Abstract
Nurses have difficulty describing their roles and the core components of the profession (1). The absence of understanding the profession and the unique role of nurses in the health system negatively impacts the profession (2, 3, 4). The goal of this qualitative descriptive study was to gain an understanding of the reasons that motivated nurses to enter the profession compared to how they describe their current role as a practicing nurse and to examine the discordance from the initial vision of being a nurse and their current interpretation of their role.
After ethics approval, data was collected by examining the anonymized first assignment (n=187) of nurses enrolled in their first course in the Master of Nursing (MN) program, where students were asked to reflect on what influenced them to be the nurse that they are today. Thematic analysis was conducted with over half of all assignments (n=111) by identifying similar codes grouped together into themes.
The central theme is “relationality”. Participants’ decision to enter the nursing profession was influenced by their understanding of the profession as “helping relationships” with patients. Currently, at the core of their nursing practice, participants value a “trusting relationship” with their patients while involving them in their care plan. Most participants also emphasized that their “professional foundation” was built on values and beliefs that were acquired through their interactions with mentors, supervisors, colleagues, as well as patients and their families. Participants also reflected on the complex “roles and responsibilities” undertaken by nurses, and the crucial contribution this aspect plays in ensuring collaborative, comprehensive, and patient-centered care, not only by providing primary care, but also by advocating, providing emotional support and education to patients and their families. Finally, an important finding is the “intertwining humanity” described as the personal values and professional values of caring, compassion and helping people in vulnerable situations overlapping and serving as a motive for the pursuit of a career as a nurse.
This study highlights the centrality of humanity in care (5) that shape what graduate student nurses described in their assignments. With the current health system being fast paced, short-staffed and prioritizing tasks, one must ponder the power of humanity in care as an approach to recruitment and retention and future development of the profession.
Notes
References:
1. Fawcett, J. (2020). Thoughts about nursing science and nursing sciencing revisited. Nursing Science Quarterly, 33(1), 97-99.
2. Dahlke, S. et al. (2017). Does the emphasis on caring within nursing contribute to nurses’ silence about practice issues? Nursing Philosophy, 18, 1-7.
3. Manhart Barrett, E. A. (2017). Again, what is nursing science? Nursing Science Quarterly, 30(2), 129-133.
4. Zhang, Y. (2024). What is nursing in advanced nursing practice? Applying theories and models to advanced nursing practice – A discursive view. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 00, 1-14.
5. Watson, J. (1997). The theory of human caring: retrospective and prospective. Nursing Science Quarterly, 10(1), 49-52.
Sigma Membership
Mu Sigma
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Descriptive/Correlational
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Transition to Practice or Onboarding, Workforce, Nursing Practice, Occupational Roles, Nursing, Academic Motivation, Graduate Nursing Education, Masters Programs (Higher Education), Graduate Students
Recommended Citation
Dupuis-Blanchard, Suzanne and Hache-Chiasson, Alisson, "The Reflective Voice of Nurses Pursuing Graduate Studies in Defining the Nursing Profession" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 75.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/posters_2026/75
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-08-24
The Reflective Voice of Nurses Pursuing Graduate Studies in Defining the Nursing Profession
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nurses have difficulty describing their roles and the core components of the profession (1). The absence of understanding the profession and the unique role of nurses in the health system negatively impacts the profession (2, 3, 4). The goal of this qualitative descriptive study was to gain an understanding of the reasons that motivated nurses to enter the profession compared to how they describe their current role as a practicing nurse and to examine the discordance from the initial vision of being a nurse and their current interpretation of their role.
After ethics approval, data was collected by examining the anonymized first assignment (n=187) of nurses enrolled in their first course in the Master of Nursing (MN) program, where students were asked to reflect on what influenced them to be the nurse that they are today. Thematic analysis was conducted with over half of all assignments (n=111) by identifying similar codes grouped together into themes.
The central theme is “relationality”. Participants’ decision to enter the nursing profession was influenced by their understanding of the profession as “helping relationships” with patients. Currently, at the core of their nursing practice, participants value a “trusting relationship” with their patients while involving them in their care plan. Most participants also emphasized that their “professional foundation” was built on values and beliefs that were acquired through their interactions with mentors, supervisors, colleagues, as well as patients and their families. Participants also reflected on the complex “roles and responsibilities” undertaken by nurses, and the crucial contribution this aspect plays in ensuring collaborative, comprehensive, and patient-centered care, not only by providing primary care, but also by advocating, providing emotional support and education to patients and their families. Finally, an important finding is the “intertwining humanity” described as the personal values and professional values of caring, compassion and helping people in vulnerable situations overlapping and serving as a motive for the pursuit of a career as a nurse.
This study highlights the centrality of humanity in care (5) that shape what graduate student nurses described in their assignments. With the current health system being fast paced, short-staffed and prioritizing tasks, one must ponder the power of humanity in care as an approach to recruitment and retention and future development of the profession.
Description
Nurses in a Master of Nursing program were asked to reflect on the reasons they became nurses while describing their current nursing role. One hundred and eleven assignments were analyzed. One key finding is the importance of relationality and humanity. The goal of this presentation is to highlight the motivational elements that influenced a career in nursing while providing some insight into the realities of the profession and some of the discrepancies.