Initiating the Process of Professional Identity Formation in the Leadership Course

Institutes of higher learning have responded to the challenge to better prepare nurse graduates with the needed skills to meet demands of 21st century practice through curriculum reform.  One learning outcome for a baccalaureate program is to facilitate the formation of professional identity and the demonstratration of professionalism in attitudes and behaviors.  Professional identity relates to one’s self concept, how one views the nursing role, and responsibilities to self, society, patients, families and others.  Self- awareness is important in order to articulate the role of nursing to the public.  Professional image influences our speech, behaviors, and appearance and also represents specialized knowledge and skills that distinguish nursing professionals from others.  The importance of clinical leadership in relation to professional development is supported in the literature.  Clinical leadership has positively impacted patient outcomes, the integration of evidence within practice, patient and nurse satisfaction and nurse retention.  Professional identity requires commitment to life-long learning and the strengthening of leadership abilities due to the need for nurse leaders to advocate for informed decision making, advance needed change, influence policy actions, and assume the leader role on the interdisciplinary team.  Professional identity represents the essential cornerstone of professional nursing practice.         

The process of developing professional identity originates in the educational setting where educators transform individual values to align with professional practice.  It is essential that nursing education is purposeful to facilitate student commitment to professional values at a time when healthcare reform, declining reimbursements, and the potential to focus upon efficiency over quality outcomes, present a potential threat to the values of professional practice.  Professional identity promotes the needed moral stability.  Educational strategies including instruction and reflective experience have been found effective for role transition and professional socialization.  A model from the literature review provided educators a framework for aligning educational strategies in the  sophomore and senior courses to facilitate formation of professional identity.  Educational strategies utilized to promote development of professional identity in the Leadership course at one mid-west university following curriculum redesign will be the focus of the presentation.