[Development of the professional identity of nursing trainees over the three-year training: Partial results of a...

With the beginning of a vocational training, nursing students are challenged with a new professional role and required to develop a professional identity. It is not clear which challenges nursing students perceive in this process and to what extent the professional identity is developed over the course of the training. These findings are needed to support nursing students in these development processes with suitable informal and formal learning and educational opportunities.

A three-year qualitative panel study with guideline-based, episodic interviews was conducted. A total of 26 nursing students from nursing training courses took part and were interviewed three times, namely at the end of each training year. The data material was analyzed using a reconstructive-hermeneutical method, and development types were formed.

Finding a role in organizations and the associated development of a professional identity was identified as a major challenge for nursing students in vocational training. Most students finally succeed in finding a balance between individuation and adaptation when taking on their new professional role and develop an appropriate tolerance for ambiguity. For some nursing students, though, the ongoing tension between their own expectations and the role expectations of others leads to a pronounced intolerance of ambiguity and a persistent experience of stress.

Especially at the beginning of the training, trainees' role actions are strongly guided by their own or other people's expectations, and they often find themselves in conflict situations, which also means that learning opportunities are missed. The persons responsible for nursing training are required to support trainees in recognizing their learning needs and opportunities. In addition, the development of ambiguity tolerance should be specifically promoted in order to create the appropriate conditions for achieving training success and maintaining the trainees' health.

The development of a professional identity should be understood as a dimension of professional competence and supported accordingly by formal learning and educational offers. Further research is needed to determine future development needs and to accordingly review existing offers.