Where do I fit? Developing a professional identity in an environment of anxiety and horizontal violence

The off campus clinical experience of many nursing students should be rated MA for Mature Adult Audiences due to the workplace violence that the learners are exposed to during their time in the clinical workplace. Nursing student experience in the clinical setting has a significant impact on the development of a professional identity. Work integrated learning, through the placement of students in a clinical workplace is designed to allow the learner to develop their clinical practice and a professional identity, essentially developing an understanding of what it means to be a 'nurse'. A number of strategies can be implemented to minimise the effects of workplace violence and the associated anxiety which arises from the experiences of the students in the clinical setting.