Professional identity development of advanced practice nurses: Evaluating its integration in curricula and relevance for professional practice

To demonstrate how students, alums and faculty view the effectiveness of the integration of university mission statements into curriculum and their significance for preparing for professional practice. This study builds on previous research exploring the influence of mission, vision and values statements in informing DNP program curricula and contributing to the development of students' professional identity by analyzing how the themes found were integrated into curricula and their perceived relevancy for practice. A mixed-methods approach was used called Group Concept Mapping, which built on the previous qualitative data found using quantitative analysis. A DNP program in the U.S. American Midwest participated in this research. Participants included thirty-one students, alumni and faculty from this DNP program. 32 statements were generated from the previous study, where participants completed a sorting and rating activity in the Group Wisdom software system. Next, the participants sorted these same statements into groups based on their perceived similarity and the results were analyzed using two bivariate statistical methods that created concept maps. Lastly, participants further identified how each statement was clearly articulated in their DNP educational experiences and how relevant these themes were for professional practice. The results suggest that the participants found most themes to be clearly articulated in the curriculum and found them relevant to practice. This study provides evidence that educational experiences that allow nurses to develop a professional identity are well-integrated into the DNP curriculum and that these themes have relevance to professional practice. •Group Concept Mapping is suitable for mixed-methods research in Nursing.•Themes central to the development of a professional identity of APNs were found.•APN program curricula cultivate a professional identity for nurses.