Nursing professional capital: a qualitative analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to offer qualitative support for the assertion that nurses possess professional capital. BACKGROUND: Nurses embrace professional standards and tenets that have been measured as trust and ethics. By understanding forms of capital and combining quantitative public-opinion surveys and our qualitative findings, a case can be made that nurses possess professional capital. METHOD: This was a focused review of existing interview data and was conducted using inductive content analysis. FINDINGS: Patients provided unsolicited accounts of trust and positive regard for their nurses. CONCLUSION: Evidence supports that in combination with trust and positive regard, nurses possess professional capital. Nurses should judiciously use their professional capital to impact institutional, political, and economic policy.