Background: Professional support has frequently been mentioned as one of the basic pre-requisite for nurses' job satisfaction and, creativity and quality in nursing care. However, perception of a professional support to this job has not been studied adequately. The present study was made to clarify the concept and the process to professional support in nursing.

Materials and Methods: this qualitative study was conducted using the grounded theory method during 2005-9. The research question was that of what experiences and perceptions the nurses have of the concept of professional support, 29 nurses were interviewed semi-structurally in several educational hospitals in Tehran and Kashan. Data were analyzed using Straus and Corbin's method.

Results: Seven categories were emerged from data including the concept of support, feeling of being sheltrles, decreased self-confidence, decreased quality of care, avoidance, decreased professional unity and legitimate support. Participants defined professional support as any material or spiritual backing to strengthen their capabilities in nursing care. They believed that professional support increases capabilities of nurses to make clinical decisions. However, feeling to be unsupported made them to be indifferent, low in self-expression, distrusted them to their managers, powerlessness and shortcoming in conflicts. Lack of legitimate support decreases the nurses' decision-making power and made them to avoid of autonomous intervention. Nurse managers had also a sense of lacking legitimate support.

Conclusions: Althogh, the professional support enable nurses to offer a good care for their clients, however, sometimes they feel left unsupported. Developing the legitimate support may decrease the nurses feeling of being unsupported.