Exploring Nursing Professionalism: A Focused Ethnography of Community Nurses in Slovakia

Background: Professionalism is a multidimensional and dynamic concept that is a fundamental requirement to providing safe, quality nursing care. In the Slovak sociocultural context, professionalism is given only limited attention, and research in this area is completely lacking in community nursing. Purpose: To explore how community nurses (CNs) working in home care agencies understand professionalism in the context of their practice in Slovakia. Methods: This focused ethnography involved 10 CNs working in home care in two Slovak regions. The study was conducted between January and July 2022 and employed semistructured interviews, field notes, and reflexive thematic analysis. Findings: In this specific group and setting, understanding of professionalism was reflected through four themes: professional socialization, community service provision, job satisfaction, and professionalism in danger. Conclusions: The findings showed the need to improve the conditions of the working environment of nurses in the community setting. Implications for practice: The findings have implications for local policy, home care agency management, and nursing education in terms of strengthening professionalism in this specific nursing setting and cultural context.