1. What are the significant professional milestones in your Nursing Professional Development (NPD) journey/career?

BCDL: It's a challenge to narrow down my list of milestones-I'm fortunate to have many. The Editors' invitation to the inaugural "Ask an Expert" column is an honor, a validation, and a very present milestone. A few others include the following:

* Rich, varied teaching opportunities. I've served as camp nurse; school health nurse on a U.S. Air Force Base in Italy; and faculty with LPN, diploma, BSN, and PhD nursing students and education students, and in continuing education and competency development programs with nurses in many roles, including international nurses and APRNs. Since 1993, I've practiced as an independent consultant and experienced the stimulating variety of healthcare organizations and, at the same time, the similar issues that all face. I have learned a lot helping others learn.

* NNSDO (National Nursing Staff Development Organization) becoming ANPD (Association for Nursing Professional Development). I was in the room when NNSDO was conceived and have been so proud to see it evolve into ANPD. I've participated in every convention.

* Updating publications and continuing education courses over the years. It's the chance to reflect on change and growth. Getting Started in Nursing Staff Development led to the preconference Getting Started in NPD that I've presented at convention for the past 10 years and to the Web-based course Getting Started in Staff Education, now in its ninth year. Also, my role as a reviewer of manuscripts for two professional journals validates what I have learned.

* My NPD certification among the first group to be certified. This, along with my PhD work and expertise in tests and measurements, drew me to broader involvement in the credentialing community in nursing, health care, and other fields. I serve on the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nurse Certification, which accredits organizations that certify nurses in specialties. I also led a task force of nursing leaders in producing a statement about continuing competence. Many professional organizations, including ANPD, endorsed the statement.

* As a way of reckoning my own milestones, on every fifth year of my graduation from nursing school, I wear my school of nursing pin-a little bittersweet because Syracuse University School of Nursing no longer exists. I wore it recently to my niece's pinning ceremony. I gave her my mother's school of nursing pin awarded in the 1940s.

2. How have you seen the specialty of NPD grow/evolve/change during your career?

BCDL: The education process remains a strong foundation for our practice. We rely on it as we grow into a broader scope and interprofessional collaboration. We assess systems as well as learning needs. We design communications (just like we use educational methods) to capture attention and communicate our messages in a way that connects with stakeholders. We are moving beyond just reacting to mandates into assertive, proactive roles in which we anticipate, question practices, and prove our value with return-on-investment results. I'm also delighted to see the increase in NPD certifications and master's and doctoral degrees among our ranks.

3. What do you see as significant trends or gaps in NPD practice, from your perspective as an expert in NPD and in measurement?

BCDL: We have grown significantly in evaluating learning outcomes and their impact on patient, nurse, organizational, and fiscal outcomes. In 1986, I coauthored a chapter about evaluation research in staff development. Not much to write about. Just about the only measure in use at that time was how many people showed up for class. We've come a long way in measurement and evaluation, but we need to continue to refine those skills. We also face the challenge of staying on top of developments in information and communication technologies and harnessing them for our use in NPD.

4. What insights can you share related to the value of NPD in healthcare organizations now and in the future?

BCDL: Value-based purchasing has sharpened our focus on nurse-centric measures of quality and safety. In the Institute for Healthcare Improvement stories and other examples of safety and quality improvement, developing staff takes center stage, and organizational leadership commitment and engagement of all levels of personnel share the limelight. NPD plays a vital role in garnering leadership support and modeling collaboration across disciplines, professions, and levels of personnel. NPD usually has the most well-developed education and competency management program in the organization and can model for others.

5. What advice do you have for NPD specialists in the context of today's health care and learning environments?

BCDL:

* Outcomes, outcomes, outcomes! Do not shy away from capturing outcomes just because the information may be difficult to obtain or quantify or because we cannot control other variables to precisely measure the contribution of education. Attach dollar figures when you can, but when you can't, don't fail to report outcomes like improved resuscitation success or increased hospice referrals. Clearly define outcomes of all kinds: learning outcomes; performance outcomes; patient, staff, organizational outcomes; and fiscal outcomes. Stretch far beyond the outcome of how many attended. Display graphics to show progress toward outcomes.

* Create ways to engage staff in providing education, especially seasoned staff who often feel overlooked. Structure ways for them to contribute that fit with their staff responsibilities: superusers, skills stations, targeted help with precepting, and many other ways. It's a win-win-win: Staff are receptive to their peers; those participating develop professionally, and you gain more planning time.

* As leaders in professional development, keep in mind that at all points on the novice-to-expert continuum (Benner, 1984), competency is always under construction for staff and for us. Pardon our dust as we maintain and advance professional development.

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