Issues surrounding professional portfolio development for nurses

This article discusses issues that underpin professional portfolio development for registered nurses. The findings were informed by a review of the pertinent literature. The literature was obtained by undertaking searches of a number of electronic databases and hand searches of key journals. It was found that portfolio development has been a requirement for re-registration for a number of years. However, there appears to remain confusion and uncertainty among professionals regarding the meaning and implications of portfolio development for nurses. For example, in the review conducted, the terminology used was often found to be confusing and expectations of how a portfolio should look are unclear. Conclusions can be drawn that practitioners may be in a quandary of how to develop and present evidence in what is now a mandatory requirement for re-registration, the maintenance of a professional portfolio.