The professional self concept of Korean hospital nurses

From a background of strong North American influence in a country with deeply embedded customs, a collaborative study was initiated to examine and communicate to the international nursing community some of the characteristics and features of Korean nurses. Seven hundred Korean hospital nurses were administered an instrument aimed at examining their professional self concept, their self esteem and related demographic variables. Older, married graduates and those with more than 12 years nursing experience reported a higher professional self concept than their younger, unmarried, diploma and less experienced colleagues. Of concern was the small number (6%) of graduates who were over 35 years of age and who had worked for over 12 years. Useful information for clinicians, educators and nurse administrators is provided and useful data for future research to compare nursing samples, is offered. The instruments used in the study proved reliable and useful as a measure for examining the self-esteem and professional self concept of nurses.