Role conceptions and professional role discrepancy among baccalaureate nursing students employed as nurse's aides

It was hypothesized that more experience working as a nurse's aide would be associated with lower professional role conception and higher bureaucratic role conception scores as well as with a higher professional role discrepancy score. Senior baccalaureate nursing students (N = 117) were grouped into four levels according to hours of nurse's aide experience. An instrument designed by this investigator measured role conceptions and role discrepancy. The hypotheses were not supported. The mean professional role conception score of all students who had had nurse's aide experience was higher than that of students without such experience.