Determining professionalism in Turkish students nurses

Abstract

Characteristics of the nursing profession include educational standards, professional organizations, commitment, autonomy, continuing education, body of knowledge and competencies, social value, and a code of ethics. This study was carried out with the aim of determining the professional attitudes of nursing students in Turkey. It was a descriptive study. This study was conducted in 25 nursing schools that provide graduate level nursing education in Turkey. The sample of the study included 1412 final year nursing students who were selected by random sampling from nursing schools offering education at bachelor level. Data was collected using a questionnaire, which included demographic characteristics of students and an Inventory to Measure Professional Attitudes in Student Nurses (IPASN). The mean score of IPASN was 4.1 ± 0.5 and the areas the highest mean scores were for autonomy, competence and continuous education whilst lowest ones were for  cooperation, contribution to scientific knowledge, and participating in professional organizations. In conclusion, the overall mean scores of professional attitudes for nursing students were found to be satisfying and some recommendations were made to improve subgroups scores.