Explain what a professional development plan is, review how to create one and provide an example.

A professional development plan is a roadmap outlining an individual’s career and learning goals, as well as the steps they need to take in order to achieve them. It is designed to help professionals identify areas of growth and improvement while at the same time providing structure and focus. When creating a plan, it is important to consider factors such as current skills and experience level, personal strengths and weaknesses, desired job roles or responsibilities, educational objectives etc.

When developing a plan there are several key steps that should be taken; first one should create list of short-term (immediate) and long-term (future) goals related their field of expertise then break these down into smaller sub-goals which can then be further broken down into actionable tasks. Additionally it is advisable research available resources both internally externally that could help reach each goal faster more efficiently like attending seminars workshops or taking online courses for example. Furthermore networking regularly with likeminded individuals will not only provide additional support but also offer access valuable insight industry trends thus helping stay top game no matter what shifts might happen along way.

For example; if professional goal was advance nursing career then some potential sub-goals could include studying advanced patient care techniques, obtaining certifications within specialty area or researching higher education opportunities in same. Once these been identified they can then transformed into actionable tasks like taking refresher course anatomy physiology maybe even signing up participate clinical study if were interested specifically looking gain hands on experience all while maintaining day job course how much free time individual has available process would ultimately depend upon decision made by them under given circumstances no matter happens throughout journey itself.