Herzing NU 610 Unit 1 DQ 1: three certification goals
After watching the certification success video, discuss three goals you have set for this semester that will help you toward certification success.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 14, 2026
Semester goals, not career ambitions
Two constraints in the prompt do all the work, and both are easy to miss. The first is this semester: a goal that pays off after graduation is not what is being asked for, so anything you name has to be achievable and assessable within the next few months. The second is certification success — not passing this course, not surviving clinicals, but reaching and passing a board examination — so each goal has to connect explicitly to that endpoint. Write the goals in a form that can be verified. A goal such as studying more is not one; a goal such as completing 50 board-style practice questions per week in the content areas of this semester's course, tracking accuracy by domain and reviewing every incorrect answer, is. Give each of the three a measure, a cadence and a date, and say how you will know whether you achieved it, because that is the difference between a goal and an intention.
Choose three that cover different ground rather than three versions of study harder. A content goal targets the knowledge the examination tests, ideally mapped to the certifying body's published test blueprint, so you are studying the weighting the exam uses rather than the weighting the syllabus uses. A process goal targets behaviour — a fixed weekly schedule, a study group, a review course booked, question banks used under timed conditions. A professional or logistical goal targets the requirements the certification itself imposes: clinical hours logged, eligibility criteria checked, the application window and its fee, the documentation your programme has to supply. Close by naming the obstacle most likely to derail each goal and what you will do about it, since the video's whole argument is that certification success is planned rather than hoped for, and a plan that has not anticipated a night shift or a sick child is not yet a plan.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Set goals bounded by the current semester rather than by the career.
- 02Connect each goal explicitly to certification rather than to course grades.
- 03Express goals with a measure, a cadence and a verification point.
- 04Anticipate the obstacle most likely to derail each goal.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASSDiscussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. Herzing NU 610 Unit 1 DQ 1 I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01Three goals established for this semester.
- 02How each goal assists progress toward certification success.
- 03A measure and a timeframe for each goal.
- 04How you will know whether each was achieved.
- 05The obstacles you anticipate and your response to them.
- 06A scholarly source and APA citations, per the course requirements.
Three goals, each made measurable
What the prompt is asking for
This semester, and certification rather than coursework.
What makes a goal assessable
Measure, cadence, deadline and a verification point.
The content goal
Study mapped to the certifying body's test blueprint.
The process goal
Schedule, study group, question banks, timed practice.
The logistical goal
Clinical hours, eligibility, application window, documentation.
Obstacles and responses
The predictable derailments and a contingency for each.
What the certifying bodies actually require
Recommended databases
- Your certifying body's candidate handbook
- PubMed Central
- CINAHL
- Programme handbook
Search sequence
- 1.Download the certification test blueprint and note the domain weightings.
- 2.Check the eligibility criteria and the application window and fee.
- 3.Find evidence on what predicts first-attempt certification success.
- 4.Read on continuing professional development and goal setting.
- 5.Write each goal with its measure before drafting the post.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Nursing Professional Development Evidence-Based Practice
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf, National Library of Medicine · 2023
Professional development as a structured process rather than an intention.
- 02
Evaluation of the feasibility of a midwifery educator continuous professional development (CPD) programme
BMC Medical Education · 2024
Evidence on what makes a professional development plan actually feasible.
- 03
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Roles
StatPearls Publishing, via NCBI Bookshelf · 2024
What certification confers on the role, which is the goal's endpoint.
- 04
The nurses perceived educational values and experience of journal club activities - A cross-sectional study in Qatar
Heliyon, via PubMed Central · 2024
Evidence for structured peer study as a process goal.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Setting career goals rather than goals for this semester.
- Aiming at course grades instead of at certification.
- Writing goals with no measure, such as studying more.
- Naming three versions of the same study goal.
- Ignoring the logistical requirements of certification eligibility.
- Offering no plan for the obstacles that predictably arise.
Submission checklist
- Exactly three goals are named.
- Each is bounded by this semester.
- Each connects to certification, not to the course.
- Each has a measure and a verification point.
- The three cover different ground — content, process and logistics.
- At least one scholarly source is cited in APA format.
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.

Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.

Reviewed by
Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.