Professional portfolio
A Professional Portfolio will provide a framework in which to plan and demonstrate your professional development.
The information in this page may assist you in creating and maintaining your portfolio and has been included as a guide only.
Maintaining a Professional Portfolio will facilitate reflective practice and critical inquiry whilst providing you with a comprehensive record of your professional development. The development and content of the Professional Portfolio is your responsibility.
Your Professional Portfolio may include the following:
- Curriculum Vitae
- summaries of attendance at study days and tutorials and the impact on your professional development and clinical practice
- commentary on your involvement with unit activities (for example Quality Improvement projects and promotional activities)
- guidelines for you to utilise when undertaking reflective practice
- mementos from your clinical practice (for example thank you cards, photographs).
What is a Professional Portfolio?
An organised collection of relevant documents and artefacts that provides evidence of your talents, most relevant skills, and charts your professional growth (KEMH, O&GCCU March 04).
What is the purpose of a Professional Portfolio?
- To give insight into accomplishments – shows evidence of basic competence
- Provides a record of continuing professional development – shows a commitment to lifelong learning
- Allows for reflection on current practice by providing evidence for learning that takes place within the workplace, not just at formal in-service courses. This shows how the formal learning is put into practice
- Provides evidence of safe practice – can by useful if you are called on to defend your actions
- Assists with self-evaluation
- Celebrate achievements and development
- Provide a formal layout for key experiences
- Shows a record of your career
- Assists in applying for promotion / change of position by showing your range of skills and experiences
- Shows evidence of participation in the life of the profession of Midwifery
- Shows evidence of your contribution to the profession of Midwifery.
Your Professional Portfolio should communicate a picture of you as a competent and professional midwife. With your annual performance development review it can provide some of the evidence that would be required should you be selected for periodic audit by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).
You can find more information on being audited at Nursing and Midwifery Board website (external site).
Completing your Professional Portfolio
The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) and the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) offer its members online tools for planning and recording Professional Portfolio details.
Suggested Professional Portfolio sections
Academic achievements qualifications
Professional employment record
- Key responsibilities in this position - these are taken directly from your job description plus any other relevant details. Don’t forget to include a copy of your job description and employment contract
- Do one of these for each nursing / midwifery position you have held
- If you already have a CV you could put a copy in here.
Annual Professional Development Review
- Include a copy of your annual PDR.
Continuing Professional Development
Although your CPD plan and record are included in your PDR this section will allow you evidence of completion / attendance. It may include:
- brochures / timetables of workshops / in-service attended to show what was covered (consider downloading your spreadsheet from MyHR showing professional development attendance)
- reviews of articles or books read
- reviews of workshops / lectures attended.
Presentation of CPD
- Include one-on-one sessions e.g. Instructed student in correct procedure for removal of epidural catheter, conducting a fire walkabout / emergency preparedness / OSH walkabout
- Lectures / tutorials / in-service you facilitate (include a copy of the timetable showing your name if available or a summarisation of evaluations or feedback you received).
Certifications and competencies
Clinical skill acquisition e.g. IV cannulation, perineal suturing, immunisation.
Publications
- You may have helped in the production of a pamphlet / clinical pathway / consent form etc. by giving feedback, comments, helping with content
- Journal publications.
Other experiences / activities
- Relief done in other areas
- Precepting
- Coordinating shifts
- Other life experiences/jobs
- Acting roles
- Preceptor awards
- Service appreciation awards.
Reflective practice
- The process of thinking in action
- Wondering what it would be best to do
- Reflection reveals to us aspects of our experience that might have remained hidden had we not taken time to consider (Wade 1996: 64 cited by CS Bruce, Embedding Reflective Practice in Professional Practice with Portfolios).
- Past experiences are considered in the light of new considerations
- Reflection allows us to draw conclusions about our past experience and develop new insights that we can apply to our future activities (Wade 1996).
Consider focusing on:
- reactions to current issues
- changing responses to, and understanding of, midwifery
- changing interpretations of current work practices
- personal future directions.
Reflective practice transforms a Professional Portfolio into a tool for enhancing and developing your professional practice.