Determinants of professionalism among nurses in a developing country

Abstract

Background: Professionalism serves as a means for categorizing the work, controlling the workers and is related to the quality of practice. It holds significant value to every professional, from the entry day into the profession until retirement from active practice; and is imperative for winning the trust of clients and society. This study focused on identifying the influence of determinants on professionalism among nurses using the concept of Social cognitive theory: An agentic perceptive by Bandura. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data was collected from 749 registered nurses employed across different work settings and selected using proportionate random sampling method. Data was gathered using the Nurse Professionalism Scale, Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, Practice Environment Scale and Porter Nursing Image Scale. Results: Data analysed using Strucltural Equation Modeling in AMOS version 22 indicate that emotional intelligence (Standard regression weights = 0.339; P less than 0.001), nurse practice environment (Standard regression weights = 0.227; P less than 0.001) and nurses' perceived image of a nurse (Standard regression weights = 0.089; P less than 0.10) has significant positive influence on professionalism among nurses. Conclusion: The study shows a significant influence of emotional intelligence, followed by influence of nurse practice environment and nurses' perceived image of a nurse on professionalism among nurses thus supporting the concept that personal and environmental determinants influence behaviour according to social cognitive theory. In the light of the findings managerial implications and directions for future research have been discussed.