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To critically reflect on a transnational, clinically embedded doctoral journey undertaken during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and to draw conceptual and systemic lessons for doctoral education and clinical academic nursing pathways.
Reflective accounts of doctoral study exist, yet few examine practice-based PhDs conducted across different countries and health systems during a global crisis. This paper analyses one such pathway—enrolment at an Australian university with research embedded within the UK National Health Service—to explore resilience, identity formation, mentorship ecologies and organisational conditions that support or hinder clinical academic development.
Using analytic autoethnography and reflective case study logic, experiential data (field notes, supervisory records, ethics correspondence, project artefacts and publication trajectories) were synthesised with relevant scholarship. A conceptual framework, the TCAD lens, was developed to structure analysis across contexts, constraints, mechanisms and outcomes.
Four phases are outlined: starting in crisis as a senior ICU nurse, transitioning to lead educator, serving as surgical matron while implementing changes, and moving into academia to complete the thesis by publication. Dual ethics and governance procedures, contractual arrangements and GDPR-compliant data stewardship imposed significant administrative burdens but fostered global literacy and networks. Mentorship functioned as an ecology—supportive, critical, pragmatic and strategic—evolving towards independence. COVID-19 served as a stress test, narrowing scope while improving the feasibility and sustainability of the family member's voice reorientation intervention. Personal adversity intersected with identity development, with compassionate supervision enabling timely completion (3.7 years) and five peer-reviewed publications.
Transnational, clinically embedded doctoral pathways can enhance nursing research capacity but require deliberate institutional design: genuine protected time, cross-jurisdictional support and mentorship ecosystems. The TCAD lens provides a transferable framework for educators, supervisors and health systems.
Recommendations cover programme development, cross-border oversight, NHS–university collaborations, funding arrangements in different currencies and resilience infrastructure for clinician–researchers.
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