Experiencing a nurse identity: the meaning of identity to Swedish registered nurses 2 years after graduation.
BACKGROUND
The professional identity and experiences of nurses have been focused upon in different studies


OBJECTIVE
This is a longitudinal study whose aim was to understand how nurses experience the meaning of their identity as nurses, when they are students and nurses 2 years after graduation.


METHODS
Data were collected through interviews once a year during education and two years after graduation, and were analysed using a phenomenological hermeneutic method, inspired by the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur.


RESULTS
The analyses of the narratives resulted in four perspectives: 'Having the patient in focus', 'Being a team leader', 'Preceptorship' and 'Task orientation'. The nurses did not change perspectives but the perspective showed a transition over time.


CONCLUSIONS
The nurses' not changing perspective over time is understood as being a life paradigm, remaining throughout the years.
Fagerberg
I
I
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Occupational Therapy and Elderly Care Research, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. ifg@mdh.se
Kihlgren
M
M
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D009729:Nursing; D011231:Preceptorship; D012933:Social Identification; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D013548:Sweden