BACKGROUND: The shortage of nurses threatens the entire healthcare system, and nursing professionalism can improve nurse retention and enhance the quality of care. However, nursing professionalism is dynamic, and the factors influencing its development are not fully understood.
METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted. Using maximum variation and purposive sampling, 14 southern and northern China participants were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from May 2022 to August 2023 in face-to-face conversations in offices in the workplace or via voice calls. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed via thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Three main themes emerged: (1) nourishment factors: promoting early sprouting; (2) growth factors: the power of self-activation and overcoming challenges; and (3) rootedness factors: stability and upward momentum. Participants described the early acquisition of nursing professionalism as derived from personality traits, family upbringing, and school professional education, promoting the growth of nursing professionalism through self-activation and overcoming challenges, and maintaining the stable and upward development of nursing professionalism through an upward atmosphere and external motivation.
CONCLUSIONS: We revealed the dynamic factors that influence the development of nursing professionalism, including \"nourishment factors\", \"growth factors\", and \"rootedness factors\". Our findings provide a foundation for future development of nursing professionalism cultivation strategies. Nursing administrators can guide the development of nurses\' professionalism from many angles according to the stage they are in, and the development of professionalism deserves more attention. In the future, we can no longer consider the development of nursing professionalism solely as the responsibility of individual nurses; the power of families, organizations, and society is indispensable to jointly promoting nursing professionalism among nurses.

BACKGROUND: Nursing professionalism plays an important role in clinical nursing. However, a clear conceptual understanding of nursing professionalism is lacking.
METHODS: Walker and Avant\'s strategy was used to analyse the concept of nursing professionalism. We searched electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL, for studies published from 1965 to 2021. Quantitative or qualitative studies published in English that focused on nursing professionalism were included in the study.
RESULTS: The three attributes of nursing professionalism are multidimensional, dynamic, and culture oriented. Based on the analysis, nursing professionalism is defined as providing individuals care based on the principles of professionalism, caring, and altruism.
CONCLUSIONS: This study offers a theoretical definition and conceptual model of nursing professionalism that may be applied to develop standardized assessment tools or nursing professionalism training programs.

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Snizek-revised Hall\'s Professionalism Inventory Scale (C-SR-HPIS).
METHODS: Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate the construct validity of the C-SR-HPIS. The average variance extracted (AVE) and square root of the AVE were calculated and correlation analyses were performed to test the convergent validity and discriminant validity, respectively. Cronbach\'s alpha (α) coefficient was used to test the internal consistency reliability.
RESULTS: Data for 355 clinical nurses in mainland China were collected. Five factors were extracted, accounting for 58.86% of the total explained variance, and 20 items were selected for the C-SR-HPIS. The confirmatory factor analysis suggested good fitness of the modified model. The AVE was acceptable for convergent validity. The square roots of the AVE of the five factors were larger than their correlation coefficients with other factors, showing suitable discriminant validity. Cronbach\'s α coefficient of internal consistency reliability of the overall scale was 0.76, indicating good reliability of the scale.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated good reliability and validity of the C-SR-HPIS and provides a quantitative tool for the assessment of nursing professionalism in China.