousands of other works in books, journals, across the internet, etc. Your
hope is that you get a low score; indicating you have no plagiarism in your paper, but if you do
have some, at least you are now aware and can do something about it. Grammarly is like having
your own editor. Walden provides the basic service for free. This service will help correct
punctuation mistakes, misspellings, and spacing issues, but you can upgrade to another version
that will help you with sentence structure as well. It is well worth the investment. Finally,
paraphrasing is an easy way to take an authors’ ideas, make them your own, and use them in
your paper. You must be careful, though, you can’t just change one or two words; you need to
restate the idea entirely in your own terminology in order to correctly paraphrase. It can be a
useful tool when done right. Walden offers webinars and worksheets on correctly paraphrasing.

References

American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements.

Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/coe-view-only

International Center for Academic Integrity. (2013). The fundamental values of academic
integrity. Retrieved April 12, 2019, from https://academicintegrity.org/fundamental-
values/

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American psychological

association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Walden University Academic Skills Center. (n.d.). ASC success strategies: Plagiarism. Retrieved
April 9, 2019, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/ASCsuccess/ASCplagiarism

Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.). Grammarly: Overview. Retrieved April 9, 2019, from

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammarly
PART 2: Strategies for Maintaining Integrity of Work

Expand on your thoughts from Part 1 by:

 Identifying and describing strategies you intend to pursue to maintain integrity

and ethics of your 1) academic work while a student of the MSN program, and 2)
professional work as a nurse throughout your career. Include a review of
resources and approaches you propose to use as a student and a professional.

When I read The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity, there was a section
about the cheating statistics of today. Since the book was published in 2013, I assume
the numbers came from 2013. What I read was astonishing; over 75% of college
students had cheated during their undergraduate time in college, and worse than that,
80% of what schools consider to be; high-achieving, college-bound seniors also
admitted to cheating. The crazy thing is, none of them considered cheating to be a
serious offense. I believe a big part of the moral decline of this country is the lack of
education in ethics; not just in the healthcare fields, but in all fields. Ethics training
should begin before college. In my 22 years as an RN, I have had quite a few
experiences where maintaining my high level of ethics has cost me dearly, but I have
not regretted it one time. I suppose this is where the morality of this country is going.
Surrounded by that kind of morality, how does one maintain high moral values and
ethics? How does one maintain academic and professional integrity? Every day on the
news you hear about another company defrauding Medicare, but then again, is what
Medicare doing to the doctors and the recipients of Medicare fair? One could argue on
both sides. However, there are rules, and if those rules are in place, we must live with
integrity and abide by our code of ethics. As a student, I will pledge not to use contract
sites to get my work accomplished for me; I will utilize SafeAssign, Grammarly, the
writing center, and the many other tools that Walden offers to help improve my papers
as much as possible and to catch any possible plagiarism. I will utilize paraphrasing
only after I have read the entire article and understand the concept the author is trying
to get across so I can put it in my own words, and I will always cite my resources within
text when necessary and in a reference list. I also read all my papers to an
accountability partner out loud before turning them in to double check for any possible
issues with them. This goes without saying, but I will always abide by the ANA Code.
As a professional, I plan on having an accountability partner to listen to my
writings once I graduate as well, and I plan to abide by the ANA Code of Ethics for
nurses and advanced practice nurses. I promise not to bill for any service that I do not
complete myself, and I promise to treat all my clients with dignity and respect using the
code in every situation. I vow to be part of at least two nursing organizations where I
can share my opinions and attempt to influence legislation if possible, in a productive
way. I will also be accountable to the members of those organizations, and I will
advocate for pt.’s rights in my community. I also hope to be able to have group
sessions to help pt.’s with substance abuse issues and personality disorders as well as
eating disorders. Of course, this will all depend on funding, but this is a goal I have for
what I would like my practice to be. When I write, I will utilize the APA book, pocket
guide, and quickstudy as well as all of Walden’s APA resources if I still have access to
them, Purdueowl.com, and citationmachine website. I will write to advance the field of
nursing and I will let my conscience be my guide.

