Professional identity impacts the workforce at personal, interpersonal and profession levels however there is a lack of reviews of professional identity research across practising health professionals. To summarise professional identity research in the health professions literature and explore how professional identity is described, a scoping review was conducted by searching Medline, Psycinfo, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, and Business Source Complete using “professional identity” and related terms for 32 health professions. Empirical studies of professional identity in post-registration health professionals were examined with health profession, career stage, background to research, theoretical underpinnings and constructs of professional identity being extracted, charted and analysed using content analysis where relevant. From 9941 studies, 160 studies across 17 health professions were identified, with nursing and medicine most common. Twenty studies focussed on professional identity in the five years post-entry to the workforce and 56 studies did not state career stage. The most common background for the research was the impact of political, social and healthcare reforms and advances. Thirty-five percent of studies (n = 57) stated the use of a theory or framework of identity, the most common being classified as social theories. Individual constructs of professional identity across the research were categorised into five themes—The Lived Experience of Professional Identity; The World Around Me; Belonging; Me; and Learning and Qualifications. Descriptions of professional identity are broad, varied, rich and multi-layered however the literature is under theorised with current theories potentially inadequate to capture its complexity and make meaningful contributions to the allied health professions.
“This scoping review makes an important contribution to the literature by comprehensively examining the rationale and theoretical underpinnings of professional identity research across the health professions as well as exploring the multi-faceted and nuanced nature of professional identity. Professional identity research is under-represented in many health professions and is poorly theorised limiting the cohesion of research across a broad range of health profession. Critical perspectives of professional identity in the health professions literature are lacking, particularly with respects to race and indigeneity, socioeconomic status and gender. Addressing these limitations and taking the broad nature of professional identity into consideration will impact the articulation of meaningful questions and theoretical frameworks for future research.”
Read the full text here.
References
- Cornett, M., Palermo, C., & Ash, S. (2022). Professional identity research in the health professions—a scoping review. Advances in Health Sciences Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-022-10171-1
Disclaimers
- The material in these reviews is from various public open-access sources, meant for educational and informational purposes only
- Any personal opinions expressed are those of only the author(s) and are not intended to represent the position of any organization(s)
- No official support by any organization(s) has been provided or should be inferred
