[Professional unemployment in Andalucia. Expectations and difficulties in the nursing profession]

The primary objective of this article is to know the professional, academic and formative expectations in Nursing and those problems which hinder the performance of this profession among the Andalucian public health centers. The authors carried out an extensive descriptive study during the years 1994-1996 based on a sampling of 1020 nursing professionals pertaining to the Andalucian Health Service. These samples were obtained by means of a random stratification by provinces and care level, with an affixation proportional to the size of the stratum, having a 95% confidence rate and a 3.5% error rate. The data were acquired by means of a self-administered questionnaire sent in by mail. Among the most significant results, the authors highlight that fact that the professional, academic and performance expectations among Andalucian Nursing professionals center on research and investigation (71.5%), postgraduate courses (75%), possible Licentiate in Nursing (82.4%) and some nursing specialty (78.7%). Among the difficulties identified for professional performance, the items which stands out were those derived from the absence of a legal definition for Nursing functions (90.8%).