References
Hoskins, K., Grady, C, & Ulrich, C. (2018). Ethics education in nursing: Instruction for
future generations of nurses. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing,
23(1). Retrieved from
http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplaceANAPeriodicals
/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-23-2018/No1-Jan-2018/Ethics-Education-in-
Nursing.html
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive
statements. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/coe-view-only
Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.). Grammarly: Overview. Retrieved April 9,2019,
from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammarly

Week 4 | Part 4: 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: History of Sexual, Emotional, or Physical Abuse and
Psychiatric Comorbidity in Substance-Dependent Patients
Research Article: Daigre, C., Rodriguez-Cintas, L., Tarifa, M., Rodriguez-Martos, L., Grau-
Include full citation Lopez, L., Berenger, M., Casas, M., Roncero, C. (2015) Psychiatry
in APA format, as Research,229(3);,743-749.doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2015.08.008
well as link or
search details
(such as DOI)
Professional I believe the study I chose is a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy,
Practice Use: therapeutic approach, and Bowlby’s attachment theory. CBT is used frequently
One or more today with many types of patients to treat different conditions such as phobias,
professional anxiety and in conjunction with dialectical behavioural therapy to treat borderline
personality disorder; which was one of the statistically significant variables in my
practice uses of
study. Therapeutic approach helps clients modify self-defeating behaviours such
the as self-mutilation, bulimia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Bowlby’s
theories/concepts attachment theory is used for clients who never developed a strong sense of
presented in the attachment as a child.
article
Research Strengths of the Limitations of Relevancy to Notes
Analysis Matrix Research the Research Topic of
Add more rows if Interest
necessary Study is qualitative Complex and Need to know Don’t believe it
and quantitative involve high level numbers and could be done with
of mathematics types of illness just one form of
that occurred results
more often
 Large, but still Need to do a Maybe even just
Large number of maybe not large study with an multiple other
participants enough extremely large studies with about
group of clients 500 on same
subject
You need a large Can’t be Requires large
Provides insight sample for confident in sample for
into life accurate results results with statistical training to
experiences small sample make sense.
Often can remove Requires a highly There will With large # of
barriers of strict complicated always be some participants, this
academic computer barriers in an study actually went
approaches software system organized study very well.
Control association Researcher bias 7 psychiatrists,5 Did they possibly
b/t variables; cross may play a role psychologists; overanalyze??
tabulation, partial probability We will never know
correlation, & results could be if researcher bias
multiple skewed with played a role.
regressions slight bias
Ability to Confidentiality Informed Who knows if the
quantifyrelationship consents; clients received a
b/t variables records were “weekend” pass out
kept confidential of tx to participate?
Ability to see Clients may His situation We need accurate
“reality” of client’s sometimes say doesn’t information/garbage
situation what they think represent true in, garbage out
the researcher reality and
wants to hear therefore skews
results
Multivariate: Statistical Want results of Way to make
powerful test of modeling out-puts topic study to be results wasier to
significance as not easily understood d/t understand?
opposed to interpreted by important nature Include simple
univariate students of information. rationale within
paper?
Attempt to model Possibly trying to Maybe this Probably not, but
reality with number include too many caused just a thought
of variables variables information
overload and
affected study
Particularly Careful of Clients with hx It’s a good thing
important in social reactivity of of abuse & that this study can
science; those participants/could current help others who
researchers be triggered by a substance work in the field
generally unable to question abuse have
use randomized multiple triggers
laboratory
experiments.
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
Week 5 | Part 5: Professional Development

I have developed a curriculum vitae to capture my academic and professional

accomplishments to date. I have also developed a statement identifying one or more
professional development goals, and a statement proposing how I might align one or
more of these professional development goals with the University’s emphasis on social
change.

The results of my efforts are below.

Directions: Complete Step 1 by developing (or copying and pasting) a curriculum vitae
(CV) in the space provided. Complete Step 2 by completing a statement identifying your
professional development goals space identified. Complete Step 3 by writing a
statement proposing how you might align one or more of your professional development
goals with the University’s emphasis on social change.
Step 1: Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use the space below to write your CV based on your current education and
professional background. Alternatively, you may write this in a separate document and
copy/paste the results below.
NOTE: If needed there are a variety of online resources available with tips and samples
of graduate nurse CVs.
Step 2: Professional Development Goals
Use the space below to write a statement identifying your professional development
goals.

Step 3: Alignment with Social Change

Use the space below to write a statement proposing how you might align one or more of
your professional development goals with the University’s emphasis on social change.
Week 6 | Part 6: 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.

- END -