Learning Plan

Instructions: Refer to CNO's Quality Assurance: Your Guide to Self-Assessment for information and
examples that will help you complete your Learning Plan.

1. Reflect on your practice

Refer to CNO's Practice Reflection questions to help you think about your experiences and identify
areas of your practice that need professional development.
Watch: How to become a reflective practitioner for guidance on how to reflect.

2. Identify your learning needs

What learning needs have you identified in your practice reflection? You may want to talk with a peer(s) or colleague(s) about
your practice to help you identify these areas.
Consider the following:

What areas in your nursing practice need further development?

How will addressing your learning needs help you improve your nursing practice?

3. Define your learning goals

Now that you know your learning needs, identify two specific learning goals based on those needs.
When defining your learning goals, consider the following:

What changes in your practice do you expect to see?

Are your goals realistic?

Have you set a timeline to reach your goal?

Watch: Are your learning goals SMART? to enhance your learning goals.

4. Link your goals

What principles of the Code of Conduct do your goals align with?

Principle 1: Nurses respect the dignity of patients and treat them as individuals.

Principle 2: Nurses work together to promote patient well-being.

Principle 3: Nurses maintain patients' trust by providing safe and competent care.

Principle 4: Nurses work respectfully with colleagues to best meet patients' needs.

Principle 5: Nurses act with integrity to maintain patients' trust.

Principle 6: Nurses maintain public confidence in the nursing profession.

5. Describe your learning activities

Describe the learning activities you plan to complete to achieve your learning goals. Indicate a timeline for each activity to help
you stay on track.
Consider the following:

What resources will you need?

What is your learning style (e.g., visual, auditory etc.)?

6. Reflect on your plan

Use this section to reflect on your Learning Plan and evaluate changes to your practice.
Consider the following:

Did you achieve your learning goal?

If yes, what changes did you make to your practice as a result?

If no, what prevented you from achieving them?

© College of Nurses of Ontario | Learning Plan 2022

Learning Plan
Name: Carley Mayer Date: March 10 2023
Collection of Personal Information: Please review the Privacy Policy on the College of Nurses of Ontario's (CNO) website
(www.cno.org/privacy) to understand how your personal information will be used.

Need help? Read Quality Assurance: Your Guide to Self-Assessment for tips on how to create a Learning Plan.

Learning goal 1

Describe an area in your practice you want to further develop.

As a nurse, documentation is an essential part of my career, which both shares vital information with other professionals and is a
safeguard for myself, providing proof of timely and accurate care. During my placement, I recognized I had difficulty determining
what was important information to share and what information was unnecessary. My goal is to improve this skill.

Define your learning goal. What is it that you want/need to learn? Include a timeline for when you want to achieve this goal.
Watch: Are your learning goals SMART? to enhance your learning goals.

Specific: I will enhance my nursing documentation skills by charting required information concisely and accurately.

Measurable: I will track my progress by seeking feedback from peers, instructors, and professionals on my documentation at
each note. I aim to receive two or fewer improvement suggestions on each note by October 20, 2023.

Achievable: I will work towards this goal by actively engaging in practice documentation during Thursday's Health Assessment
classes and applying feedback received during my clinical placement each week.

Relevant: Improving my documentation skills is essential in nursing for effective communication within the healthcare team,
safeguarding myself and meeting professional standards.

Timely: I will improve my documentation to the point of receiving two or fewer improvement suggestions per note by October 20,
2023. I will apply the feedback and lessons learned each week to make ongoing improvements.

Describe the learning activities you plan to complete to achieve your goal. Include a timeline to stay on track.

I will further learn and practice documentation skills by participating in Health Assessment classes every Thursday. We utilize case
studies and videos during these sessions, offering practice opportunities. Our work is reviewed individually in real-time and cross-
referenced with master copies, followed by feedback. These activities are already integrated into my current course schedule,
ensuring I remain on track with my goal. In case of any missed classes, I will seek support by connecting with a peer to collect missed
content or by requesting printed case studies from the professor.

What principles of the Code of Conduct does your goal align with

Principle 1: Nurses respect the dignity of patients and treat them as individuals.

Principle 2: Nurses work together to promote patient well-being.

Principle 3: Nurses maintain patients' trust by providing safe and competent care.

Principle 4: Nurses work respectfully with colleagues to best meet patients' needs.

Principle 5: Nurses act with integrity to maintain patients' trust.

Principle 6: Nurses maintain public confidence in the nursing profession.

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© College of Nurses of Ontario | Learning Plan 2022
Learning goal 2

Describe an area in your practice you want to further develop.

As a nurse, balancing multiple patient needs will be a large part of my role, and learning to navigate two or more patients will be
beneficial to ensure I practice time management skills early on.

