NURSING STUDENTS' PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION

Background: Clinical teaching practice is one of the most crucial phases in nursing students' professional identity development. Nursing students' development of professional identity has not previously been studied using critical discursive psychology. The aim was, with a critical discursive psychological lens, to examine how nursing students and clinical supervisors understand the students' developing professional identity towards becoming a nurse. Method: A qualitative design with written interviews. The informants were clinical supervisors and nursing students. The written interviews were analysed using critical discursive psychology. Results: The students draw on the interpretive repertoire "learning as a challenge", constructing themselves in a subject position "stressed students" or they submit to the interpretative repertoire "learning as professional and personal development" through the subject position "positively challenged students". The clinical supervisors draw on two different interpretative repertoires in their constructions of the students: "nursing skills" and "personal approach to nursing". They construct the students through three subject positions: "the clever students", "the difficult students" and "the careful students". Conclusion: The students show that clinical learning is challenging. Practical tasks are the most important method towards identifying oneself as a nurse. The clinical supervisors orient towards theory and work practices.