Portfolios

[Despareux]

We're required to have a completed portfolio that is supposed to represent our growth as a student nurse. We've been told that we will probably have to submit this during job interviews.

Do potential employers actually read these? It could take several hours to read one of these.

Were you required to complete a portfolio during school?

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

A portfolio? Like, full of care plans or something?

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

We were required to do this too. Huge waste of time. I would have been embarassed to take it to an interview and never did. Chalk it up to something you just have to put your head down and get done as part of nursing school.

[bcems134]

I just finished mine and turned it in a week early. It was making me crazy trying to get the important stuff to look good and the minor stuff to disappear. My instructor finally told me "It is just an academic exercise, don't sweat it". After that I put it together quickly and easily. I already had a job interview and nobody asked to see my portfolio. HTH.

[Despareux]

A portfolio? Like, full of care plans or something?

It's a compilation of all the papers and care plans that were done throughout our program. It's a tedious task. Every sheet of paper has to be placed in a plastic cover, table of contents, summary for each section, etc..

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

My school requires this too. It includes a resume, check offs for skills, etc. They good us that these portfolios have helped students get jobs.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Employers don't want to see all that ... but I strongly recommend maintaining a portfolio after graduation. Just modify it a bit to suit a real professional career instead of it being an academic exercise.

Get a folder, box, or whatever ... and use it to keep all your professional documents. Keep copies of your evaluations, any licenses or certification documents, continuing education records, etc. Also include a current copy of your resume, updated at least once per year to include committees served on, awards won, etc. You also might want to keep an ocassional example of your work. For example, I am in Staff Development and I keep copies of the bigger classes that I teach (the handouts, slides, etc.), research projects, conference presentations, 8'' by 11'' copies of conference posters, etc. That way, I have all of that stuff in one place where I can easily find it when needed.

When you someday go to apply for a promotion, new job, graduate school, etc. ... you will then be able to find all of that stuff. You won't have to agonize trying to remember your supervisor's name from a job 5 years ago ... or remember all of the committees you served on or letters you received from patients, etc. You'll have copies of your old evals that show you were considered a great employee, etc.

While you don't want to show all of that stuff to a prospective employer, it helps to have it available so that you can use the information and maybe a few pieces of it when you apply for a new job. You can use it to put together a great application package. You'll have it all easily accessible so that you can "pick and choose" what you need.

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Many Moons ago, the university I attended also required this portfolio. Needless to say, it was time consuming on top of all the other assignments. However, the first hospital I interviewed asked for my portfolio, then after receiving a call that I got the job, I asked the recruiter what she base her decision since there were 3 other male nurses applying for the position; and she said "After reading the entire 6 pages of your portfolio, I had no doubt you would be ideal to join our family".

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

Oh my goodness. We didn't have to do anything like that