Guidelines for the development of a professional nursing identity in South Africa

Abstract

Professional nurses vary in their alignment and awareness of their professional identity, which affect their professional power, public image, and the public’s confidence in the profession, prompting the question: Do we understand what constitutes and shapes the identity of professional nurses in South Africa? The purpose of this exploratory sequential mixed methods study was to explore factors that influence and shape the identity and describe how it manifests in the profession to formulate guidelines that support professional nurses and associated stakeholders in the development of a sound professional nursing identity in South Africa. The study was guided by the Identity Theory and the Social Identity Theory. Literature, qualitative and quantitative data were integrated and used to develop and validate the guidelines. In phase I, interviews were conducted with purposively selected key informants, and four focus group interviews were conducted with professional nurses who were selected using convenience sampling. The data from these findings were used to generate a questionnaire in phase II. In phase III, the findings of both qualitative and quantitative data were integrated to develop and validate guidelines for the development of a professional nursing identity. To establish rigour, the researcher applied strategies to ensure trustworthiness and performed validity and reliability tests. The qualitative data were analysed by utilising Tesch’s method of data analysis. The themes that emerged as influential were related to nursing characteristics, the image of nursing, institutional and organisational culture, nursing education and corporate governance. The quantitative data (n=254) were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (SPSS version 26). The developed guidelines were validated by field and guideline experts. These guidelines address measures to improve the public image of professional nurses, the status of the profession and the professional persona. The guidelines propose recommendations for professional nurses and stakeholders such as nursing and nurse educators, career counsellors, occupational psychologists, nurse managers, human resource managers, hospital management, SANC and the government to develop a professional nursing identity.