Construction of professional identity in nursing students: qualitative research from the historical-cultural perspective

• Main Authors: Rogério Silva Lima (Author), Marta Angélica Iossi Silva (Author), Luciane Sá de Andrade (Author), Fernanda Dos Santos Nogueira De Góes (Author), Maria Aparecida Mello (Author), Marlene Fagundes Carvalho Gonçalves (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Objective: to analyze the process of professional identity construction in undergraduate nursing students during their education. Method: qualitative research, anchored in the Historical-Cultural framework. Twenty-three undergraduate nursing students took part. Data were collected through individual interviews, with a semi-structured script. Thematic Analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: the following four themes were obtained, "The subject in movement to become a nurse: from previous experiences to entering the courses"; "The nursing professor in the construction of the undergraduate's professional identity: a two-way mirror"; "Pedagogical relationship: instrument for constructing the student's professional identity" and "Historical-cultural conditions: space for the construction of the student's professional identity". Conclusion: the construction of the students' professional identity is limited to the material conditions of existence, translating appropriation to the intrapsychic scope of elements that occur, first, in the inter-psychological space of interactions. Nursing professors can become a paradoxical mirror, with one face to be imitated and the other, which materializes meanings of a model not to be followed. This construction is also influenced by the conditions of professional practice and university education.

Item Description

0104-1169
1518-8345
10.1590/1518-8345.3820.3284