An Analytical Study of the Professional Self-Concept of Hospital Nurses in Korea

Sohng, Kyeong Yae; Noh, Choon Hee

Abstract

Nursing literature suggests that the self-concept of nurses gives an important implications to educators and administrators as well as clinicians for their professional development. With a view to ex ploring how nurses view themselves, the Professional Self-Concept of Nurses Instrument (PSCNI) using 27 Likert items was developed by Arthur in Australia in 1990. This study is an extension of the PSCNI using Korean samples with some modifications. A convenience sample was drawn from 800 nurses working in three university hospitals in Seoul; three university hospitals in Kyonggi-do and a university hospital and a psychiatric hospital in Kangwon-do. Seven hundred questionnaires were analyzed using the statistical analysis system(SAS). The reliability of the scale was tested by test-retest and Cronbach's alpha. Differences in the PSCNI, which are closely related to demographic variables, were examined by t-test, ANOVA and the Duncan's multiple range test. Factor analysis was employed so as to examine component factors. The results are summarized as follows: 1. The test-retest reliability of the PSCNI was .79 and Cronbach's alpha was .85. Item correlations with total revealed consistent correlations and subscale reliability varied from .49 to .85. 2. The average score of PSCNI was 75.21 and average item score was 2.79. 3. Twenty four items were derived from the PSCNI 27 items and these items clustered in three component factors. The cumulative percent of variance was 38.12% and for factor 1 was 22.81%, for factor 2, 9.79% and for factor 3, 5.51% respectively. 4. A comparison of the scores for the dimensions of the PSCNI shows a relative difference in terms of mean item scores and in decending order, professional practice (m=2.83), communication (m=2.82) and satisfaction (m=2.70). 5. Professional self-concept of nurses was found to vary significantly according to age(P=.0001), re-ligion (P=,0001), academic background(P= .0109), marital status (P=. 0001), career (P= . 0001) and position (P=. 0001). In conclusion, there was a correlation between professional self-concept of nurses, and life and work variables. This study provides an important message for administrators and nurse educators by highlighting factors which can be addressed by education programs, staff development and appraisal. While the test results largely confirm the Australian and Canadian tests, further research is necessary to improve the cumulative percent of variance instead of applying Arthur's PSCNI directly to Korean nurses.