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.

This study was conducted to explore the nurse's perception of technological development and professional self-concept. The research subjects were 560 clinical nurses in Korea, who worked the general hospitals in Seoul, Kyeonggi, and the Kangwon province. Data sampling was done for the month, of December. 1997. The research tool consisted of 82 items questionnaires which were demographic data, TIQ, PSCNI. The research findings were as follows: 1. Nurses perceived the technological development as slightly positive (Mean =48.8). Also, nurses saw that the fastest developing technological nursing unit was the cardiac care unit, while the lowest technological developing nursing unit was the psychiatric unit. 2. The view of technological development was found to be significantly different according to religion (P=.0109), marital status (P=.0431), and the practical setting (P=.0048). Professional self concept was significantly different according to age (P=.0001), religion (P=.0001), education (P=.0007), marital status (P=.0000), career (P=.0001), and position (P=.0000). 3. The relationship between a nurse's perception of technological development and professional self-concept was highly correlated(r=.26, P=.0001). In the results of the multiple regression, the factors influencing professional self-concept were career, the nurse's perception of technological development,the level of technological development in nursing unit, and education. All these parameters showed the explaining power of 15.4% of the professional self-concept. In conclusion, nurses recognized the technological development was related to the professional self-concept. This study shed light on the meaning of technological development and vision of the nursing profession. Inservice education program should be developed to help the adaptability to technological development and conduct the qualitative research to explore the world of technological development which the nurses are experiencing in nursing.

This study attempts to identify attitudes of community leaders toward mental illness in order to obtain useful information concerning the planning of community mental health services. The community sample consists of 50 community leaders including, civil servants, doctors, herb doctors, school nurses, counselors, village leaders, pharmacists, and pastors. Individuals were asked to give demographic data, their personal attitudes toward mental illness' etymology and prognosis, and toward neighbors who are psychiatric patients. The interview with open questions was used to collect data. According to the study community leaders 82% believed than mental illness could be treated, 66% believed that mental illness was caused by genetic factors and environmental stress, and 76% had negative impressions about mentally ill people such as fear, seclusion, asylum, also crime. Only 28% of mentally ill people were accepted as neighbors in community. 52% of community leaders rejected opening of mental hospital, and thought that the Chunchon community needed facilities such as group homes, or day care centers(30%), however, 34% of the leaders they didn't recognize community mental health. These findings suggest that mental health professionals need to pay special attention to change the attitude of Chunchon community leaders and mental health institutions need to a develop mental health education program for community leaders.