Influence is "The power of affecting change, behaviors, and decisions of others without formal authority or the perceptible application of force (Merriam-Webster, n.d.); the NPD superpower! (R. Frija, personal communication, March 2, 2021)" (Harper & Maloney, 2022, p. 116).
Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards, 4th edition, is scheduled for release at the Association for Nursing Professional Development annual convention in late March (Harper & Maloney, 2022). As with previous editions of the scope and standards, the concept of influence is key to nursing professional development (NPD) practice. The term influence appears in the scope and standards almost 30 times. According to the scope and standards, NPD practitioners influence the interprofessional practice and learning environments, stakeholders, the specialty, nursing, and health care. The purpose of this column is to recount the use of influence as described in the scope and standards and provide actionable strategies to achieve and use influence in NPD practice in alignment with the scope and standards.
PRACTICE AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
NPD practitioners influence the interprofessional practice and learning environments through leadership and development of collaborative partnerships (Harper & Maloney, 2022). Relationships are integral to getting work done. Haines (2019) suggests that we work within a society that has its own culture and suggests focusing on the following:
* listening actively,
* recognizing and using "informal networks" (p. 62),
* adjusting your behavior to align with the implicit and explicit norms of the organization,
* engaging in meaningful conversations,
* sensing the needs of others and what motivates them,
* appealing to others' needs and motivations,
* obtaining input,
* supporting others, and
* encouraging interprofessional cooperation to achieve organizational goals.
Leadership and collaborative partnerships lead to opportunities to influence the organization and support a culture of equity and inclusion as described in Standard 9, Respectful and Equitable Practice (Harper & Maloney, 2022). Woolforde (2021) suggests educating yourself, understanding and teaching the specific needs of the community served, promoting a diverse workforce, and building "an army of advocates" (p. 164).
STAKEHOLDERS
Stakeholders are individuals with an interest in any component of NPD practice (Harper & Maloney, 2022). Their importance is evidenced by use of the term 28 times in the 18 NPD standards of practice and professional performance. NPD practitioners influence stakeholders through demonstration of NPD expertise and practice judgment. Organizational directors and managers are common stakeholders for NPD initiatives. NPD practitioners must refrain from the "pizza delivery" mindset in which they take orders from managers and directors and deliver NPD initiatives upon request (N. Gooding, personal communication, September 2, 2019). Instead, NPD practitioners use the standards of practice to assess and diagnose practice gaps that are amenable to NPD interventions or to collaborate to find solutions for issues that are not solved through NPD practice (Harper & Maloney, 2022). NPD practitioners must be attuned to stakeholders' expectations, solicit their input, use NPD practice judgment, and cooperate with them to achieve safe, high-quality patient care-a mutual goal.
NPD SPECIALTY
As an advocate for the NPD specialty, the NPD practitioner must have a foundational knowledge of the specialty, including its scope and standards (Maloney, 2017). Furthermore, the NPD practitioner must acknowledge a sense of belonging to the specialty. All too often, when a group of NPD practitioners is asked their specialty, most responses relate to direct patient care specialties such as critical care, perioperative, or medical-surgical nursing. Without intentional belonging to the NPD specialty, which is recognized as a nursing specialty by the American Nurses Association (2021), NPD expertise might be overlooked and result in less influence within the practice and learning environment. Intentional belonging includes certification, specialty association membership, advocating for NPD content in graduate nursing programs, and measuring and articulating the impact of NPD initiatives.
In addition, the NPD specialty is strengthened by the development and use of evidence to inform NPD practice. As explained in the scope and standards, the number of nurses with doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degrees has burgeoned, whereas the number of nurses with doctor of philosophy (PhD) degrees has plateaued over the past decade (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2020; Campaign for Action, 2020). PhD- and DNP-prepared nurses must work collaboratively to advance the science of NPD practice. PhD-prepared nurses are needed to conduct research and develop an evidence base for NPD practice. DNP-prepared nurses can evaluate and implement this evidence. "Both degrees, while different, are equally important and integral" (Harper & Maloney, 2022, p. 54) to advancing the NPD specialty.
NURSING PROFESSION
Like NPD specialty influence, association membership and engagement advance the profession. NPD practitioners also promote the nursing profession through membership on boards such as academic advisory councils, local youth volunteer sports boards, regional homeless coalition boards, state-wide nursing action coalitions, national association, and corporate boards (Nurses on Boards Coalition, n.d.).
HEALTH CARE
NPD practitioners' influence on health care is realized by their contributions to learning, change, and professional role competence and growth, which ultimately promote optimal care and population health (Harper & Maloney, 2022). This influence was incredibly evident at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic when NPD practitioners were challenged with ensuring staff competence in the face of changing guidelines, supply shortages, and redeployments. One vignette used in the new scope and standards titled "Reaching Across the Miles" demonstrates how NPD practice influences optimal healthcare outcomes and the utility of storytelling in demonstrating NPD impact (Maloney, 2017, Maloney & Harper, 2019).
SUMMARY
According to the fourth edition of the scope and standards, NPD practitioners are "strategically positioned to influence[horizontal ellipsis]" (Harper & Maloney, 2022, p. 21). Our specialty practice has an impact on interprofessional practice and learning environments, stakeholders, the specialty, nursing, and health care. NPD practitioners should maximize their influence through organizational leadership; collaborative partnerships; building relationships; alignment with their employing organization's mission and vision; supporting a culture of equity and inclusion; knowledge of and engagement with the NPD specialty and the nursing profession; and contributing to learning, change, and professional role competence and growth.
Influence is the NPD superpower! We must exert this superpower to achieve optimal care and population health.
References