Establishing and maintaining a professional identity : portfolios and career progression

Although an achievement of which you can be justifiably proud, the completion of a bachelor’s degree is only the foundation in your development as a professional nurse or midwife. As you embark on this journey from beginning practitioner to becoming an expert in your chosen field, it is vital that you establish and develop your identity as a professional. There are a number of attributes associated with being a professional. Two attributes that are particularly relevant to the topic of this chapter are lifelong learning and autonomy. As the name suggests, lifelong learning represents the continual process of learning throughout life. However, as students near the end of preregistration education, the short-term goal of obtaining employment as a registered nurse or midwife tends to be the paramount focus. Often, little thought is given at this stage to the long-term career plan or commitment to professional development. This development can occur either passively through gaining experience in the workplace or actively through undertaking workplace professional development opportunities as well as postgraduate education. The professional attribute of autonomy is applicable to the development of your professional identity because you are the person primarily responsible for its development. As a result, you need to develop your own career plan that enables you to maximise all formal and informal learning opportunities. To assist you in developing and tracking your professional identity, this chapter will provide information about applying for nursing or midwifery positions, as well as the establishment and maintenance of a professional portfolio.