The drive process model of entrepreneurship: A grounded theory of nurses’ perception of entrepreneurship in nursing

Background: Entrepreneurship is a concept involving developing and managing a business venture in order to gain profit by taking several risks in the cooperate world. Nurses enjoy the privilege as the singular group of professionals with the most far-reaching presence at all levels of the health care system. However, the nurse is yet to exploit the opportunity created by the lack in the health system. Nurses need to get the necessary drive to exploit the entrepreneurship opportunities available to them. The purpose of this study is to explore the perception of entrepreneurship among nurses and develop a mid-range theory that explains the meaning and practices of entrepreneurship among nurses. Methods: The constructivist grounded theory design was used. In-depth Interview was conducted on 20 purposively selected participants using the zig-zag method of data collection until data saturation. Open to axial coding paradigm was used for thematic analysis by the researchers and co-coders. Finding was returned to participants and literature for verification. Results: Findings were captured in six themes (a). Nursing entrepreneurship is creating innovation in nursing driven by education and expertise, passion for creativity and positive creative climate (b) : Nursing entrepreneurship is philanthropy in nursing through innovation creation motivated by passion for caring, need for recognition and the desire to leave a legacy, (c) Nursing entrepreneurship is innovation creation in nursing driven by professionalizing in Nursing motivated by specialized training and retraining, practicing with autonomy, research and ethical code, (d) Nursing entrepreneurship is creating innovation in nursing for social gratification driven by the need for leadership, financial independence, status enhancement and time flexibility, (e) Nursing entrepreneurship is innovation creation to fulfill the need for business savvy driven by opportunity identification, health risk management and health marketing, (f) Nursing entrepreneurship is innovation creation in nursing for socio economic transformation driven by the desire for job creation and wealth generation. Drive for innovation creation emerged as the core category and based on the relationship with other themes, the drive process model of entrepreneurship in nursing is proposed. Conclusion: Nursing entrepreneurship is perceived as innovation creation in nursing driven by the need for professionalism, philanthropy, social gratification, business savvy, and economic transformation, for optimal positive impact and better client outcomes. Utilizing this model will lead to positive transformations in health care practice, and engineer a positive future for the nursing profession, and the health care system globally especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the health care indices is alarming.