The Clinical Nurses' Professional Autonomy Perceived by Staff Nurses and Doctors

Kim, Hyun Mi

Abstract

This study was done to identify the professional autonomy of clinical nurses perceived by staff nurses and doctors. The subjects consisted of 410 nurses and 219 doctors who are working at 4 general hospital in Daegu and Pusan. The nurses were working surveyed by means of July 7 to September 27, 1997. The results are as follows : 1. The score which the nurses perceived clinical nurses' professional autonomy is 159.05 points. This score means mid level of professional autonomy. 2. The score which the doctors perceived clinical nurses' professional autonomy is 140.37 points. This score means mid level of professional autonomy. 3. The extent of the perceived clinical nurses' professional autonomy between two groups was remarkably high in the nurses group(P=.000) 4. The relationship between general characteristics and the perception of professional autonomy by nurses showed a significant difference in regard to the age, the marital states, educational level, the period of nursing career and the state of position. The score of professional autonomy by age was highest 41 years old or more, while the lowest was for 26-30 years old(P=.008). The score of professional autonomy of a married nurse was higher than an unmarried(P=.003). The score of professional autonomy by the period of nursing career was highest 9 years or more, the lowest was for 3-6 years(P=.009). Also, the higher the educational level(P=.000) and the state of position(P=.049), the higher the score of professional autonomy. But there were no statistically significant difference in regard to the religion and the field of work. 5 .The relationship between general characteristics and the perception of professional autonomy by doctors showed no statistically significant difference.