Researchers who plan to debate the nursing practice habits and nurses’ professional-individual self and identity can study out nurse habitus. Habitus affects how the nurses understand care needs of patients. Also, sociotropy-autonomy is important for both the personal and professional development of nurses. According to researchers, professional criteria are autonomy, commitment to the profession and unity consciousness.

The study was designed to investigate of nurses’ sociotropic-autonomic personality features levels in the context of emotional habitus.

Information form, sociotropy-autonomy scale were applied to 10 nurses. Also, semi-structured thorough individual interviews were made with them.

Seven nurses have voluntarily chosen their profession and the others are not. Nurses’ sociotropy levels were 59.2 ± 22. Sixteen and autonomy levels were 83.9 ± 22.41. According to the results of the MWU test (U = .0 P < .05), anxiety about disapproval of eight undergraduate nurse (MR = 4.5) is lower than two graduated from health school nurse (MR = 9.5). Five nurses stated that nursing is appropriate for their personal character. Six nurses stated that nursing influenced the positive development of personal character. With content analysis, similarities and differences between nursing identity and social identity, optimal behaviour in expressing feelings of nurses and emotional habitus themes were reached.

Nurse habitus is developed by both of individual and structural factors which are complex and diversity. So, it affects nurses’ career and motivation to provide services. That the researcher assesses them from this aspect affects positively the quality of care.

The author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.

The concept of Bourdieu's habitus effects nurses’ approach to patients. Habitus is the site of nurses’ internalizations of the rules in the field of care work, where nurses acquire emotional habitus that corresponds to ethical values and feeling rules of care work. If nurses do not manage their emotions in accordance with the moral disposition, social suffering will be occur. Determining social suffering helps to understand how a tension between the field of care work and emotional habitus can violate nurses’ well-being and cause burnout.

To determine the emotional habitus of nurses’ with the high level of burnout.

Clinic nurses of Hacettepe university hospitals constituted the population of this study. Firstly, Nursing Information Form, Maslach Burnout Scale were applied to participating 350 nurses. Secondly, semi-structured thorough individual interviews were made with 39 nurses of 201 with the high level of burnout.

With content analysis emotional habitus, problem areas for emotional habitus, results of these problem areas, optimal behavior in expressing feelings of nurses and related to suggestions to gain these statements total twenty themes were reached. Nurses suggested proposals to gain optimal behavior in expressing feelings. These are individual development, obtaining professional knowledge, role modeling, experiencing. Also, nurses wanted to see value by patients and hospital administration and respect patients.

To prevent and cope with burnout; it has been proposed that awareness training programmes and course contents about emotional habitus, management emotions should be arranged.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.