Organizational identity and the state of organizational identification in nursing organizations

AIM: This study qualitatively identified the organizational identity of a nursing organization and determined the state of organizational identification of staff in hospital wards. DESIGN: Cross‐sectional descriptive survey study. METHODS: Interviews were conducted using interview guides; a qualitative inductive analysis was performed for the three attributes of organizational identity (central, distinctive and enduring). The study included three head nurses working in different facilities and three teams comprising three nurses each, who worked under each of the head nurses (12 nurses total). RESULTS: Centrality comprised two subcategories: “ward work attributes” and “ward care attributes”. Clear centrality originating from a head nurse showed a strong influence on organizational culture in a hospital ward. As young staff is identified by distinctiveness in wards, it is important to clarify distinctiveness. When centrality and distinctiveness were not clear, enduring was weak.