INTRODUCTION:

Nursing is a healthcare profession that focuses on the care of individuals and their families to help them recover from illness and maintain optimal health and quality of life¹. Nurses play an essential role in society today by being advocates for health promotion, educating the public and patients on preventing injury and illnesses, participating in rehabilitation, and providing care and support². Nurses may be differentiated from other health care providers by their approach to patient care, training and scope of practice³. Nurses practice in many specialities with differing levels of prescription authority. Nurses comprise the largest component of most health care environment⁵.

Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times. Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times ⁶.

The people’s attitude about nursing as a profession can affect the recruitment and retention of nurses⁷. The community's positive perception of nursing attracts more people, while a poor community perception and negative nursing image lead to insufficient numbers of people entering the nursing. It appears that the community points of view on nursing can positive and negatively affect this profession ⁸. Nurses are acknowledged to have a significant impact on the general population but are considered inferior to doctors or considered to have a lower social status ⁹. In addition, the nursing profession is viewed as an inferior career associated with other health-related professions, such as medicine. There has been a tremendous growth in the nursing profession over the past 100 years and the attitude of the society towards it has transformed significantly ¹⁰.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A descriptive study to assess the level of attitude towards nursing profession among rural people at selected village in Jammu.

OBJECTIVES:

· To assess the level of attitude towards nursing profession among rural people.

· To find the association between the level of attitude towards nursing profession with selected socio demographic variables among rural people.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Research approach - Quantitative research approach was used.

Research design – Non-experimental, descriptive research design was used.

Target population – Rural people.

Sampling technique - Non probability, Total enumerative sampling technique was used.

Sample size – The sample size for the study was 115.

Research setting – Village Ranjan, Block Bhalwal, Jammu.

Inclusion criteria:

The rural people

· Who were present at the time of data collection.

· Who were willing to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria:

· Rural people who were not able to read, understand or write English or Hindi.

Tool: A self-structured questionnaire with two parts was developed to assess the level of attitude towards nursing profession.

Part A: Socio demographic variables

It includes age, gender, religion, educational status, occupational status, monthly income of the family, any family member or relative in nursing profession and source of information about nursing profession.

Part B: Self structured Likert scale

It includes 20 statements (positive and negative) on attitude towards nursing profession.

Scoring procedure:

There were 20 items to assess the attitude among nursing students toward Nursing Profession. For positive statements, 5 point was given to strongly agree and for negative statements, 5 point was given to strongly disagree. The minimum score was 20 and maximum score was 100.

Criterion measure used in the study was as follows:

Level of attitude	Score
Positive attitude	20 – 40
Neutral attitude	41 – 70
Negative attitude	71 – 100

Reliability of tool:

The reliability of tool was checked by Split-half technique and was calculated by Karl Pearson's coefficient of correlation method. The reliability was 0.72 and was found to be reliable.

Data analysis:

• Data was analyzed using descriptive (frequency and percentage distribution) and inferential statistics (chi square)

Ethical considerations:

• Written permission was taken from the Sarpanch of the village.

• Written permission was taken from the study samples.

• Confidentiality of the study samples were maintained.

RESULTS:

The findings were presented under two sections:

Section I – Frequency and percentage distribution of socio demographic variables

Section II – Analysis and interpretation of data related to objectives of the study

Section I – Frequency and percentage distribution of socio demographic variables

(N = 115)

S. No.	Socio demographic variables	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
1.	Age
	< 20 years	27	23.5
	20-40 years	65	56.5
	40-60 years	20	17.4
	> 60 years	3	2.6
2.	Gender
	Male	25	21.7
	Female	90	78.3
3.	Religion
	Hindu	78	67.8
	Sikh	1	0.9
	Christian	0	0
	Muslim	36	31.3
4.	Educational qualification
	Illiterate	9	7.8
	Primary school	8	7
	Middle school	16	13.9
	High school	19	16.5
	Intermediate / Diploma	4	3.5
	Graduate	21	18.3
	Professional degree	38	33
5.	Occupation
	Unemployed	70	60.9
	Unskilled worker	1	0.8
	Semi skilled worker	4	3.5
	Skilled worker	8	7
	Clerical / Shop owner	2	1.7
	Semi profession	5	4.3
	Profession	25	21.7
6.	Monthly income of the family
	< Rs. 9,226	41	35.7
	Rs.9,232 – 27,648	32	27.8
	Rs. 27,654 – 46,089	16	13.9
	Rs. 46,095 – 68,961	15	13
	Rs. 68,967 – 92,185	5	4.4
	Rs. 92,191 – 1,84,370	3	2.6
	>Rs. 1,84,376	3	2.6
7.	Any family member or relative in nursing profession
	Yes	47	40.9
	No	68	59.1
8.	Source of information about nursing profession
	Family / Friends	57	49.6
	Health services	31	26.9
	Media	16	13.9
	Others	11	9.6

Section II – Analysis and interpretation of data related to objectives of the study

Objective 1: To assess the level of attitude towards nursing profession among rural people.

The results showed that 36 (31.3%) samples had positive attitude, 79 (68.7) samples had neutral attitude and none of them (0%) samples had negative attitude towards nursing profession.

Objective 2: To find the association between the level of attitude towards nursing profession with selected socio demographic variables among rural people.

There was no significant association between the level of attitude and selected socio demographic variables.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• A similar study can be replicated with larger population to validate and generalize the findings.

• A comparative study can be conducted among urban and rural people.

• A similar study can be conducted among higher secondary school students to know about the career plans.

CONCLUSION:

The image of nursing has been changed a lot over time. Especially Covid-19 had played a significant role in creating and strengthening the public attitude towards nursing. But still, people commonly believe nursing as a feminine profession and considered lesser than doctors. We, the nurses should develop training and counselling programmes and make the impact of nursing more visible in the public eyes.

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Received on 04.01.2023 Modified on 19.02.2023

A and V Pub J. of Nursing and Medical Res. 2023; 2(2):46-49.

DOI: 10.52711/jnmr.2023.12