Abstract

Objective: Nursing professionalism is considered an essential component of nursing leadership, however, little is known about the levels of nursing professionalism from the global point of view. This study aimed to compare nursing professionalism among nurse leaders in the United States of America (U.S.A.) and Japan.
Methods: This study used a descriptive design with cross-cultural comparative. Wheel of Professionalism in Nursing Model was applied as a theoretical framework and the corresponding inventory, Behavioral Inventory for Professionalism in Nursing, was used to measure the level of professionalism. The sample was 126 nurse leaders from the U.S.A. and 182 nurse leaders from Japan. The 308 respondents' professional scores were compared by intervention groups using t-test. The Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were performed to evaluate the degree of professional behaviors between the countries.
Results: The results revealed that the mean total score of professionalism was significantly high in the U.S.A. The mean scores of professionalism subscales were also significantly high in the U.S.A. in the categories of education preparation, community service, theory development, and self-regulation and autonomy, whereas publication and communication, and research development were significantly high in Japan.
Conclusion: The findings extend our understanding of the behaviors that contribute to nursing professionalism in different cultural contexts, and they provide a rare direct comparison of nursing professionalism in the U.S.A. and Japan.