AACN Essentials

The Essentials

Domain 10 Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development

Descriptor: Participation in activities and self-reflection that foster personal health, resilience, and well-being; contribute to lifelong learning; and support the acquisition of nursing expertise and the assertion of leadership.

Contextual Statement: Competency in personal, professional, and leadership development encompasses three areas: 1) development of the nurse as an individual who is resilient, agile, and capable of adapting to ambiguity and change; 2) development of the nurse as a professional responsible for lifelong learning and ongoing self-reflection; and 3) development of the nurse as a leader proficient in asserting control, influence, and power in professional and personal contexts, which includes advocacy for patients and the nursing profession as leaders within the healthcare arena. Development of these dimensions requires a commitment to personal growth, sustained expansion of professional knowledge and expertise, and determined leadership practice in a variety of contexts.

Graduates must develop attributes and skills critical to the viability of the profession and practice environments. The aim is to promote diversity and retention in the profession, selfawareness, avoidance of stress-induced emotional and mental exhaustion, and re-direction of energy from negative perceptions to positive influence through leadership opportunities.

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Entry-Level Domain 10 Competencies

10.1 Demonstrate a commitment to personal health and well-being.

  • 10.1a Demonstrate healthy, self-care behaviors that promote wellness and resiliency.

  • 10.1b Manage conflict between personal and professional responsibilities.

10.2 Demonstrate a spirit of inquiry that fosters flexibility and professional maturity.

  • 10.2a Engage in guided and spontaneous reflection of one’s practice.

  • 10.2b Integrate comprehensive feedback to improve performance.

  • 10.2c Commit to personal and professional development.

  • 10.2d Expand personal knowledge to inform clinical judgment.

  • 10.2e Identify role models and mentors to support professional growth.

  • 10.2f Participate in ongoing activities that embrace principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and antidiscrimination.

10.3 Develop capacity for leadership.

  • 10.3a Compare and contrast leadership principles and theories.

  • 10.3b Formulate a personal leadership style.

  • 10.3c Demonstrate leadership behaviors in professional situations.

  • 10.3d Demonstrate self-efficacy consistent with one’s professional development.

  • 10.3e Use appropriate resources when dealing with ambiguity.

  • 10.3f Modify one’s own leadership behaviors based on guided self-reflection.

  • 10.3g Demonstrate self-awareness of one’s own implicit biases and their relationship to one’s culture and environment.

  • 10.3h Communicate a consistent image of the nurse as a leader.

  • 10.3i Recognize the importance of nursing’s contributions as leaders in practice and policy issues.

Advanced-Level Domain 10 Competencies

10.1 Demonstrate a commitment to personal health and well-being.

  • 10.1c Contribute to an environment that promotes self-care, personal health, and well-being.

  • 10.1d Evaluate the workplace environment to determine level of health and well-being.

10.2 Demonstrate a spirit of inquiry that fosters flexibility and professional maturity.

  • 10.2g Demonstrate cognitive flexibility in managing change within complex environments.

  • 10.2h Mentor others in the development of their professional growth and accountability.

  • 10.2i Foster activities that support a culture of lifelong learning.

  • 10.2j Expand leadership skills through professional service.

10.3 Develop capacity for leadership.

  • 10.3j Provide leadership to advance the nursing profession.

  • 10.3k Influence intentional change guided by leadership principles and theories.

  • 10.3l Evaluate the outcomes of intentional change.

  • 10.3m Evaluate strategies/methods for peer review.

  • 10.3n Participate in the evaluation of other members of the care team.

  • 10.3o Demonstrate leadership skills in times of uncertainty and crisis.

  • 10.3p Advocate for the promotion of social justice and eradication of structural racism and systematic inequity in nursing and society.

  • 10.3q Advocate for the nursing profession in a manner that is consistent, positive, relevant, accurate, and distinctive.