Nursing and professionalism: perception of cardiac care unit nurses

Introduction: Professionalism is a fundamental and elementary concept in nursing. This phenomenon is the result of an interaction among individual-occupational environment and interpersonal communication as well as the basis for professionalism and its values. The aim of this study was to clarify the concept of professionalism in the perception of nurses working in cardiac care units. Method: A qualitative research method was selected for the present study. Due to the multidimensional nature of professionalism, the researchers used content analysis to determine this concept. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews with ۱۴ participants. Participants were selected through purposive sampling and the data were analyzed. Results: In this study, a total of ۷ main themes and ۵ subthemes were extracted. In general, professionalism in nurses’ perception is synonymous with community service, nursing knowledge and skills, support organization, professional autonomy, interpersonal relationships, commitment to and observance of ethics, and attention to vulnerability. Conclusion: Professionalism of nursing is the major challenge for the present and future of this field. Knowledge and experience of professionalism is one of the issues which require more attention in confronting and solving professional problems.

Keywords:

Professionalism , Nursing , Cardiac care unit