Writing your Nursing Portfolio: A Step-by-step Guide

"I am delighted to endorse this practical and accessible guide to writing and developing a portfolio for nurses. Unlike many 'how-to-do' approaches to portfolio compilation, this book acknowledges the complexity involved in learning from practice, and recording that learning in a meaningful way. The book respectfully guides the reader through essential elements to be considered if a portfolio is to be more than a depository of paper, yet avoids prescription in acknowledging the individual nature of the portfolio and its necessity to reflect the nurse's own journey through their career."
Professor Melanie Jasper, Head of College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University, UK

"The compilation of a nursing portfolio is a task, which is often neglected in the busy student nurse's life between long shifts and assignments. Timmins & Duffy encourage one to take on the challenge and guide one through the process systematically ... Examples of structured reflections and of portfolio layouts make the realisation of one's own well presented portfolio easier than one might think. Any student or qualified nurse will thus benefit from Timmins & Duffy's encouraging book."
Karin Schirmaier, Student, University of the West of England, UK

"This book is intended for nurses at all stages of their careers and offers a much needed step-by-step guide to planning, writing and maintaining a portfolio. I was particularly pleased to see a strong emphasis on refl ection and education, as a means of encouraging nurses to think critically and learn from their own practice. All in all, this is a very well-constructed book which I highly recommend."
Professor Gary Rolfe, Swansea University, UK

This handy guide, co-published with the Nursing Standard, is perfect for nurses who need to put together a portfolio and don't know where to start. Written as a step-by-step guide it answers all the common questions about how to compile and write a good nursing portfolio.

Each chapter includes different tasks so you can create your portfolio as you work through the book. The book assumes no prior knowledge of portfolio building and includes:

• Examples of good and challenging portfolio pieces
• Tools and techniques for reflection and critical thinking
• Guidance on the NMC competency frameworks

Writing your Nursing Portfolio is indispensable reading for all nursing students looking for a clear and accessible guide to creating and developing a portfolio. The book describes how the nursing portfolio fits into clinical practice and how it can make a positive difference to the nurse, patient and others.

Fiona Timmins is Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Anita Duffy is Lecturer in General Nursing and a Doctoral scholar in the School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.