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Background & Objective: Professional socialization is defined as the process of acquiring knowledge and skills and internalizing values, attitudes, and norms to develop professional identity. This process occurs primarily during formal education programs and continues during orientation to hospital settings. The aim of this study was to clarify professional socialization concept and to identify its attributes, antecedents and consequences in nursing context.

Methods & Materials: Rodgers&apos evolutionary method of concept analysis was used to facilitate clarification of professional socialization concept in nursing. The search, performed on scientific databases using the keywords: &apossocialization&apos, &aposprofessional socialization&apos and &aposnursing&apos, resulted in findings of a sample of 446 papers covering the period 1995 to 2009 represented the disciplines of nursing and related sciences. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 47 articles and four books were included in the final analysis. The process was audited by two independent experts to ensure neutrality and credibility of the study and to reduce the potentials for bias.

Results: The result of the analysis showed that professional socialization is a complex process consisting of four critical attributes: learning, being interactive, developing, and being adaptive. Comprehensive educational programs, competent role models, and provision of adequate field experiences were antecedents for these attributes. The widespread and diverse consequences of professional socialization depend on personal, situational, and organizational factors. Thus, while occurrence of socialization process generates benefits, its nonoccurrence entails severe consequences.

Conclusion: Professional socialization process is a complex, diverse, dynamic, ongoing, inevitable, and unpredictable process. This process can have both positive and negative consequences on professional development. However, negative consequences are more prominently documented in the literature. Thus, successful socialization requires establishing facilities in education and practice. The purpose of this revolutionary concept analysis was to focus on significance and how-to-apply ways of the concept in nursing. These findings not only are added to the body of knowledge, but also serve as an important impetus for further theory development and research in nursing.

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  Background & Aim: Transition from studentship to working life is a stressful and challenging event. The concept of transition is important in nursing education, management, and practice issues. However, despite its supreme importance, there are certain ambiguities about the concept of transition in nursing. The aim of this study was to analyze the concept of transition in the context of nursing in Iran.

  Methods & Materials: We used the three-phase hybrid concept analysis model including the theoretical phase, the fieldwork phase, and the final analytic phase in this study. In the theoretical phase, we conducted an online literature search to find relevant articles published prior to 2012. In the fieldwork phase, five novice nurses, two experienced nurses, and one head-nurse were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis approach. During the final analytic phase, we compared the findings of the first two phases to provide a clear and comprehensive definition of the concept of transition . 

  Results: The findings of the theoretical phase revealed that transition was a process phenomenon having defined attributes such as detachment, individual perception, awareness, and human response patterns. According to the findings of the fieldwork phase, transition was an interactive, evolutionary, and time-bound phenomenon that embodies attributes such as socialization, unavoidability, and competence and ability development. In the final analytic phase, a comprehensive definition was provided for the concept of transition in the context of nursing in Iran .

  Conclusion: This study provided a comprehensive understanding of the concept of transition from nursing studentship to working life in Iran. The findings of this study can be used to develop theories, instruments, and criteria for evaluation of novice nurses’ transition to experienced nurses .

  

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  Background & Aim: Nurses’ clinical judgment is an evolving complex concept. In order to understand the concept, clarification is needed. This study aimed to conduct the concept analysis of clinical judgment in nursing .

  Methods & Materials: Based on the Rodgers’s evolutionary method, evolving concept of clinical judgment in nursing was analyzed. Literature was retrieved from scientific databases during 1980 to 2013. Based on the inclusion criteria, 42 articles, three books and one dissertation were analyzed using thematic analysis method . 

  Results: The results showed that clinical judgment in nursing was a complicated process with attributes including intention, observation, data collection and information process, interpretation, prioritization and inference. Antecedents included knowledge, experience, evidences, clinical reasoning, intuition, critical thinking and consequences included nursing diagnosis and clinical decision making .

  Conclusion: Clinical judgment in nursing is a critical thinking process, situational based and beyond observation and assessment. This concept analysis could distinct the transposition concept of clinical judgment and other related concepts. The results of this study would help to develop theories and clinical judgment measurement instruments in practice, research and educational settings .

