Relationship between Transition Status and Professional Identity: A Quantitative Exploration of Nursing Interns’ Perspectives

Background: The transition from nursing student to professional practitioner is a pivotal and often challenging experience, marked by a range of emotional, cognitive, and professional adjustments. For nursing interns, this shift can lead to transition shock, as they adapt to the demands of clinical practice. Aim: to explore the relationship between nursing interns’ perception of transition status and their professional identity. Design: Descriptive- Correlational research design was utilized in this study. Setting: The current study was conducted at this study carried out at the Technical Institute of Nursing. Sample: A purposive sample consists of nursing interns; who enrolled in internship round (n=688).Tools: Three tools were used for data collection in this study. (1): Personal characteristics data sheet. (2): Transitional status scale for newly graduated nursing students. (3): Professional identity scale. Results: The majority of nursing interns (79.60%) reported a high perception of their transition status. About two third (67.16%) had moderate sense of professional identity during their transition into clinical practice. Conclusion: There was a statistically significance negative correlation between nursing Interns’ perception of transition status and their perception of professional identity, implying that higher transition challenges were associated with lower professional identity. Recommendation: Support nursing interns with coaching, mentoring, clear communication, reflective learning initiatives and development programs to facilitate smoother transitions and reinforce nursing interns’ professional identity.