The development of a professional health identity is known to be a gradual process which takes place by students through social interaction in both academic and clinical settings. It is a crucial element in retaining students within health professions,enabling them to perform their roles competently and effectively. Constructing a professional identity is a complex and individual process, but, it is recognised that in healthcare it will contain universal traits such as caring and compassion. Failure to absorb such an identity by students is not well documented, but it is thought to contribute towards the number of recruits who leave professions prior to or on qualifying. This phenomenological study examines the ways in which student nurses construct and adopt a nurse identity whilst studying for the theoretical component of their programme. The lived experience of both traditional, classroom based student nurses and those studying modules by online learning is explored through in-depth interviews and participant observations and conclusions drawn as to the effects of this on professional identity construction.

Dr Jillian McCarthy is a Senior Lecturer in Health Management at Alliance Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester. A registered nurse by background, Jill is committed to enhancing patient experience through the education of healthcare professionals and she has globally presented and published in these areas.