Research On The Student Nurses’ Professional Identity In Practicum And The Construction Of The Promotion Strategy

Objective:The shortage of nurses is the world’s important issues, and the lowprofessional identity is an important reason for the shortage of nurses.Nursingstudents’ internship period is a critical period of professional identity formation.Thestress which nursing students face in clinical practice may affect the professionalidentity of nursing students. This study which using stress theory and the criticalincident technique aims to explore nursing students’ professional identity andinfluencing factors during the practice period, and preliminary build nursing studentsprofessional identity promotion strategy. The study can provide theoretical basis andpractical guidance which can enhance nursing students’ professional identity andpromote nursing students’ professional development.Methods:This study using mixed research methods includes three parts.Part Ⅰ: The study of Nursing students’ professional identity status quo andinfluencing factors. Based on stress theory and combined with literature research,made clear the influence factors of nurses’ professional identity may for the level ofstress, coping styles, perceptions of teacher support, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Thestudy adopts the method of convenient sampling and uses scales which includeperceived stress scale, coping behavior inventory, nursing students’ perceptions ofinstructor caring, professional identification scale, self-esteem scale, generalself-efficacy scale. Then investigate450nursing students in three tertiary hospitals inShanghai, using SPSS16.0software to analysis the data by means of descriptiveanalysis, t test, correlation analysis, multiple stepwise regression analysis.Part Ⅱ: The study of critical incident that nursing students experienced duringinternship period. It uses critical incident technique to explore impact of criticalincidents to internship nurses’ professional identity. The study uses open questions tosurvey nursing students in clinical internship experience of critical incidents, themeanalysis, classified and frequency calculation were carried out on the critical incidents;Then taking depth interviews for the11students experienced typical critical incidents,and the typical case study and case study were carried out on the typical criticalincidents. Part Ⅲ: Preliminary build nursing students’ professional identity promotionstrategy. According to the results of the previous two parts，parsing nursing studentsprofessional identity in the elements of promotion strategy; Using literature studiesand interviews of nursing students and patients, preliminary build nursing students’professional identity promotion strategy.Result: Part Ⅰ: The professional identity status quo and influencing factors ofnursing students.Internship nursing students’occupational identity score was40.43±7.04, which is in an average level.Professional identity factors include the levelof stress, coping styles (avoidance), self-esteem, teachers’support, education andgender, of which teachers’support, self-esteem have positive influence onprofessional identity; the level of stress and avoidance have negative influence onprofessional identity. Bachelor degree nursing students’professional identity is lowerthan the college nursing students’. Male nursing students’professional identity islower than female nursing students’.Part Ⅱ: Nursing students experience critical incidents during internship period.The critical incidents that nursing students experienced according to the frequencyfrom high to low are that interpersonal relationship (nursing students andpatients/families, nursing students and teaching faculty/head nurse/doctor/nurse/classmates), patients’ emergency, nursing procedures, occupational injuries and thework load.Interpersonal relationship is the primary problem affects nursing students’professional identity. Lack of patients’emergency treatment and end-of-life care skills,nursing skills unskilled frustration generated, occupational injuries can also affectnursing students’professional identity.Part Ⅲ: Preliminary build nursing students’professional identity promotionstrategy. The strategy Include establishing good interpersonal relationships (guidenursing students establish a good relationship between nurses and patients, strengthenthe teachers’ access, standardize training and assessment, using the critical incidenttechnique for nursing students set a positive role model, establish the feedback ofnursing students problem of open channels), strengthening the training of the abilityof patients’emergency treatment (rescue professional knowledge skills training, theeducation of death), strengthening the nursing operation skill and the training ofoccupational protection, setting up career planning education and coaching. Conclusion:1.By increasing teachers’ support, enhancing effective coping stylesof nursing students, improving the nursing students self-esteem, reducing nursingstudents internship stressors, reducing the stress level to improve the nursing students’professional identity.Enhance the professional identity education of undergraduatenursing students and male nursing students.2.Take measures such as helping nursing students to establish a goodinterpersonal relationship, enhancing nursing students knowledge about rescue skillstraining and death education, improving the accuracy and proficiency of nursingstudents’ nursing operation, strengthening the occupational protection training fornursing students to improve the professional identity of the nursing students.3. We build nursing students’ professional identity promotion strategy and clearthe four aspects of the strategy which can promote nursing students’ professionalidentity. Then the strategy can provide a targeted, directive guide for nursing collegesand clinical teachers to enhance nursing students’ professional identity. Theimplementation of nursing students’ professional identity promotion strategy is asystematic project, which needs the joint efforts of nursing schools and hospitals.Nursing teachers are the heart of the strategy implementation process. The nursingstudents’ professional identity promotion strategy focuses on implement. Improvingnursing students’professional identity needs to improve the social identification of thenursing profession.