Professionalism in nursing behaviors of nurse practitioners

Little research on the level of professionalism of nurse practitioners has been published to date. These nurses are expected to practice relatively autonomously in delivering client care and therefore must monitor their own levels of professionalism. At a national conference, 502 nurse practitioners completed the Professionalism in Nursing Behaviors Inventory. Participants represented all of the states and the most common specialties of nurse practitioners. Nearly 68 per cent had been practitioners less than 5 years and were primarily employed in physicians' offices. The majority had received their master's degrees from schools with nurse practitioner curricula, and 8 per cent held doctorates. More than one half of the practitioners had written a research proposal or participated in a project within the past 2 years. In terms of autonomy, nearly 50 per cent of the nurses had written their own job descriptions. Maintaining certification motivated them to engage in some professionalism behaviors. Results indicated these nurse practitioners had high levels of professionalism. J Prof Nurs 17:203-210, 2001.