SMART Goal Setting
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Leadership Development SMART Goal Setting:
Guidelines
PURPOSE
The purpose of this assignment is to develop a SMART-formatted goal on a selected professional
leadership topic applicable to your current practice setting or future leadership development goals. This
goal is about your leadership development needs, not those of the organization. The Institute of
Medicine’s quality initiative has identified five core healthcare profession competencies that serve as a
framework for identification of the leadership goal.
COURSE OUTCOMES
Completion of this assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes.
CO 1: Apply leadership concepts, skills, and decision making in the provision of high quality nursing
care, healthcare team management, and the oversight and accountability for care delivery in a
variety of settings. (PO #2)
CO 4: Apply concepts of leadership and team coordination to promote the achievement of safe and
quality outcomes of care for diverse populations. (PO #4)
CO 5: Apply improvement methods, based on data from the outcomes of care processes, to design
and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of healthcare. (PO #8)
CO 8: Apply concepts of quality and safety using structure, process, and outcome measures to
identify clinical questions as the beginning process of changing current practice. (PO #8)
DUE DATES
This assignment consists of the completion of the Leadership Development SMART Goal Setting paper.
Submit assignment to the Dropbox by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT, by the end of Week 4.
POINTS
This assignment is worth 200 points.
DIRECTIONS
1. Review the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) core healthcare competencies. Choose ONE of these
competencies that you would like to work on for developing a SMART goal. The five core
competencies are listed below.
Managing Patient-Centered Care;
Working in interdisciplinary and/or interprofessional teams;
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Chamberlain College of Nursing NR447: RN
Collaborative Healthcare
Employing evidence-based practice;
Applying quality improvement techniques; and
Utilizing informatics.
2. Name ONE KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes) related to the specific core competency you
chose above.
Examples of KSAs (Knowledge, Skills and Attributes) for your Leadership Development Goal
Setting include
conflict resolution,
becoming influential,
leading change,
communication about the patient,
communication organization-wide,
team building conversations,
organizational skills,
using evidence to guide your practice,
initiating QI/PI endeavors,
using data to help with decision making,
staff education,
problem solving,
human resource management issues,
delegation,
decision making,
budgeting and finance, and
computer skills.
Others are possible!
If you have questions, please contact your instructor.
3. Create ONE leadership development goal that is in the SMART goal format. You practiced this in
the Week 3 Discussion, and received valuable feedback from your instructor and peers. Please
consider this as you work on this assignment.
S – Specific (Who is involved in the goal, what is the goal, where will it take place?)
M – Measurable (How are you going to achieve the goal?) Be specific with measureable
outcomes.
A – Attainable (What resources and/or experts are available to assist you with attaining your
goal?)
R – Realistic (Is this goal something that is realistically obtainable in professional practice?)
T – Time bound (What specific dates or weeks will you accomplish each task of your goal
achievement?)
Example NOT in SMART format: I will learn how to be a manager. This goal is lofty, not
measurable, and unattainable in the time allotted, probably not realistic, and not time
bound.
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Chamberlain College of Nursing NR447: RN
Collaborative Healthcare
Example in SMART Format: I will learn the disciplinary process of an employee who has
excessive absences, by locating the organization’s attendance policy and meeting with the
unit manager, reviewing peer-reviewed articles and credible websites to obtain information
on the disciplinary process by Week 4 (or specified date).
Note: This particular example relates to Core Competency: Managing Patient-Centered Care.
This example is a SMART goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timebound.
S-Specific
o Who- Your name, or “I”
o What- Learn the disciplinary process of employees who have excessive absences
o Where- Your organization
M-Measurable
o How: Through locating the organization’s attendance policy
A-Attainable
o Resources and/or Expert: Meeting with the unit manager, reviewing peerreviewed
articles, and credible websites
R-Realistic
o Realistically obtainable: Access to the organization, policies, and unit manager
T-Time bound
o Specific dates: By Week 4 (or specific date)
4. Go to the Chamberlain library and search the databases to locate scholarly articles related to
your SMART goal. Also, search for credible websites to gain insight into how to accomplish your
goal.
5. Construct a plan of action to reach your Leadership SMART goal that includes identifying the
attributes needed in order to achieve your goal. Be specific by creating a timeline of when you
plan on doing each action; explain how, when, and where you plan to communicate with an
expert; and identify specific resources you will use to help you achieve your goal.
a. Example Plan of Action for above mentioned example:
o Seek approval to review the organization’s policies and schedule a
meeting/interview with the unit manager by _____ (fill in date).
o Review the policies on disciplinary action by _____ (fill in date).
o Review the American Nurses Association website and peer-reviewed articles in the
American Journal of Nursing and Journal of Advanced Nursing by _____ (fill in date).
o Evaluate the findings from the above resources by _____ (fill in date).
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Chamberlain College of Nursing NR447: RN
Collaborative Healthcare
6. Write a scholarly paper that follows APA formatting guidelines. Organize your content logically
and express your thoughts clearly. Use appropriate headers to separate sections of your paper.
Check for any grammar or spelling errors before submission.
7. Submit your completed NR447 Leadership Development SMART Goal paper, which should be
approximately six pages (excluding title page and references) to the Week 4 Leadership SMART
Goal Setting Paper Dropbox by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 4.
Additional File: