title: Nurses who violate the Nurse Practice Act: transformation of professional identity.
abstract: The purpose of this interpretive research was to explore and describe the experiences of nurses who had been accused of violating the Nurse Practice Act. These nurses were investigated by the Florida Department of Professional Regulation (DPR); "probable cause" that a violation of the Nurse Practice Act occurred was found; the nurses participated in a hearing and were required to comply with the Board of Nursing's (BON) order. In-depth interviews with nurses, DPR and BON staff, participant observation at BON hearings and document analysis of BON files provided multiple slices of data. The grounded theory method was used for data analysis. These nurses experienced a transformation of professional identity. The transformation involved five phases - being confronted, assuming a stance, going through it, living the consequences and re-visioning.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007603:Jurisprudence; D007884:Legislation, Nursing; D008508:Medication Errors; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012940:Social Problems