Contributors: Cole Edmonson and Lindell Joseph

Authors – Lindell Joseph, PhD, RN, FAAN and Cole Edmonson, DNP, RN, FAAN

First published – 2023

Major Concepts

• Antecedents
• Formation as a Nurse
• Attributes
• Roles and Settings
• Consequences
• Impact on Health
• Lifelong Learning

Typology – Conceptual Framework.

Description

The model’s philosophical underpinnings are concerned with (a) providing a new mode of thinking about nursing,(b) leveraging contextual factors that influence the professional identity of nurses, (c) how professional identity in nursing is formed and sustained, and (d) the influence of nursing on direct and indirect health outcomes using two levers of systems thinking.

1. The conceptual model for professional identity in nursing posits that nursing practice is interdependent within the global environment and is significantly influenced by lifelong learning and five contextual factors: culture, demographics, history, politics, and society.
2. The conceptual model is a dynamic, adaptable, holistic, and interdependent framework that transcends internationally.
3. Visually, the model contains five concepts. These include attributes, formation as a nurse, consequences, professional identity in all roles and settings, and direct and indirect impact on health. These concepts are within two super-concepts/categories: antecedents and the global environment. Surrounding the model are concepts of lifelong learning and contextual factors that influence nurses’ perceptions of themselves and the brand image of nursing (culture, demographics, history, politics, and society).
4. Ontologically, two system thinking levers within the Conceptual Model of Professional Identity in nursing may guide nursing to interdependently influence the complex relationships within the model. These include (1) the four domains of professional identity in nursing (knowledge, values, and ethics, nurse as leader, and professional comportment)  and the five contextual factors (culture,  demographics, historical, political, and societal) that inform nurses’ professional identity. These systems thinking levers can guide nurses to influence locally and globally.
5. The model’s incorporation of interdependency shows that Professional Identity in Nursing begins before an individual starts nursing school. Therefore, nursing assumptions must be examined and deconstructed based on five contextual factors: culture, demographics, history, politics, and society.
6. The formation process extends beyond acquiring an initial nursing degree, continuing through subsequent degrees, and engaging in lifelong learning.
7. The relationship between practice and academia is mutualistic; the conceptual model provides a shared mental model that accelerates the formation and continual evolution of our professional identity throughout our careers, regardless of roles and work settings.
8. Impact on health outcomes is achieved in direct and indirect roles. These outcomes are action-oriented: self-care, patient-centered, and diverse/equitable care.
9. The model demonstrates complex relationships. It provides a new way of thinking, depicts a positive nursing image, and better positions nurses to influence the nation’s health by engaging with stakeholders using a new language and two systems thinking levers.

Primary Source

Joseph, M. L., Edmonson, C., Godfrey, N., Kuhl, L., Shaffer, F., Owens, R., Bickford, C., Cusack, C., Dickow, M., Liebig, D., O’Rourke, M., Priddy, K., & Sommer, S. (2023). A conceptual model for Professional Identity in Nursing: An interdependent perspective. Nursing Science Quarterly, 36(2), 143–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/08943184221150265

Authors

Lindell Joseph, PhD, RN, FAAN

Lindell Joseph is passionate about advancing nursing leadership and innovativeness through thought leadership, research methods, and extensive publications. She is a Distinguished Scholar in Nursing, a Clinical Professor, and the Director of DNP & MSN in Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership Programs at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. She has been very involved in faculty governance and is the current chair of the Faculty Organization. She has served as chair of the Council on Curriculum and previously served as a Councilor and Senator on the Faculty Senate.
Dr. Joseph is a member of the International Society for Professional Identity in Nursing (ISPIN). Advisory Group. In that role, she co-led the development of the Conceptual Model for Professional Identity in Nursing and chaired the committee Nurse as Leader. Dr. Joseph’s leadership extends to her roles in professional organizations. She is the current chair of the American Association for Colleges of Nursing, Health Policy Advisory Council (HPAC). She also serves on the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) Foundation Board of Directors and co-leads the Nursing Leadership and System Science Council, a collaboration between the AONL Foundation and the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing. From 2016 to 2018, she served on the AONL Board of Directors and was appointed ex-officio member of the American Hospital Association(AHA) Regional Policy Board for Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, and Minnesota. Before joining the University of Iowa, Dr. Joseph worked for Advent Health, where she led an eight-hospital Nursing Research and Innovation Program. In that role, she managed the knowledge enterprise for evidence-based nursing and leadership practice. Dr. Joseph used research and evaluation methods to enable leadership effectiveness and nursing practice council effectiveness. She also evaluated workplace cultures and social systems to redesign leadership practices, nursing practices, and patient care delivery. In that role, she co-developed the General Effectiveness Multilevel Theory for Shared Governance (GEMS), the only theory-based program for shared governance implementation in nursing practice. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and participates in the Nursing Theory-Guided Expert Panel and the Building Health Care System Expert Panel. She is also a fellow in the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. Dr. Joseph’s areas of expertise are leadership effectiveness, innovativeness across academia and practice, and the General Effectiveness Multilevel Theory for Shared Governance (GEMS). In 2021, she co-edited the book Leadership and Nursing Care Management.

Cole Edmonson, DNP, RN, FAAN

Dr. Edmonson is the CEO of the Nurses on Boards Coalition and has a career spanning three decades with roles including clinical nurse, supervisor, manager, director, associate chief nursing office, chief nursing officer and chief clinical officer. He is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, National Academy of Practice, American Organization for Nursing Leadership and the American College of Healthcare Executives; and Nursing Executive Advanced-Board Certified by ANCC. He is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow Alum. He completed his BSN and MSN at Oklahoma University College of Nursing and his Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) at Texas Christian University. He is a contributor to the literature, locally and nationally in leadership, disaster planning, strategic management, succession planning, research, moral courage, nurse bullying, culture building, emerging global health issues, technology, workforce, academic practice partnerships and Magnet. Edmonson is a speaker in the academic and professional settings, locally and nationally on topics ranging from Magnet, research, leadership, succession planning, moral courage, nurse bullying, customer service, credentialing, workforce, genetics/genomics, emerging global health issues and the IOM future of nursing. He is the co-author of the Nurse Managers Guide to Recruitment and Retention book. He is the co-creator of a Civility Toolkit and website to stop bullying in nurses and healthcare, where he provides a comprehensive site and links to resources, blogs, stories of both bullying and heroes, and campaigns for an end to this problem in nursing and healthcare.