The socialization of graduate nurses in the hospital setting

Abstract

The pOrpose of thi~ study was to examine the differences between the perception of the nursing role held by new graduates prioi to and . . follo_wing three months employment· as a professional· nurse and to compare the new graduat~s··role perception with th~ir ~egistered nurse counterparts. A descripti-ve study was. designed to examine socialization into the professional.role as measured by Pieta's. (1976) Nursing Role Concepti.on Scale~ A sample of newly graduated nurses (n = 17) and their more experien·ced counterparts (n = 37) were· a_sked to. complete Pi eta • s sea 1 e on two. occasi.ons ~ with· a three month interval between the two testings. The_ data call ec_ted were analyzed using paited t-tests and Pearson correlation coefficients to estimate changes in perceptio~s of~he ideal and real role over the three merit~ intervals across the instrument's three subscales: professional, bureaucratic, and servi·ce., The results showed a . . . . . . significant ·d1fference in the.new graduates·· ·ideal.-roie scores between the pre- and ·post-tests·· .. · Those of the ·service subs cal e showed· no significant differences. No· significant differ.ences were noted in the rea 1 (actual) pre- and post:-scores except for th·e profess i ana 1 subscale scores. A significant ·correlation. (r = .98, £ < .005) resulted from.the comparison of the new graduates• and the registered· nurses' post-test.total actual role scar~. These data indicate a change·in _ideal and actual· role perception following·graduation from nursing school and provide evidence fat· a. socialization ~recess occurring with the work se~ting.