Latent Profile Analysis of moral identity of nursing students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background The cornerstone of the nursing profession is moral identity, and the establishment of professional identity goes hand in hand with moral growth. The existing state of affairs and the elements affecting nursing students' moral identity are not well understood from a multifaceted perspective. Objectives To define moral identity subgroups and research the variables affecting profile membership. Methods A convenient sampling. was used to conduct a cross-sectional study among nursing students from November 16th, 2022, to January 17th, 2023. The Moral Identity Measure and the General Demographic Information Questionnaire were provided to the participants. Students studying nursing were divided into several moral identity subgroups using a latent profile analysis (LPA). To determine the variables connected to the putative moral identity categories, we also conducted ordinal and multinomial logistic regression analyses. Results A total of 10583 nursing students responded to legitimate surveys. The LPA results validated the presence of three unique moral identity profiles: low (4.2%), moderate (41.9%), and high (53.9%), and demonstrated that the three-profile model was the most appropriate. The three profiles stood out from one another greatly. Profiles were predicted by gender, grade, political stance, rural background, leadership experience, and junior college degree. Conclusion In this study, three profiles were found, and the majority of nursing students had a strong moral identity. Regarding variables determining profile membership and moral identity subgroups, nursing students should get specialized support.