Improvements made to successful PDRP
With casual nurses now included, optional pathways for Māori nurses, and less portfolio documents required, the Bupa Professional Development Recognition Program (PDRP) has been refined to ensure it continues to help all Bupa nurses in New Zealand.
The recent improvements came from feedback from those who had done the program such as Bupa Cashmere View Care Home Registered Nurse Mona Calalo. The Christchurch care home nurse now looks back after completing the competency level and says it improved her skills and allowed her to ‘sense check’ situations more clearly.
“It makes you reflect on what you’ve done in the past and if you encounter the same issue then you may approach it differently. It’s definitely made me a better nurse and given me more confidence to continue this career,” Mona says.
Mona’s most challenging part of the process was making the information make sense.
“Writing down what I’d encountered on the job, including the follow-up, was a challenge to explain and make it understandable for others. It did take a couple of rewrites to get it right,” Mona says.
The PDRP enables New Zealand nurses to take responsibility for their own development and to advance their professional skill set by keeping a portfolio of their experience. Bupa was the first aged care provider in New Zealand to have a PDRP approved by the Nursing Council of New Zealand.
Bupa The Booms (Thames) Clinical Manager Jade Monigatti completed her proficiency level earlier this year and says the program helped her to know what stage she was at in her education.
“It gives you the opportunity to put everything you’ve learnt from your three year nursing degree into practice. It’s now on my CV under skills and experience and I’m really proud of that,” Jade explains.
With competent, proficient and expert levels to complete, nurses are encouraged to continue to add to their knowledge and education throughout their career progression. Since it was implemented in 2012, a growing number of nurses are aware of it and have signed up.
“I was talking to a nurse the other day who was thinking about a position with us and she already knew about the program, so it’s great that the word is out there,” adds Jade.
Jade’s next step is to attain a clinical manager proficiency level which she aims to begin later this year.
