Professional Identity of Nursing Undergraduates during the Pandemic: A Focus Group Study in Macao

Professional identity is an individual's view of the goal, social value and profession. The purpose of this study was to explore the professional identity of nursing undergraduates during the pandemic. An exploratory qualitative descriptive design with semi-structured focus group interviews was conducted. A series of 8 focus group interviews were held at one nursing school in Macao with 48 baccalaureate nursing students. A conventional approach to qualitative content analysis was used to identify themes from the content while respecting interviewees' perspectives. Students considered that nursing is valued and respectable profession. Nursing profession plays the holy and vital role in health care system. Students viewed the negative emotional response of the front-line nurses as the neutral, unavoidable and understandable response. Nurses should be optimistic and face it head-on. The occupational risks are unavoidable. The findings of this study can help nurse educators and professional nursing organizations to design more effective educational programs in infection prevention and control, patient care, and professional identity and responsibility, thereby helping to ensure that future nurses are better prepared to respond to the outbreak.