Professional Identity and Career Planning of Nursing Students in the First Year: The Mediating Role of Willing Acceptance and Striving Based on Social Cognitive Career Theory

Objectives Based on social cognitive career theory, this study explores the mediating effect of willingness to accept and strive in the relationship between professional identity (PI) and personal career planning among first‐year nursing students, to provide reference for their career development. Methods From December 2024 to January 2025, 362 first‐year nursing students from two universities were recruited via convenience sampling. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Professional Identity Questionnaire for Nursing Students (PIQNS), the Willing Acceptance and Striving Questionnaire (WASQ), and the Personal Career Planning Scale. SPSS 26.0 was applied for descriptive and correlational analyses; its process macro (Model 4) with 5000 bootstrap samples was used to test the mediating effect of acceptance willingness and initiative on nursing undergraduates’ PI and personal career planning. Results The scores for PI, willing acceptance and striving, and personal career planning of first‐year nursing undergraduates were 56.97 ± 8.51, 84.16 ± 10.96, and 89.66 ± 10.85 respectively. Personal career planning was positively correlated with PI ( r = 0.399, p < 0.01); personal career planning was positively correlated with willing acceptance and striving ( r = 0.391, p < 0.01); willing acceptance and striving was positively correlated with PI ( r = 0.626, p < 0.01); and willing acceptance and striving played a partial mediating role between PI and personal career planning in the nursing major undergraduate students, with the mediating effect being 0.117 [95% CI (0.021–0.202)], accounting for 36.45% of the total effect. Conclusions First‐year nursing undergraduates show moderate career planning (with room to improve). Willing acceptance and striving partially mediate the relationship between PI and career planning. Educators should focus on enhancing their career planning skills, PI, psychological mechanisms, and proactive attitudes to support professional growth.