My love for nursing began as a surgical cardiothoracic stepdown nurse many years ago. I always say I loved cardiac nursing because of the fast-paced environment. I loved that I could treat patients quickly (give them a shock or push a medication) and could follow up with teaching. My goal was to always promote patient learning so they could achieve behavioral changes and manage their disease more fully.
After being educated as a Cardiopulmonary Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), I went on to move into CNS, Disease Management, and Telehealth program founder positions. Always, my focus was on the clinical side of nursing. At one point, I was even a Professional Development Specialist. In that position, we were responsible for certain educational programs, at the hospital, developing competencies and competency books. In addition to those duties, we supported two to three units at the hospital.
I switched to academia full time in 2011 and have remained there since. I did teach classroom and clinical but have moved into the classroom pretty much over the past 9 years while in an academic leadership role (7 years) and now again in a faculty role (since the fall of 2024).
My dissertation was obviously related to ethics in nursing. Now, I have expanded that role to include nursing professional identity formation. When my article, The Theory of Nursing Professional Identity Formation, published, in October, I shared the link with many current and past colleagues and friends.
One former colleague/friend said to me, " ... in the early [name of our former school] days I saw you as more clinically focused - but of course, we know it's ultimately all clinically focused". This statement gave me great pause. I guess I did not view my current scholarship work as a deviance from clinical work. Rather, I see the efforts of myself, and everyone involved with the concept of professional identity in nursing as building for the future of our nursing profession. My theory, and the work that precedes my theory, supports and advocates for work to occur between academia and practice. This bridge manifests itself as a bridge between the nursing and environment components of the nursing metaparadigm of my theory.
This idea, of work being done in academia and practice, began with the Conceptual Model of Professional Identity in Nursing. Joseph et al (2023) state, "The model creates a shared mental model for academia-practice to accelerate the formation of the identity when faculty, educators, leaders, and clinical preceptors adopt the same framework, language, and approach" (p. 149).
Here's an excerpt from my article:
The bridge between academia and practice
This shared standard, and connection, of professional identity, between academia and practice, in conjunction with The Theory of Nursing Professional Identity Formation, creates a bridge between academia and practice (Joseph et al., 2023). This bridge begins in the nursing component of the metaparadigm which is influenced by the career continuum, lifelong learning and assimilation of the attributes of a nurse. It is this foundational learning that transcends the nursing component of the meta paradigm and informs practice in the environment component of the metaparadigm. The goal here is for the nurse to ultimately improve the patient environment, for their patients in all roles and settings, while considering the contextual factors of culture, demography, history, politics and society. The term professional identity in nursing can become an increasingly important phrase in both academia and practice, which can ultimately increase its meaning in both settings. Refer to Table 2 for a summary of practices that support nursing professional identity formation in both academia and practice. (McLaughlin, 2026).
To read more about this bridge and my theory, click here:
The theory of nursing professional identity formation - Mary Ann Siciliano McLaughlin, 2026
I would love to hear from those in academia or practice, or in both. I would embrace the perspectives of others so a meaningful conversation could ensue. Please post a reply today.
References
Joseph ML, Edmonson C, Godfrey N, et al. (2023). A conceptual model for professional identity in nursing: An interdependent perspective. Nursing Science Quarterly 36: 143– 151.
McLaughlin MAS. The theory of nursing professional identity formation. Journal of Research in Nursing. 2026;0(0). doi:10.1177/17449871261485854
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