Liddicoat, R: Professional Learning Plans

Professional development is an ongoing process enabling professionals to improve their performance. Are public health nurses and managers ready to be engaged in a new way of exploring professional learning plans? Is a coaching framework a way to proceed? Can coaching as an approach affect change related to the nurse‘s practice and standards? A professional learning plan is a tool that identifies specific criteria for continual success. The criteria involve components directly related to leadership capabilities, and process including collegiality, collaboration, support, acknowledgement, and reflection. A professional learning plan should be to not change people by letting them know what they need to improve on, but build on their strengths so change occurs. The relationship between the public health nurse and his or her manager is a key component of professional development. A professional learning plan that the nurse owns and the manager supports would be one way to build this relationship. Coaching signifies a strength-base approach and a process to enable relationships. It is a process of dialogue, discovering, learning about issues and challenges.