Exploring the Impact of Organizational Change on Nurse Morale and Professional Identity Formation

Posted: Jan 04, 2023

• Evelyn Richards
• Tanner McCoy
• Aubrey Logan

Abstract

The contemporary healthcare landscape is characterized by relentless organizational change driven by technological advancement, regulatory requirements, economic pressures, and evolving care delivery models. Within this turbulent environment, nursing professionals constitute the largest segment of the healthcare workforce and serve as the primary interface between complex healthcare systems and patient care delivery. The impact of organizational change on nurse morale and professional identity formation represents a critical yet understudied dimension of healthcare organizational effectiveness. Traditional research approaches have often treated morale and professional identity as separate constructs, failing to capture their dynamic interplay during periods of organizational transformation. This research addresses significant gaps in the literature by examining how organizational change simultaneously influences nurse morale and the ongoing process of professional identity formation. We propose that these two constructs exist in a reciprocal relationship, where changes in one necessarily affect the other, creating complex feedback loops that either facilitate or impede successful organizational adaptation. Our investigation moves beyond conventional survey-based approaches by incorporating computational analysis of narrative data, allowing us to capture the nuanced, contextualized experiences of nurses navigating organizational change. The novelty of our approach lies in its integration of qualitative depth with quantitative scalability, enabling us to identify patterns that would remain invisible through traditional methodological approaches. By examining nurse narratives as they unfold over time, we can trace the evolution of professional identity in response to specific organizational interventions, revealing the mechanisms