The Professional Identity of Nursing Students and Their Intention to Leave the Nursing Profession During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected China and other countries since December 2019. The effects of this pandemic on nursing students in terms of their professional identity, intention to leave the nursing profession, and perception of clinical nursing work remain unclear. PURPOSE: The aims of this study were, first, to investigate nursing students' professional identity, intention to leave the nursing profession, and perception of clinical nursing work during the COVID-19 pandemic and, second, to explore factors influencing professional identity to help develop effective strategies to enrich and strengthen this factor in the future. METHODS: This cross-sectional, descriptive survey study was conducted on 150 nursing students in China in February 2020. RESULTS: The 14 (9.3%) participants who reported intending to leave the nursing profession earned lower scores for professional identity than their peers who reported intending to remain. The participants who believed that the COVID-19 pandemic had made them "more passionate about clinical nursing work" earned the highest scores, followed by those who believed the pandemic had "no effect." The lowest scores were earned by those who believed clinical nursing work to be "too dangerous to engage in." COVID-19 knowledge scores, the perceived effectiveness of preventive and control measures, the number of cases seen on the day the study survey was taken, and time spent daily on COVID-19 events were the variables found to influence professional identity. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 outbreak is not merely a time of crisis but also an opportunity to reconstruct the professional identity of nursing students.