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'I’ve got no idea': an ethnography of critical care nurses' nuanced and ambiguous professional identities in regional Australia
Citation
Belle, MJ and Cook, PS, 'I've got no idea': an ethnography of critical care nurses' nuanced and ambiguous professional identities in regional Australia, Health Sociology Review pp. 1-16. ISSN 1446-1242 (2022) [Refereed Article]
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DOI: doi:10.1080/14461242.2022.2091947
Abstract
Historical sociological perspectives posit professional identity to emerge from socialisation and attainment of ‘traits’ considered unique to and distinguishing of a profession. Such essentialist understandings, however, cannot account for group heterogeneity, nurses’ lived experiences, nor the fluidity of professional and personal identity. This article conceptualises professional identity as being both individual and collective, influenced by context, involving subjective meaning-making, and membership to a specific professional group. Drawing on ethnographic data gathered through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with Critical Care Nurses in an Intensive Care Unit in regional Australia, we identify four themes that reveal different aspects of professional identity: conceptualising professional identity; professional identity as a title and legislative requirement; professional identity as qualifications and training; and professional identity as a social performance. The findings demonstrate that Critical Care Nurses hold multifaceted perceptions of professional identity. While they collectively distinguish their nursing training, knowledge, and practice from other nurses, they struggle to articulate what professional identity is, while creating boundaries between different forms of nursing education and qualifications to construct their professional identity. These uncertain and diverse meanings of professional identity contribute to nurse identity ambiguity, while also reflecting the necessity of flexible individual and collective nursing identities.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | professional identity, nursing, professionalism, ethnography, critical care nurses, group cohesion, sociology of health, sociology of professions, critical care |
| Research Division: | Human Society |
| Research Group: | Sociology |
| Research Field: | Sociology of health |
| Objective Division: | Law, Politics and Community Services |
| Objective Group: | Work and labour market |
| Objective Field: | Professions and professionalisation |
| UTAS Author: | Belle, MJ (Dr Melissa Belle) |
| UTAS Author: | Cook, PS (Dr Peta Cook) |
| ID Code: | 151236 |
| Year Published: | 2022 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 2 |
| Deposited By: | Office of the School of Social Sciences |
| Deposited On: | 2022-07-26 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-07-26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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