[Nursing profession in Lebanon through a study on professional self-image]. / La profession infirmière au Liban à travers une étude sur l'image de soi professionnelle.

Nursing education in Lebanon has integrated the academic world since 1979, but the profession is experiencing difficulties related to the retention of nurses at work and the lack of attraction to the profession. In this context, a study on the professional self-image was conducted among nurses working in hospitals. The results show that nurses have a positive professional self-image, but they find that their image in society is negative and only 20.4% would recommend this career to their children or their entourage.

The role of high-involvement work practices and professional self-image in nursing recruits' turnover: A three-year prospective study.

BACKGROUND: The retention of young graduate nurses has become a major management challenge among hospitals in Western countries, which is amplified in a context of aging of populations and an increasing demand for services from patients. Moreover, as it has been reported that 50% of experienced nurses do not recommend a career in nursing, it is likely that retention problems occur not only at the level of the organization, but also at the level of the nursing profession. Although research has identified some predictors of nurse turnover, it is unclear which factors influence nurses' turnover from the organization and from the profession and how these factors interrelate with one another over time. OBJECTIVE: The present study extends previous research on nurse turnover by looking at the combined effects of nurses' pre-entry expectations, perceived high-involvement work practices, and professional self-image, on intended and actual turnover from the organization and the profession. DESIGN AND METHODS: A prospective, longitudinal study of a sample of 160 graduated nurses affiliated with the Quebec Nurses' Association, Canada, was conducted. Participants were surveyed at three points in time, spread over a 3-year period. Graduated nurses' pre-entry expectations and professional self-image were surveyed at graduation (Time 1), while perceived high-involvement work practices, professional self-image, and intention to leave the organization and the profession were captured six months following nurses' entry into the labor market (Time 2). Finally, participants were surveyed with respect to organizational and professional turnover three years after the Time 2 survey (Time 3). Structural equations modeling was used to examine the structure of the measures and the relationships among the constructs. RESULTS: Although pre-entry expectations had no effect, perceived high-involvement work practices were positively related to Time 2, professional self-image (controlling for pre-entry professional self-image). Moreover, high-involvement work practices exerted an indirect, negative effect on organizational and professional turnover through intention to leave the organization, and an indirect negative effect on intention to leave the profession through professional self-image. Nonetheless, professional self-image did not affect turnover. CONCLUSIONS: The current study indicates that hospitals and nurse directors can take advantage of developing high-involvement work practices as these practices foster a stronger professional self-image among nurses, thereby contributing to their sense of value as care providers, and indirectly reduce intended and actual turnover from the organization and the profession.

Valorização profissional sob a perspectiva dos policiais do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Professional self-image from the perspective of police officers of the State of Rio de Janeiro

Este artigo apresenta a visão dos policiais civis e militares do Rio de Janeiro sobre o tema de valorização humana e profissional. A partir da teoria sociológica sobre papéis sociais e de propostas de administração de recursos humanos, o texto tem como parâmetro de análise cinco indicadores qualitativos de valorização: dignidade, realização, reconhecimento, segurança e perspectiva promissora. Do ponto de vista metodológico, o estudo constitui uma análise contextualizada de textos escritos por esses agentes, ao final de um questionário fechado sobre condições de trabalho, de saúde e de vida, realizados numa série de estudos que se iniciaram em 2003 e que vieram a ser material para dois livros sobre as categorias. Os depoimentos foram trabalhados a partir das relevâncias dadas por seus próprios autores, tendo como parâmetro os cinco indicadores citados. Os resultados do estudo mostram que as duas categorias têm sérios problemas de valorização profissional, principalmente quanto aos salários, às condições habitacionais, ao acesso a serviços de saúde e ao apoio institucional e psicológico.

This paper presents the viewpoint of civil and military police officers of the State of Rio de Janeiro on the issue of professional and human self-image. It adopts five qualitative indicators as parameter of analysis, namely dignity, achievement, recognition, security and promising prospects, drawn from the sociological theory of social roles and proposals for human resource management. From the methodological standpoint, the study provides a contextual analysis of texts written by these agents at the end of a closed questionnaire on work, health and life conditions, conducted in a series of studies that began in 2003 and provided material for two books about these categories. The analysis considered the relevance given by the authors themselves when they describe their situation, using the five indicators mentioned as parameters. The results of this study show that the two categories have serious problems with professional self-image, especially with regard to wages, housing conditions, access to health services and to institutional and psychological support.