Term of Award

Summer 1991

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Committee Chair

M. Christine Talmadge

Committee Member 1

Donna Hodnicki

Committee Member 2

Joyce P. Murray

Committee Member 3

Maria Okeke

Abstract

The first identification of the nursing culture was by Leininger in 1970, at which time she described the "traditional" and "emerging" cultures of nursing. This study begins to identify the variables of nursing's culture. A total of 268 articles were reviewed from thirty-two 1990 nursing journals. Content analysis of the journal articles contributed to the development of themes for the five categories: ideology, technology, population, socialization, and environment. Major themes were identified in relation to each of the categories.

Empowering the profession and enabling others were identified under ideology. Symbolic interaction, role expectation, and mentoring were the themes identified under socialization. Themes of level, categorical, and dysfunctional were identified within population. The major themes of environment included context, care recipients, and work relationships. Nursing technology produced the three themes of invasive, non-invasive, and supportive.

The inclusion of the study of nursing's culture in the formal nursing educational process would allow future nurses to understand their chosen profession as well as to be able to evaluate their culture continuously. National and international evaluation would provide for the identification of trends in nursing culture and the enrichment of the "global nursing culture."

Copyright

To obtain a full copy of this work, please visit the campus of Georgia Southern University or request a copy via your institution's Interlibrary Loan (ILL) department. Authors and copyright holders, learn how you can make your work openly accessible online.

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