Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilka handlingar som leder till att sjuksköterskor blir avdelningschefer och vilka konsekvenser det kan få för sjuksköterskor att vara chefer, vilka faktorer de uppfattar har påverkat valet och hur de upplever och ser på sin egen roll. Metoden som användes är grundad teori och studien baseras på djupintervjuer med sex avdelningschefer som i sin grundprofession är sjuksköterskor. Resultatet utmynnade i en processmodell bestående av fyra faser där kategorin vändpunkt identifierades som kärnkategorin. Resultatet analyserades sedan utifrån det teoretiska perspektivet i symbolisk interaktionism. / The aim with the study was to examine which actions lead to nurses becoming ward managers and which consequences it may get to a nurse becoming a manager, which factors do they consider have influenced their choice and how do they experience their own role. The used method is Grounded theory and the study is based on interviews with six ward managers which are nurses in profession. The result ended out in a process model containing four phases and the category, turning point experience, was identified as the core category. The result was analyzed on the basis of the theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism.

<p>The “good girl” is today an accepted and widespread notion. It is delimited to young girls and women who are characterised to be, for example, ambitious, high performing, working too much and risks developing mental illnesses. In today’s society women are assumed to pursue their career alongside maintaining the main responsibility for the household and family. The overarching purpose of this study has been – via a hermeneutic approach and based on the theory of symbolic interactionism – to elucidate and contribute knowledge to the social role of being a “good girl” and the associated implications for a woman’s identity and career. The aim has moreover been to address the differences between the two groups of respondents: women born in the 1980s and women born in the 1960s.The study is based on six individual semi structured interviews and two group interviews. The purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of and, thereby, a better interpretation of the phenomena of “good girls”. The interviews were conducted on a sample suited to the purpose, where the younger group of respondents will have studied at least three years at the university before graduating. The older groups of respondents have studied at least four years at an academic level before taking up employment. The results show that all respondents are characterised by ambitious identities, which create conflicts between, on the one hand, how they perceive themselves and, on the one hand, how others expect them to act.</p>

The “good girl” is today an accepted and widespread notion. It is delimited to young girls and women who are characterised to be, for example, ambitious, high performing, working too much and risks developing mental illnesses. In today’s society women are assumed to pursue their career alongside maintaining the main responsibility for the household and family. The overarching purpose of this study has been – via a hermeneutic approach and based on the theory of symbolic interactionism – to elucidate and contribute knowledge to the social role of being a “good girl” and the associated implications for a woman’s identity and career. The aim has moreover been to address the differences between the two groups of respondents: women born in the 1980s and women born in the 1960s.The study is based on six individual semi structured interviews and two group interviews. The purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of and, thereby, a better interpretation of the phenomena of “good girls”. The interviews were conducted on a sample suited to the purpose, where the younger group of respondents will have studied at least three years at the university before graduating. The older groups of respondents have studied at least four years at an academic level before taking up employment. The results show that all respondents are characterised by ambitious identities, which create conflicts between, on the one hand, how they perceive themselves and, on the one hand, how others expect them to act.