Constructing nurses' professional identity through group performance.

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine professional identity through the group performances of nurses within a specific work environment. Background: Professional identity and social identity are closely linked. Nurses undertake clinical practice usually within a social group environment. The literature is limited on the development of professional identity within the context of nurses' daily work. Design An integrated ethnographic case context design was adopted, consisting of two clinical wards in one acute health‐care facility in Australia. The application of the social identity theory (SIT) was used to study two specific professional activities to describe the group performance of nurses within this organizational cultural context and how this influenced nurses' professional identity. Method: The research was undertaken between 2012 and 2014. Data collection included observation, interviews and fieldnotes of a convenience sample of nurses and allied health‐care professionals who undertook two professional activities in their normal work environment. Findings The development of group efficacy contributed to the development of the professional identity in the homogenous handover activity. Self‐efficacy was demonstrated in the heterogenous multidisciplinary activity. Conclusion: The results indicated the importance of recognizing core identity‐building activities and understanding the value of these activities to professional identity development. SUMMARY STATEMENT: What is already known about this topic? Outside health care, it is well researched that social identity theory and group performance are important to group development within organizations.Professional identity during the training of undergraduate nurses is well researched.It is known, but under studied, that work contexts are significant arenas where nurses' professional identity is refined and expressed. What this paper adds? Social processes in the work environment sustain the construction of nurses' professional identities.Group efficacy during nurse‐to‐nurse activities contribute to the development of professional identity.Self‐efficacy during multidisciplinary interactions offers insights into the performance of professional identity. The implications of this paper: The findings have implications for informing the development of core identity‐building activities to purposefully enhance professional identity within nursing work contexts.The findings have implications for understanding how nurses self‐categorize their professional identity and how this is expressed differently in a homogenous nursing group from a multidisciplinary group.The findings are relevant to professional leadership, education and service development in the nursing profession and generate important possibilities for further research in other nursing work environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]