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Practicing Autonomously: A Comparison of Nurses
Author(s) -
Wood Joan E.,
Tiedje Linda Beth,
Abraham Ivo L.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
public health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1525-1446
pISSN - 0737-1209
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-1446.1986.tb00482.x
Subject(s) - autonomy , nursing , perception , health care , medicine , family medicine , psychology , political science , neuroscience , law
Forty‐five subjects including community health nurses with baccalaureate nursing degrees, senior‐level generic nursing students, and registered nurses in a baccalaureate nursing program were compared on age, years of employment in nursing, and three variables of professional autonomy: nurses' rights and responsibilities, the nurse‐patient relationship, and nurses' role in health care delivery. It was predicted that nurses from baccalaureate programs and those practicing in community health nursing would perceive themselves as more autonomous and that age and years of employment in nursing would not appreciably alter perceptions of autonomy. An analysis of variance confirmed the initial prediction at the 0.01 level of significance or better for nurses' rights and responsibilities and their role in health care delivery. A significant negative correlation was obtained between age and nurses' rights and responsibilities for the community health nurses; a significant positive correlation was obtained between years of work experience and nurses' rights and responsibilities for only the registered nurses. This study is perceived as an initial step in a lengthy process aimed at identifying factors that influence nurses' perceptions about professional autonomy.