Professionalism in nursing master's graduates.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Professionalism in Nursing

Background:

• A notable shift has occurred in master's-level nursing preparation over the last decade.
• Nurses increasingly pursue clinical specialization over teaching for advanced preparation.
• This trend reflects societal specialization and complexity, impacting nursing roles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between a nurse's master's degree functional preparation area and their professionalism level.
• Investigating how specialization in nursing education influences professional practice criteria.

Main Methods:

• A study surveyed 272 graduates (43% response rate) from a master's program.
• Data collected via questionnaires focused on professionalism indicators.
• Chi-square tests analyzed the association between preparation area and professionalism.

Main Results:

• A significant association was found between graduate specialty and professionalism.
• Nurses prepared as educators demonstrated higher adherence to professionalism criteria.
• Clinical specialists showed lower, though still significant, levels of professionalism.

Conclusions:

• Master's degree preparation area significantly impacts a nurse's level of professionalism.
• Nursing education programs may need to re-evaluate curricula to foster professionalism across all specialties.
• Further research is warranted on the long-term impact of specialization on nursing practice.