Relationships between role models and role perceptions of new graduate nurses

This study was conducted to examine relationships between role models and role perceptions of new graduate nurses. The sample consisted of the 25 senior nursing students in a generic baccalaureate nursing program who were administered questionnaires 1 month prior to graduation and 3 months after beginning employment. Results indicated that: (a) a majority of faculty role models of new graduate nurses are replaced by work-related role models in the first 3 months of employment, (b) the most important role model characteristic was clinical experience/performance, and (c) role perception orientations of new graduate nurses are overwhelmingly professional prior to graduation, but become more bureaucratic after exposure to work-related models. This study validates the findings of similar research conducted over the past 25 years. Further research is needed into factors that lead to the perpetuation of a bureaucratic work environment and bureaucratic nurses, in spite of professionally oriented nursing education.