Professionalism among nurse educators

Three hundred seventy nurse educators who teach in a midwestern state in nursing education programs participated in a mailed survey to investigate the relationship of educational preparation of faculty to their attitude on professionalism. Hall's 25-item Professional Scale was used to measure the dependent variables of autonomy, use of the professional organization as a major referrant , belief in the public service nature of nursing, belief in self-regulation and sense of calling to the field, and the independent variable educational preparation of the nursing faculty member. There were very few significant differences among nurse educators when grouped according to highest level of education. Mean scores on the attitudinal components of professionalism, however, illustrated a consistent pattern of the higher the educational preparation, the higher the attitudes on professionalism. Implications for further study are discussed.