The purpose of this qualitative study was to encourage discussion and team reflection on working as a nurse and to develop the self-knowledge of the participants by group dialogue. The authors, as facilitators of the group, conducted 12 sessions for supportive groups made up of nurses in psychiatric and oncological units of a teaching general hospital. All of the groups, 24 sessions in all, were held for the nurses immediately after the nurses had observed the interactional process of an inpatients’ group. The data were collected through the tape-recording of the group interactions and were analyzed using constant comparative analysis. Results revealed four different states of professional self among the nurses: self-preservation, self-interpretation, self-mirroring and self­transcendence. These states of professional self provide a framework that can be reflected upon and they challenge the traditional approach to nursing practice. The results are discussed in term of the influence of personal life history, technology and the professional “calling”, as part of the participants’ exploration of their professional self.