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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NAP’s Yearly Awards are Coming!
October 23, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (ET)
Webinar Details
We all have a program, project, or initiative that provided a successful solution to a challenge in an area of Advancement Services—fundraising, alumni relations, communications, marketing. NAP wants to recognize the great work of our membership during the Annual Nursing Advancement Professional Leadership Award. In this AACN NAP Brown Bag you will hear from last year’s winners on what makes a winning entry, hear from awards committee members about this year’s awards and get your questions answered before nominations open later this fall.
Nursing Advancement Professionals Leadership Award
Advancement Services Distinction Award: A program, project, or initiative that provided a successful solution to a challenge in any area of Advancement Services (fundraising, alumni relations, communications, marketing). This could be anything, including student recruitment, alumni cultivation, a targeted fundraising initiative, giving event, annual giving campaign or any of the issues currently facing nursing colleges/schools or the profession. Entries should include a rational on overall strategy, show a strategic use of resources, provide examples of messaging, details on execution, results, and/or utilized innovative practices. Submitting collateral or other supporting materials used in the program, project, or initiative is required.
NOTE: This is an AACN Member only webinar.
Speakers
Speakers
Jennifer Lollar
Executive Director, Strategic Marketing & Communications
University of Alabama Birmingham
Jennifer Lollar is the Executive Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications for the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing. She has been with UAB since 2001, starting in UAB Public Relations & Marketing as a media relations specialist, first for the University side of campus and then from 2005 to 2013 for the health schools and medical center. She moved to the School of Nursing in 2013 and now leads an eight-member marketing and communications team that is responsible for all communications and marketing functions, with the exception of media relations, for the school. Prior to joining UAB she was a general assignment and business reporter for newspapers in the Birmingham area.
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Jonas Scholars 2024-2026 Application Technical Assistance Webinar
April 30, 2024
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (ET)
Webinar Overview
The Jonas Scholars program has launched applications for the 2024-2026 cohort, with plans to enhance the program with a greater focus on students who are going to transition to faculty roles. Through leadership development programming, mentorship, and financial support, Jonas Scholars will be positioned to successfully transition from a doctoral student to a teaching role. Participants will learn more about the eligibility and selection process for institutions and scholars, understand the internal processes they should conduct to select students for submission, and understand the technical steps required to submit an application.
Objectives
- Understand the eligibility and selection criteria for both institutions and students for the eighth cohort of the Jonas Scholars program.
- Evaluate a scholar selection process to help but forward students most aligned with the goals of the Jonas Scholars program.
- Identify how to submit an application to the Jonas Scholars program through the application platform.

This Webinar is hosted by Jonas Nursing of Jonas Philanthropies. For more information on the Jonas Philanthropies, visit http://jonasphilanthropies.org/.
Speakers
Speakers
Noah Brown, MPA
Jonas Grant Manager
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
Marta Okoniewski, MPA
Director of Student Engagement
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
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A Strong Professional Identity in Nursing: Impact on Education and Practice
January 30, 2024
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (ET)
Co-hosted by AACN and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership
Understanding and embracing professional Identity in nursing offers new language and new knowledge for the journey—helping nurses heal, flourish, and expertly care for others. Research shows that nurses with a strong professional identity in nursing stand out as having a higher impact on patient outcomes than those who do not. Further, a strong professional identity allows nurse leaders to distinguish between their disciplinary core—the professional identity of nursing—and a variety of functional roles in which they may advance over time. Forming and fostering one’s professional identity are important to advance the nursing discipline.
Webinar speakers will share the contemporary language of professional identity in nursing, including definitions and examples of the four domains: values and ethics, knowledge, nurse as leader, and comportment. They will also share findings from US and international professional identity research and models for application/implementation in both education and practice settings.
Objectives:
- Explain how professional identity in nursing is different than professionalism.
- Discuss how the general definition of professional identity and using the four domains offer new language and knowledge to advance patient outcomes.
- Describe the impact that developing a strong professional identity in nursing can have on both nursing education and practice.
Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.
Speakers
Speakers

