The perceptions and the attitude of health care professionals and students about the nursing profession

The fact that nursing is a difficult profession which lacks of social recognition results in being abandoned by many nurses and not being selected by young people. Αim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the perceptions of nurses, other health care professionals and students about the nursing profession and to determine the factors that influence their attitude towards it. Material and Method: 949 students of nursing and medical schools and health care professionals participated in the study. The data was gathered by the means of two structured questionnaires, the composition of which was based on the nursing database. The data's statistical analysis was fulfilled by the SPSS 12. Results: Τhe 89,2% of the sample believes that nursing practice requires knowledge, skills, and critical thinking. The 82,4% also believes that the quality of care provided depends on the quality of the nurses' education and lifelong learning is nurses' duty (94,4%). Moreover, the 82,6% of the participants thinks that the nurses do not lose their interest in the patient's care as much as they become more educated. Factors such as religion and frequency of sick leave do not influence the attitude towards the profession, but the reality shock, the lack of nursing staff and the experience of negative bias adversely influence the attitude towards it. Conclusions: The confrontation of factors that influence negatively the image of the profession combined with a better and continuing education for nurses will lead to increase the social status of the nursing profession.

Keywords: Perceptions, attitude, nursing profession, nursing students, social recognition