Portfolios in the Nursing Profession, Use in Assessment and Professional Development

Portfolio development in nursing is continuing to gain momentum both as a strategy for academic assessment and as a method for providing evidence of continuing professional development. A portfolio provides a compilation of evidence relating to your learning journey, which may consist of reflections, testimonials from colleagues/managers, observations, and clinical experiences that are personal to you.

The depth and breadth of this information is dependent on the potential use of the portfolio and will vary according to whether it forms part of an interview process, or must be completed for an academic programme within a higher educational setting. Whatever their use, portfolios are here to stay and should be embraced as a tremendous learning opportunity.

From the editor’s and contributing authors’ experience both in clinical practice and as educators, it is felt that issues arising from portfolio development continue to be raised by students and qualified nurses, with common queries of, ‘I just don’t know where to start’ and ‘What shall I include?’ Therefore it is our intention within this text to address some of these issues to help you gain an understanding of the essence of portfolio development in relation to recognising and identifying learning; objective setting and action planning, including information and advice on how to organise your portfolio; types of evidence that may be useful to include; its relation to assessment and lifelong learning; and how this can lead to an enjoyable and empowering process.

Within the various chapters there are examples of templates that you may wish to use for your own portfolio, or to act as a basis for your own ideas and development.

Whatever your reason for developing a portfolio, which is personal to you and your learning, this book will help you to approach its development with enthusiasm and the knowledge that it will be an enjoyable and rewarding learning journey.