Abstract:

Objective To explore the influence of role modeling of clinical tutors on nursing undergraduates’ professional identity. Methods Twelve nursing undergraduates were interviewed by a semi-structured questions and an interpretative phenomenological analysis was carried out. Results Four themes emerged from the data including “My initial opinions on nursing”,“What I got from role modeling of clinical tutors”,“What professional identity means to me” and “How role modeling plays a role in professional identity”. These themes showed the influence of role modeling of clinical tutors on nursing undergraduates’ professional identity dynamically. Conclusion Clinical tutors’ role modeling facilitates students to see more possibilities in nursing,thus they can generate motivation and goals to improve their professional identity. Professional identity is the result of interaction between students’ inner pursuit of value and external considerations of reality,and it will be enhanced when their potential is stimulated. Students’ professional identity can be enhanced based on the clinical preceptorship which can help to gradually establish a clear career training and development path.

Key words: Students, Nursing, Qualitative Research, Clinical tutor, Role model, Professional identity