Susan M. Grant, DNP, RN, FAAN, NEA-BC
Executive Vice President, Chief Experience Officer and Chief Nurse Executive
Wellstar Health System
Susan Grant is Executive Vice President, Chief Experience Officer and Chief Nurse Executive (CNE) at Wellstar Health System, a nine-hospital health system headquartered in Marietta, Ga. Grant has operated in healthcare for over 30 years.
Her wealth of experience in various roles, such as executive vice president and chief nursing officer at Beaumont Health in Detroit, MI and Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, GA have led to achievements, including leading the nursing practice of over 10,000 nurses across all care settings and overseeing successful Magnet designation and redesignation of 8 different hospitals. She has spoken nationally and internationally and published on patient safety and patient and family-centered care. Grant is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and received her Bachelors degree in Nursing from the Medical College of Georgia, Masters degree in Nursing from the University of South Carolina and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt University.

M. Lindell Joseph, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAONL
Clinical Professor & Director DNP & MSN Health Systems
Administration/Executive Leadership Programs
University of Iowa College of Nursing
Lindell Joseph has a passion for advancing nursing leadership and innovativeness through thought leadership, research methods, and extensive publications.
She is currently a Distinguished Scholar in Nursing, a Clinical Professor, and the Director for DNP and MSN in Health Systems/Administration/Executive Leadership Programs at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. She co-leads the curriculum redesign for both the undergraduate and graduate programs and recently served as a Councilor and Sena tor on the Faculty Senate. Dr. Joseph serves as a member of the International Society for Professional Identity in Nursing. Advisory Group. In that role, she co-led the development of the Conceptual Model for Professional Identity in Nursing and now chairs the committee, Nurse as Leader. She 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 AONL Foundation and the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing. From 2016-2018 she was elected to the AONL Board of Directors and served on the American Hospital Association(AHA) Regional Policy Board for Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, and Minnesota. She is both a fellow in both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership.
Dr. Joseph’s areas of expertise are leadership effectiveness, innovativeness across academia-practice, and the General Effectiveness Multilevel Theory for Shared Governance (GEMS), the only theory-based program for shared governance implementation in nursing practice. In 2021, she co-published the book, Leadership, and Nursing Care Management.

Nelda Godfrey, PhD, ACNS-BC, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Associate Dean, Innovation
University of Kansas School of Nursing
Nelda Godfrey is Professor and Associate Dean for Innovative Partnerships and Practice at the University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, KS. 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 create 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 understanding 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 Uni versity 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 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 (KUCCNP) 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 currently serves as the chair for the American Nurses Association Ethics and Human Rights Advisory Board and is formerly one of two co-leads for the Missouri Action Coalition supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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Improving Communication and Care of Patients with Autism in Healthcare Settings
January 24, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (ET)
Hosted by the Faculty Leadership Network
Webinar Details
Autism diagnosis rates and associated co-morbidities continue to rise. Yet, many who work in the healthcare field have limited understanding of the autism spectrum and how autism manifests. Hear from experts who will provide the latest evidence and information on supportive interventions to better care for both the patients and families living with autism.
Objectives:
- Learn to recognize autism characteristics and the common challenges associated with autism in the healthcare setting
- Increase understanding of how to effectively manage environments of patients and families living with autism and identify strategies to reduce risk of behavioral challenges.
- Gain knowledge to enhance communication about autism to improve outcomes for patients and families.
- Expand awareness of healthcare avoidance by patients and families living with autism.
Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.
Speakers
Speakers

Sharon L. Colley, PhD, DNP, RN, ACAC, CNE
Professor
Ferris State University School of Nursing
Dr. Sharon Colley has been a nurse for 34 years, working for many years in mental health as well as med-surg, rehab, and ambulatory care prior to moving into a faculty position in 2006. She earned a PhD in higher ed leadership and a DNP in nursing leadership. Dr. Colley has a passion for education and preparing nurses to be educators. She has earned certification as a nurse educator, as an advanced autism specialist, and as a neurodiversity professional. She has also earned several awards for her teaching, including the Ferris State University Distinguished Teacher Award in 2016.
Sharon’s interest in providing information sessions for healthcare professionals stems in part from her own experiences as the parent of a child with autism as well as her DNP project work that focused on improving healthcare environments for those with autism.