“I Will Be a nurse:” Identity and Belongingness in Nursing School

ABSTRACT

A nursing shortage is anticipated within the next decade. Knowing what factors draw individuals to the field of nursing and help them finish their degree is important for recruitment to nursing school, but what is equally important is knowing how individuals connect and see themselves in the field of nursing. One of the contributions of health communication is examining the processes of identity formation in nursing school to determine how they construct their years of nursing school. Using Qualitative Longitudinal Research (QLR) and the model of communication and identity, the research presented in this article examines the experiences of nursing students (n = 32) at one university. The research summarizes the phases of identity that can be characterized as three distinct stages of getting in, scrubbing in, and fitting in. The research also highlights what helps students stay with nursing, feel like they belong to the field, and how this can be translated into communicating what potential nurses need to succeed.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the nursing students who gave up hours of their already busy schedule to participate in this research, Dr. Robert J. Green, Dr. Anna Turnage, and the two anonymous reviewers, whose comments and suggestions strengthened the quality of the article, and Emma Hopeck and Vicki Green who helped with the development of the nursing metaphor.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was partially funded by two internal grants from the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Stephen F. Austin State University, $300 for participation incentives, and $1200 to purchase NVivo Qualitative Analytic Software. This study was approved by Stephen F. Austin State University’s Institutional Review Board [Case # AY2016-1065; Case # AY2017-1124] and the Bloomsburg University Institutional Review Board (2017-70). IRB approvals were renewed annually and updated to reflect any changes.