Abstract

• The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze nursing role conceptions and test the relationships between nursing role conceptions and professional commitment among selected Korean nurses. Data were obtained from convenience sample of 262 practising nurses of varying positions, education, and experience. The total sample represents a response rate of 93 percent. Subscales of Nursing Role Conceptions(Pieta, 1976) were used to measure professional, service, and bureaucratic role conceptions ; the tool to measure professional commitment was developed by the investigator. The results of this developed were as follows. 1. Professional role conception and service role conception were positively related (normative r=.61 ; categorical r=.64). Bureaucratic role conception scores(32.6+/-4.97) were higher than professional and service role conception scores. 2. Experience was positively related to bureaucratic professional categorical role conception(r=.17, p<.01), and negatively related to bureaucratic professional role discrepancy(r=-.12, p<.01). There was no relationship between experience and service role conception. This study also showed that nurses who had longer experience tended to have higher role conceptions on all three subscales. 3. Nurses with a master's degree had significantly higher professional and bureaucratic role conceptions scores. Bacealaureates graduates had the lowest bureaucratic categorical role conception scores ; associate nurses had the lowest professional categorical conception scores. 4. Nursing supervisors and head nurses had significantly higher bureaucratic categorical role conception scores, whereas they had lower bureaucratic normative and professional role conception scores. 5. Age and experience were positively related to profession commitment(r=.24, r=.28). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that the combination of nursing role conceptions explained greater variance in professional commitment pair of the variables alone. Further research employing dynamic designs is needed to execute rigorous of causal models of nursing role conceptions and professional commitment. The findings of this study suggest that antecedents and moderating variables of nursing role conception and professional commitment need to be explored for further theoretical specification and empirical evaluation.

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