2021 Volume 41 Pages 876-884
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the formative process of professional identity in mid-career municipal public health nurses, and factors that influences its formation.
Method: A semi-structured interview was carried out targeting seven mid-career municipal public health nurses, and the results were qualitatively and descriptively analyzed using the Trajectory Equifinality Modeling methods.
Results: The formative process of professional identity in mid-career municipal public health nurses was classified into three phases—first “suffering frustration until establishing one’s identity,” second “acquiring confidence as a public health nurse,” and third “responding to career changes.” Although the subjects were frustrated due to their lack of competence, they could acquire confidence as a public health nurse by developing relationships with the residents and getting support from people around them. Later, they experienced mid-career growth, even when their environment and roles changed, by confronting changes in circumstances and adjusting their values and awareness. At the same time, they experienced conflict between their roles as a mid-career staff member and as a municipal public health nurse.
Conclusion: To improve the professional identity of mid-career municipal public health nurses, reinforcing the support system for role conflict is suggested to be important.
