Nursing turnover and shortage are an increasing phenomenon throughout the world; thus, it is critical to determine the factors that contribute to them. Nursing students' retention plans and turnover intentions are significantly influenced by academic burnout and professional self-concept. The COVID-19 pandemic could aggravate the study-associated stresses leading to burnout and jeopardize the nursing student's professional socialisation which is a key factor in their professional self-concept formation, it is important to investigate their relationship.

To examine the relationship between professional self-concept and academic burnout among undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing students and identify predictors related to academic burnout.

This cross-sectional study was conducted from May to June 2021. The participants were undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing students from two campuses of a large university in Victoria, Australia. Out of 1630 students, 198 participated in the study. The students were invited to complete an online survey through the university's online learning platform or flyers. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and Bootstrapping approaches were used to analyse the data.

The analysis found a significant positive correlation between the nursing students' total professional self-concept and academic burnout professional efficacy (r = 0.48; p < 0.01). A significant negative correlation was also detected between the total professional self-concept and academic burnout cynicism (r = − 0.21; p < 0.01). Moreover, the total nurse professional self-concept was a significant predictor of both academic burnout subscales cynicism and professional efficacy (p < 0.01).

Positive nursing professional self-concept may alleviate student's academic burnout, and it might contribute to the promotion of their professional efficacy.