Onwards and upwards: Tricks and tips for the new psychiatric-mental health nursing PhD graduate

Completing a PhD in psychiatric-mental health nursing research is a major achievement, not only for the individual, but for their graduating institution, and the profession. Definitely a life event worthy of celebration. But all too often this is framed wholly as a ‘completion’, as an ending. However, it is also a beginning—the beginning of a career as a ‘trained’ psychiatric-mental health nurse researcher in which an academic identity needs to be established, and graduates begin a new stage of professional life (Jackson et al., 2023a).