Establishing and maintaining a professional identity: portfolios and career progression

Gaining registration as a nurse and/or midwife is only the start of your journey in your chosen profession. As a graduate nurse or midwife you have developed and demonstrated foundational knowledge and skills that are essential for your chosen profession. It now important to establish and develop your identity as a professional nurse or midwife.
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. Autonomy is defined in nursing as the ability to apply professional knowledge to patient care and clinical decision making. At the end of preregistration education, the short-term goal of obtaining employment is often the focus, and little thought is given at this stage to a long-term career plan or commitment to professional development. However, it is important even in the early stages of a career to foster the attributes of lifelong learning and autonomy, and not just embrace but also record and maximise any development opportunities. Not only will this allow you to demonstrate your professional identity, but it will provide valuable evidence for furthering your career.
It is also important that you keep a record of your developing professional identity, as well as recognising your responsibility as a professional, in particular in the use of social media. Documentary evidence of your knowledge, experience, skills and competence will assist you when applying for employment or promotion as your career develops. It will also assist you in demonstrating compliance with Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) requirements, particularly those associated with continuing professional development (CPD). In addition, it is important to demonstrate ability to apply the graduate attributes associated with your tertiary education provider. These attributes typically include characteristics such as professional communication, teamwork, accountability, ethical practice and appreciation of diversity. A portfolio is the ideal instrument to assist you in keeping track of your developing professional identity.
This chapter provides information about applying for nursing or midwifery positions, as well as the establishment and maintenance of a professional portfolio. There is also some discussion on the topics of lifelong learning and CPD; however, as these topics are discussed in other chapters, they will not be addressed in depth in this chapter.