ABSTRACT
A practitioner may think that being a leader relates to being in a formal leadership role, but in reality this is not the case. Being a leader is part of being a responsible and accountable practitioner; for nurses this journey starts during their preregistration nurse training. Actively listening is an important part of being a leader and an expert. Being a skilled listener when working with people living with dementia provides the opportunity for the practitioner to really understand their needs and values. This chapter explores Continuing professional development (CPD) in greater depth. CPD is a narrow view of lifelong learning albeit an important view. Professionally health and social field practitioners have to maintain their registration and are expected to engage in CPD. Reflection is an integral part of expert practice; being skilled in critical reflection facilitates the expert practitioner to learn from his or her practice experiences.
