Abstract: Objective: To identify the status quo of young nurses' professional growth and the influencing factors in tertiary Grade A hospitals in China, so as to provide references for young nurses' professional development. Methods: Three-stage randomized cluster sample of 11420 young nurses from 10 tertiary grade A hospitals in 10 provinces were recruited. They were surveyed by using the Professional Growth Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Work-family Support Scale, and Organizational Commitment Questionnaire. Results: The average career growth score of young nurses was 3.41±0.87. The highest score was the development of professional competence (4.02±0.87), and the lowest one was the growth of organizational returns (2.93±1.05). Work-family support, organizational commitment, self-efficacy, the extent to which nurses were interested in nursing, years of work experience, average monthly income, whether had an administrative job title, whether the only-child in the family, form of employment, and whether a specialized nurse were the main factors that affected the professional growth of young nurses. Conclusion: The professional growth of young nurses is still unsatisfactory. Medical institutions could apply strategies such as creating a good organizational atmosphere, implementing family-supporting supervisory behaviors, and helping nurses form strategies to cope with adversity, to improve nurses' professional interests, self-efficacy, family-work support, organizational commitment, and to promote better professional growth for young nurses.

Key words: professional growth; work-family support; organizational commitment; self-efficacy; young nurses