Professional socialisation: The art in mental health nursing practice

Abstract

This article explores the concept and process of professional socialisation in nursing from a mental health student's perspective, while highlighting the impact of negative professional socialisation in clinical practice today. Nurses may believe that the term ‘professional socialisation’ simply means skills acquisition, however, it is a complex concept. This article provides definitions and the concept and process of acquiring a nursing degree in the UK will be explored. It also highlights the need for complementary efforts (from both academic and clinical mentors) to promote positive professional socialisation. There is a need for the development of mechanisms that enrich individual students' personal values in tandem with the competency framework. A concept mapping approach has been adopted to discuss professional socialisation in the context of the author's experience in both university and clinical environments, highlighting the need to propagate student-centered learning.