Professional Identity in Nursing: Past, Present and Future
December 11, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (ET)
This webinar is hosted by AACN’s Faculty Leadership Network (FLN).
Webinar Details
We must highlight the importance of professional identity in nursing, as it is a concept that not all nursing faculty are familiar with despite accreditation requirements. Professional identity in nursing is defined as "a sense of oneself, and in relationship with others, that is influenced by characteristics, norms, and values of the nursing discipline, resulting in an individual thinking, acting, and feeling like a nurse." Our goal is for all nursing faculty to understand that what was previously referred to as professionalism has evolved and is now more accurately described as professional identity.
Outcomes:
- Examine the term professional identity from an interdisciplinary perspective.
- Discuss research findings that indicate a strong professional identity yields better patient outcomes.
- Describe strategies for faculty to build new knowledge about professional identity in nursing, in teaching, and leading.
Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.
Speakers
Speakers
Mary Ann Siciliano McLaughlin, EdD, RN, ANEF
Clinical Associate Professor
Rutgers University
Dr. Siciliano McLaughlin is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Rutgers University - Camden School of Nursing. Dr. McLaughlin is an experienced nurse, educator, leader, author, clinical editor and consultant in nursing. She is passionate about developing and mentoring future and current professional nurses. She strives to positively contribute to the advancement of the nursing profession.
Dr. McLaughlin’s areas of experience and expertise include cardiac nursing, medical surgical nursing, education, publishing, NCLEX, disease management, telehealth, nursing management, professional identity, leadership, and ethics.
Dr. McLaughlin’s scholarship interests include publications and presentations related to cardiac nursing, medical surgical nursing, NCLEX, professionalism, and ethics. The main focus of her scholarship revolves around ethical practice in nursing. She has presented locally, nationally, and internationally relating to her scholarship on ethics and her model, the Siciliano-McLaughlin Model of Ethics.
Nelda Godfrey, PhD, ACNS-BC, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Professor, Professional Practice, and Director, Nursing Career Success, Identity and Innovation
Sinclair School of Nursing
University of Missouri
Nelda Godfrey is Professor, Professional Practice, and Director, Nursing Career Success, Identity and Innovation at the Sinclair School of Nursing, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO. A thought leader in nursing innovation and nursing education, Dr. Godfrey writes often on new care delivery models that can be influenced by a stronger emphasis on the nurse within—researching and developing strategies to crea te the whole person experience in nursing practice going forward. Her work with the International Society for Professional Identity in Nursing is transforming the way nurses, health care professionals and society understand what it means to “think, act and feel like a nurse.” This work offers new language and new knowledge for the journey—helping nurses heal, flourish and expertly care for others.
Dr. Godfrey received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Missouri, her Masters in Nursing and credential as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of Kansas Medical Center, and her PhD in Nursing with an emphasis in ethics from the University of Missouri. Scholarly accomplishments include seminal work in professional identity in nursing and implementing the AACN Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education. Programmatic achievements include creating the KU Community College Nursing Program in which community college students dually enroll in their community college and KU simultaneously, allowing them to graduate with an associate degree in nursing and a bachelor of science in nursing at the same time. Dr. Godfrey serves on the American Nurses Association Ethics and Human Rights Advisory Board and was formerly one of two co-leads for the Missouri Action Coalition supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
M. Lindell Joseph, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAONL
Clinical Professor and Director of the DNP & MSN in Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership Programs at the University of Iowa College of Nursing
University of Iowa College of Nursing
Dr. Lindell Joseph is passionate about advancing nursing leadership and innovativeness through thought leadership, research methods, and extensive publications. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Leader, the official journal of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. From 2019-2024, Dr. Joseph served on the Advisory Council of the International Society for Professional Identity in Nursing. In that role, she co-led the development of th e Conceptual Model for Professional Identity in Nursing and chaired the Nurse as Leader Committee. An outcome of this committee is a position statement entitled “A Call for Dialogue to Advance the Concept of Nurses as Leaders within the Profession and the Public.” Dr. Joseph’s other areas of expertise are leadership effectiveness, innovativeness across academia and practice, and the General Effectiveness Multilevel Theory for Shared Governance. She has been called a proactive, “action-oriented theoretician.” Lastly, she recently co-edited the eighth edition of Leadership and Nursing Care Management.
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Childhood Cancer: Partnering with Patients and Families in Research
November 12, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (ET)
This webinar is hosted by AACN’s Research Leadership Network (RLN).
Webinar Details
In this webinar, Dr. Ruccione considers how the obligation to return research results to patients and families aligns with ethical practices and principles. The webinar examines benefits and challenges of how returning aggregate research results are weighed and highlights how the pediatric cancer clinical trials group, the Children’s Oncology Group, has implemented a nurse-led return of results initiative. This module could serve as an exemplar for returning research results to participants in studies and scholarly projects in areas other than pediatric oncology.
Outcomes:
- Describe rationale and potential benefits of returning research results (ROR) to study participants
- Ascertain status of implementation of ROR in the Children’s Oncology Group
- Identify ways nurses can facilitate ROR in their practice setting
Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.
Speakers
Speakers
Kathleen Ruccione, PhD
Professor, Program Director, SON PhD Program
Azusa Pacific University
Dr. Kathleen Ruccione, PhD Program Director in the Department of Doctoral Programs at the Azusa Pacific University School of Nursing, has been a pediatric oncology nurse/health educator over the past 5 decades. At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, she led the development of innovative programs and services, including the LIFE Survivorship & Transition Program and the HOPE Resource Center for Health Education. Dr. Ruccione received her nursing diploma from the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, and her BS and MPH degrees from California State University, Northridge. She completed her PhD in health behavior research at USC. Her dissertation research evaluated organ effects of transfusional iron overload and patient reported outcomes among a cohort of childhood cancer survivors. Her ongoing research interests are focused on biobehavioral issues that affect health and health-related quality of life after cancer treatment, and best practices in the empowerment/engagement of patients, families, and childhood cancer survivors through actionable and understandable health communication. Her recent research has focused on long-term relationships among nurses, health equity for deaf/hard-of-hearing adults, and the return of aggregate research results to study participants. Dr. Ruccione is committed to improving patient outcomes through excellence in the educational preparation of nurse scholars and expert clinicians.