Professional conceptions, commitments, and perceived dissonance among baccalaureate nurses

The purposes of this study were to: (a) describe the extent to which baccalaureate nurses experience dissonance when a discrepancy exists between their professional conceptions, commitments, and behaviors; (b) identify which professional attribute (unique knowledge, service orientation, autonomy) contributed to the greatest amount of perceived dissonance; (c) describe the extent of work environment support for the enactment of professional behaviors; (d) identify nurses' levels of motivation and strategies used to reduce perceived dissonance; and (e) compare the professional conceptions and commitments of senior baccalaureate students and employed nurses. The research was based upon the cognitive dissonance theoretical framework and more specifically, on the assumption that nurses who are socialized into the professional role may encounter discrepancies between their professional conceptions and their actual behaviors in practice. A cross-sectional survey design was employed to gather information directly from employed nurses and senior nursing students. The survey was distributed to 759 registered nurses employed in five American Hospital Association (AHA) accredited hospital in two western states and to 55 students enrolled in two National League for Nursing (NLN) accredited baccalaureate programs in the same two western states. One hundred and thirty-five nurse surveys and 40 student surveys were returned, coded, and analyzed. Analysis of the data revealed moderate levels of perceived dissonance in employed nurses who believed that there were discrepancies between their professional conceptions, commitments, and behaviors, with the greatest amount of dissonance related to autonomy. Generally, nurses perceived their work environments as supportive of their professional behaviors; yet, they were also highly motivated to reduce the perceived dissonance that did exist. Nurses listed several strategies that they used in their attempts to reduce the perceived dissonance. The findings also suggested that there were similarities between the professional conceptions of employed nurses and senior students; however, the two groups differed significantly in the degree of commitment to professional practice with the students having higher commitment scores.