Influencing factors of nursing discipline construction in a Chinese tertiary hospital: a qualitative study

As a first-level discipline, nursing plays an increasingly important role in China's healthcare system, and its sustainable development has become a key focus of current nursing research. The existing research on nursing discipline development is mostly quantitative analysis and lacks depth, failing to fully explore the experiences of nursing managers in practice and the influencing factors. This study adopted a descriptive phenomenological qualitative research design to explore the obstacles and promoting factors in nursing discipline construction and used Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory as the theoretical basis for the research design and result interpretation. The research results can provide multi-dimensional references for policy formulation, talent cultivation, and clinical discipline construction, thereby promoting the high-quality and sustainable nursing discipline development.

This study aimed to (1) understand the perceptions of nursing managers regarding the construction of nursing discipline, (2) assess barriers for nursing administrators in implementing the discipline of nursing on the unit in China, (3) explore how to promote the rapid and sustainable nursing discipline development in China. The study aims to provide effective theoretical support and practical guidance for future nursing discipline development.

A descriptive phenomenological qualitative design was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to recruit nursing administrators receiving standardized discipline construction training from a tertiary hospital in Nanjing. Semi-structured interviews were implemented for data collection. Colaizzi's analytical approach was used for qualitative data coding and analysis, and Herzberg's two-factor theory guided the interview outline formulation and subsequent theme classification into hygiene and motivating factors.

A total of 18 nursing managers were interviewed in this study. This study coded and categorized qualitative data. Three thematic clusters were formed, covering eight subthemes in total: Hygiene factors: (1) uneven development of subspecialties, (2) irrational allocation of human resources, (3) lack of specialized nursing talent, (4) deficiencies in nurses' scientific research competency, (5) lack of sustainability in development pathways, and (6) limitations in multispecialty integration. Adverse consequences of deficient hygiene conditions: (1) low subjective initiative, and (2) low engagement in scientific research and discipline construction. Motivators: No effective motivational factors were extracted from interview data. All eight subthemes constitute critical influencing factors restricting the construction and sustainable advancement of the nursing discipline.

Semistructured interviews were conducted to explore the influencing factors and barriers to nursing discipline construction for healthcare professionals. While nursing discipline construction in China holds promising prospects, numerous issues remain to be addressed. A thorough understanding of the difficulties and obstacles in nursing discipline construction helped managers adopt targeted measures and advance the sustainable nursing discipline development.