How Idealized Professional Identities Can Persist through Client Interactions

Abstract

How can a professional identity persist when it is mismatched with the reality of work demands in one’s first job? Existing theory suggests that new members of a profession should adapt their identities to align with their profession’s and organization’s goals. Using data from an ethnographic study of first-time hospital nurses, I develop the concept of idealized professional identities—identities rooted in the image and history of an occupation rather than in reality—and depict how these identities can persist through client interactions despite negative consequences. When left unchecked under the increasingly common conditions of weak on-the-job socialization, nurses in my study with idealized identities infantilized patients and purposefully avoided patients who denied their idealized identities even though these practices ran counter to the patient satisfaction and empowerment goals of the organization and nursing profession. The opportunity to enact cherished idealized identities with the few clients who granted them may have perpetuated these dynamics by supporting the retention of professionals who otherwise may have exited. This study suggests that socialization into a professional role may come not only from interactions with professional gatekeepers, peers, or organizational management but also from the internalization of idealized professional identities that may be kept alive through interactions with and about one’s clients.