20.500.12556/RUP-23537 At the intersection of care and command a thematic analysis of military nurses’ experiences in a compact national defense structure Background: Military nursing operates at the intersection of healthcare and defense, requiring nurses to balance professional ethics with military discipline, operational readiness, and organizational hierarchy. Purpose: To explore how military nurses in a small defense system construct and sustain professional identities and how organizational structures and military culture shape their autonomy, competence, wellbeing, and family life. Methods: A qualitative design using reflexive thematic analysis was employed. Nineteen individual semistructured interviews were conducted with military nurses serving in the armed forces. Discussion: Seven interrelated themes demonstrated that professional identity in military nursing is dynamic, adaptive, and morally grounded, and is continuously negotiated at the intersection of care and command. Organizational hierarchy, autonomy, professional development, emotional resilience, family responsibilities, and institutional recognition shaped participants’ professional experiences. Conclusion: Empathetic leadership, realistic training, and policies that support work-life balance and equitable recognition are vital for well-being and operational readiness. Stronger organizational support and clearer leadership communication may enhance retention, resilience, and the quality of military healthcare military nursing professional identity emotional resilience organizational culture zdravstvena nega v vojski poklicna identiteta emocionalna odpornost organizacijska kultura true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-08-23 23:59:35 2026-08-23 23:59:35 2026-08-24 03:07:32 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 str. 1-10 iss. 5, [article no.] 102882 Vol. 74 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-08-15 614.253.5:355.72 1528-3968 10.1016/j.outlook.2026.102882 288573443 https://www.nursingoutlook.org/article/S0029-6554(26)00205-8/fulltext 1 b03d5f12-9f3d-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=34896 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2026.102882 1 b162a625-9f3d-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=34897 RAZ_Prosen_Mirko_2026.pdf RAZ_Prosen_Mirko_2026.pdf 1 CA7E796DAA28951E5EC0E5B28C7F7B90 883f6f6e04b39c235f52a3983e614207096b14c743d4f3c4da8bdde6e48c686d 1987476f-9f3e-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=34898 Fakulteta za vede o zdravju 0 0 0