Perspective of nursing officers towards their preferred profession in India

Abstract

Introduction: The performance of nurses has a substantial impact on patient outcomes and professional development. The perspective towards the job and the nursing profession has a direct impact on professional commitment. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of nurses towards their preferred profession. Methods: A total of 572 nursing officers from all four of India's regions – the East, West, North and South–were included in a cross-sectional descriptive study. The samples were contacted by WhatsApp, e-mail and telegram by sharing the SurveyMonkey app-created survey link. The questionnaire includes a 5-point Likert scale to assess the nursing officers' perspectives on a total of 20 statements regarding their perception. The subjects were asked to fill out the informed consent before the study started. Results: The majority of the nursing officers (69.1%) had favourable perspectives and only 1/3rd of the subjects (30.9%) had unfavourable perspectives towards their preferred profession. The years of experience had a significant association with levels of perspective (P = 0.016) tested by Chi-square. Multiple logistic regression showed geographic region had a significant influence on the level of perspective (P = 0.027; 95% confidence interval: 1.059–2.622). Conclusion: The nursing officers had favourable perspectives towards the chosen profession and geographic region is the influencing factor on levels of perspective. To increase personal and professional development, efforts must be taken to reduce the influencing factor and barriers that affect the nursing officer's perspectives.