  

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Background & Aim: Although compassionate care is recognized as a core component of nursing care, there is not still a precise definition about this complex and challenging concept. This study aimed to analyze the concept of compassionate care in nursing using a hybrid model.

Methods & Materials: A three-phase hybrid model (theoretical, field work, and final analysis) was used in this study. In the theoretical phase, the concept of compassionate care was searched in main databases from 2000 to 2016. In the field work phase, in-depth, face to face interviews were done with 11 nurses. The content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Final analysis was done in the last phase.

Results: The results of the final analysis showed that compassionate care is a process in which nurses interactively communicate with patients, try to explore patients’ concerns by putting themselves in their positions and understanding their situations, and do their utmost to eliminate these concerns.

Conclusion: According to this concept analysis, the constructive interaction between nurse and patient is one of the most important features of compassionate care that has not been mentioned in previous definitions. Also in this study, the nurses emphasized that they did their best to resolve the patients’ concerns. Therefore, the current study could be the basis for future studies in the area of compassionate care.

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Background & Aim: White lie is one of the inevitable challenges that creates an ethical dilemma during the patient care process. White lie remains an abstract concept in caring process. The aim of this study was to analyze the concept of white lie in the caring process using a hybrid model.
Methods & Materials: A hybrid model of concept analysis including three phases was used in this study. In the theoretical phase, different databases including PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Science Direct, Google scholar, SID and Magiran were searched for finding relevant articles published in 1980-2018. The keywords were truth, white lie, care and deception (in Persian and English). In the fieldwork phase, semi-structured in depth interviews were conducted with nurses. In next step, by combining the two previous stages, the final analysis was performed.
Results: In the theoretical phase, the attributes of the concept were determined, including “harmlessness”, “without personal motivation” and “use in compulsion situations”. In the fieldwork phase, three main categories such as “the sweetness of the bitter truth”, “harmless sentences to prevent harm” and “temporary relief to balance the situation” were identified from the data analysis. By merging the concepts extracted from the theoretical and fieldwork phases, “white lie in the patient care process” was defined as “an ethical decision without personal motivation, which is chosen in unstable situations to prevent predictable harms to the patient in facing the bitter truth”.
Conclusion: Although a definition of white lie was developed based on the above three phases, the further development of this concept requires a deeper look at the Iranian-Islamic culture. Therefore, further research is recommended in other medical centers in the country.
 

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Background & Aim: Uncertainty is a multifaceted concept, inherently unavoidable, and can pose a significant obstacle to proper decision-making. In the nursing profession, which is marked by various challenges, nurses are expected to make precise and appropriate decisions. Confidence in decision-making is considered a vital element in the nursing profession. Given the ambiguities surrounding the concept of uncertainty, we aimed to conduct a concept analysis of uncertainty in nursing using the Walker and Avant’s approach.
Methods & Materials: This study is a concept analysis using the Walker and Avant’s approach to analyze the concept of uncertainty. Initially, a search was conducted on databases including Science Direct, SID, Medline, Iran Med, ProQuest, PubMed, and Scopus, using keywords such as uncertainty, nurse, and concept. A comprehensive review of articles published between 1990 and 2021 was then carried out, resulting in a total of 9 relevant articles.
Results: The literature review showed that uncertainty is an abstract and intricate concept that poses challenges in making informed decisions. In the context of nursing, uncertainty shares similarities with terms like confusion and doubt, while standing in contrast to concepts like self-confidence and assurance. The antecedents of uncertainty include the inability to make decisions and a lack of accountability. The consequence of uncertainty is the recognition of information needs, active pursuit of answers, and ultimately making informed and appropriate decisions.
Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that nurses encounter uncertainty when they are unable to make independent decisions. As uncertainty in nursing decision-making directly affects patient care, managers and planners can take proactive measures to mitigate this issue. By promoting knowledge and awareness, fostering motivation, and encouraging continuous learning among nurses, the level of uncertainty can be reduced. This, in turn, will contribute to the improvement and enhancement of patients’ health outcomes.