Proud to be a nurse? Recently graduated nurses' experiences in municipal health care settings.

Abstract

Recently graduated nurses are the future of the nursing profession and the municipal health care that will need nursing competency for an increasing number of frail elderly persons. This study is part of a larger project on newly graduated nurses where previous research indicated that building professional pride at their workplace could be important for remaining in the profession and in municipal health care. However, the recently graduated nurse's first job assignment in municipal health care can also be a critical period with cuts in their pride as nurses who may have an impact on nursing care for their patients. The aim of this study is to illuminate recently graduated nurses' experiences with professional pride in municipal health and care services. A phenomenological hermeneutic approach was chosen to illuminate meaning. A purposive sample of eight recently graduated nurses working in nursing homes or home health care was chosen for this study with narrative interviews and diaries. Three themes were identified: doing the good thing and doing what is right; being recognized and confirmed; and finally thriving in a community of practice. An important source of pride is the relation to patients. Recently graduated nurses build their professional pride in an active and social process in a community of practice. The first cut in their professional pride seems to take place when they were not recognized and confirmed as professional persons. Recently graduated nurses in municipal health care describe their professional pride as a complex phenomenon with relational, dynamic and collective dimensions. The cuts in their pride may hurt their identity and nursing care.