J Nurs Educ
-
Nursing identity is a developmental process that evolves throughout professional nurses' careers. Educational systems that prepare nurses include experiences that are important in the early development of nursing identity. Therefore, faculty in nursing programs are interested in understanding how their students perceive and define professional identity. ⋯ These results demonstrate that nursing students come to an educational program with more than a rudimentary conception of professional identity. Use of these data may lead to opportunities to improve nursing students' educational experiences and foster the development of professional identity. Faculty can use knowledge of students' definitions of nursing to enrich student learning.