Define your learning goal. What is it that you want/need to learn? Include a timeline for when you want to achieve this goal.
Watch: Are your learning goals SMART? to enhance your learning goals.

Specific: Starting next week, I will practice my time management skills by taking a second patient.

Measurable: I will track my progress by completing one head-to-toe assessment, one set of vitals on each patient and
documenting two nursing notes on each patient each shift.

Achievable: I will work towards this goal by requesting a second patient before Monday. With feedback and practice, I will be
able to meet this goal.

Relevant: Improving my time management skills to balance multiple patients will be a regular part of nursing. Practicing this skill
early will help me better manage more demands later.

Timely: I will achieve this goal by October 20, 2023. I will apply the feedback and lessons learned each week to make ongoing
improvements.

Describe the learning activities you plan to complete to achieve your goal. Include a timeline to stay on track.

I will email my instructor before Monday to formally make this request to work towards this goal. I will complete patient research for
both patients, including their medications. I will check in with the nurse at the start of the shift and make a plan to balance care. I will
practice this on Tuesday and Wednesday and then evaluate my progress to plan for the following week. I will continue this until I
receive positive feedback and feel confident.

What principles of the Code of Conduct does your goal align with

Principle 1: Nurses respect the dignity of patients and treat them as individuals.

Principle 2: Nurses work together to promote patient well-being.

Principle 3: Nurses maintain patients' trust by providing safe and competent care.

Principle 4: Nurses work respectfully with colleagues to best meet patients' needs.

Principle 5: Nurses act with integrity to maintain patients' trust.

Principle 6: Nurses maintain public confidence in the nursing profession.

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© College of Nurses of Ontario | Learning Plan 2022
Reflect on your plan
Use this section to reflect on your Learning Plan and evaluate changes to your practice. See the instruction sheet for what to
consider. If you don't accomplish your goals this year, you can always carry them forward into your next Learning Plan.

Goal #1

I have asked for peer feedback on my current notes and have begun documenting the number of suggestions at each interaction to
track my improvements. I will continue to track the feedback to work towards my goal.

I applied two suggestions on Wednesday Sept 20th from a peer to improve my consciousness.

I completed additional written documentation surrounding abnormal responses on Thursday Sept 21 st and have submitted this to my
lab professor by email for additional feedback.

Goal #2

I will email the instructor before Monday to formally request a second patient. I have started a page in my notebook to rate my
confidence on a scale of 0-10 each week to track my feelings and refer back if needed.

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© College of Nurses of Ontario | Learning Plan 2022

Meeting Expectations
Learning gaps reflect active
Identifies learning
and careful consideration of
gaps
existing knowledge.
Goals are specific,
Defines learning measurable, achievable,
goals realistic/relevant, and time
limited.
Goals are appropriately
Links goals to Code of aligned to relevant
Conduct principles from the Code of
Conduct.
Learning activities are
appropriate to the goal,
specific, and realistic for the
current clinical placement.
Activities provide
Describes learning
opportunity for the student
activities
to seek and use new
knowledge that will
enhance/influence/support
competent practice.
Reflection articulates
insight into what the
learner has accomplished
Evaluates outcome
and how the knowledge will
improve their nursing care.
Few/minor errors in
grammar, overall
APA organization of writing and
clarity of writing
Approaching
Expectations
Learning gaps reflect
minimal consideration of
existing knowledge.
1-2 goals are specific,
measurable, achievable,
realistic/relevant, and time
limited.
Goals are somewhat aligned
to relevant principles from
the Code of Conduct
Learning activities are
somewhat appropriate to
the goal, specific, and
realistic for the current
clinical placement.
Activities somewhat
provide opportunity for the
student to seek and use
new knowledge that will
enhance/influence/support
competent practice.
Reflection articulates
minimal insight into what
the learner has
accomplished and how the
knowledge will improve
their nursing care.
Several errors in grammar,
overall organization of
writing and clarity of
writing
Below Expectations
Learning gaps do not reflect
consideration of existing
knowledge.
Goals are not specific,
measurable, achievable,
realistic/relevant, or time
limited.
Goals are not appropriately
aligned to relevant
principles from the Code of
Conduct.
Learning activities are not
appropriate to the goal
and/or not specific, and/or
not realistic for the current
clinical placement.
Activities do not provide
sufficient opportunity for
the student to seek and use
new knowledge that will
enhance/influence/support
competent practice.
Reflection does not
articulate insight into what
the learner has
accomplished and how the
knowledge will improve
their nursing care.
Major or frequent errors in
grammar, overall
organization of writing and
clarity of writing
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© College of Nurses of Ontario | Learning Plan 2022