Professional value reconstruction and perceived influences among male nurses in Hainan, China: a narrative inquiry

Male nurses often face gender stereotypes and challenges in professional value formation. However, little is known about how their professional values are formed, challenged, and reconstructed across career experiences in the Chinese hospital context. This study explored the reconstruction of professional values among male nurses and the perceived factors influencing this process. A qualitative narrative inquiry design was adopted. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit 15 male nurses from five tertiary hospitals in Hainan Province, China, between January 2023 and January 2025. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and analyzed through within-case narrative reconstruction and cross-case thematic synthesis informed by Clandinin and Connelly’s three-dimensional narrative space of temporality, sociality, and place. Reporting followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ). Four themes were generated from participants’ narratives. First, entry into nursing was shaped mainly by pragmatic considerations, including employment security, family advice, and reassignment through the college admission system; three entry patterns were identified: active choice, passive reassignment, and blind choice. Second, professional values were reconstructed over time across four interpretive phases: blurred professional cognition, value exploration, value differentiation and establishment, and professional-value consolidation. These phases represented recurring, context-dependent temporal patterns within participants’ career narratives and did not imply a fixed, universal, or linear sequence. Third, four current career orientations were identified: technical expertise-oriented, managerial advancement, stable commitment, and turnover-prone. Fourth, participants attributed changes in professional values to the interplay of individual resources, critical career events, organizational support, workplace contexts, and gender-related sociocultural influences. Across narratives, critical events were often interpreted as turning points, but similar experiences could acquire different meanings and contribute to different career orientations depending on participants’ interpretations, social relationships, organizational responses, and workplace contexts. Male nurses’ professional values were dynamically and non-linearly reconstructed across career experiences and contexts. The identified professional-value phases and career orientations provide a temporally and contextually grounded understanding of male nurses’ career experiences and may inform individualized and gender-inclusive professional support.