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.

当职业身份与第一份工作的实际工作需求不匹配时，如何能坚持下去？现有理论表明，一个职业的新成员应该调整他们的身份，以符合他们的职业和组织的目标。使用来自首次住院护士的民族志研究数据，我提出了理想化的专业身份的概念——植根于职业形象和历史而非现实的身份——并描述这些身份如何在客户互动中持续存在，尽管有负面后果。在越来越普遍的职场社交薄弱的情况下，如果不加以控制，在我的研究中，具有理想化身份的护士会将患者幼稚化，并有目的地避开否认其理想化身份的患者，即使这些做法与患者满意度和赋权目标背道而驰。组织和护理专业。与少数授予他们的客户制定珍贵的理想化身份的机会可能通过支持保留可能已经退出的专业人士来延续这些动态。