The perceptions of newly qualified enrolled nurses regarding professionalism in a nursing agency in Gauteng

M.Cur. (Nursing Science)Abstract: When a person enters a hospital environment and becomes a patient, he/she is dependent on the nurses who have been educated and skilled to take care of him/her. Nurses must consider the importance of the professional image that they present to the patient. The nurse’s appearance and behaviour silently portrays their skill and signifies the level of care the patient is to receive. The question can be asked, if patients and unit managers from private hospital settings complain about the portrayed professionalism of newly qualified enrolled nurses, then what are the perceptions of the newly qualified enrolled nurses regarding professionalism? The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the perceptions of newly qualified enrolled nurses regarding professionalism in a specific nursing agency in Gauteng. This research was conducted in two phases. Phase one explored and described the perceptions of newly qualified enrolled nurses in a nursing agency in Gauteng regarding professionalism; and in phase two, the data collected from phase one was used to conduct a literature review to conceptualise the findings in order to enable the researcher to formulate recommendations for newly qualified enrolled nurses to improve their portrayal of professionalism. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was followed to explore and describe the perceptions of newly qualified enrolled nurses in a nursing agency in Gauteng regarding professionalism. The target population consisted of newly qualified enrolled nurses who had registered with a specific nursing agency in Gauteng, and who had not yet worked in a private healthcare facility. A purposive sampling technique was utilised. A pilot focus group was..