Professional Identity in Nursing: A Cross‐Sectional Study of Acute Care Nurses

Aim: Our study aimed to identify nurses’ perception of professional identity, in themselves and their peers. Our primary objective was to describe the sample when stratified by high self or peer rating of professional identity. The secondary objective was to describe relationships between participant characteristics and ratings for each domain characterizing professional identity. Our final aim was to describe relationships between participant characteristics and ratings for each domain characterizing the Professional Identity in Nursing Scale (PINS)‐self and PINS‐environment/peer. Background: PIN is defined as how an individual feels about themselves in the way that they think, act, and feel like in a nurse in their workplace and in relationship with others around them. Design: The study was a cross‐sectional design, inviting eligible nurses to complete a one‐time survey using the PINS. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from June to September 2022 with 334 nurse participants. Nurses were recruited from participating hospitals within a single, large, nonprofit, Catholic health system in the United States. Results: Nurses more frequently rated self (PINS‐self score) at an average “proficient” or higher level as opposed to peer (PINS‐environment/peer score). In the sample, older generational cohort correlated with higher scores in all four self but not environment/peer domains. The highest average scores were observed in the “values and ethics” domain. Conclusions: Our findings suggest professional identity develops over time. Nurses should continue developing innovative ways to strengthen the professional identity of themselves and their peers in the workplace.