Abstract:
The image of a professional nurse is a perception of a person about characteristics of practice, expression and work outcomes pertaining to both actual and indirect experiences. This directly affects the nursing profession development. This descriptive study aimed to examine the image of professional nurse as perceived by high-school students with majors in sciences-mathematics, compare and test relationships between the perception of image of the professional nurse and the students demographic data. The multi-stage random sampling was used to recruit a sample of 315 students who were studying in Mathayomsuksa 4-6 with major in sciences-mathematics in academic year of 1/2016 in secondary schools of the Eastern region. Data collection was carried out in November 2016. Research instruments included a demographic questionnaire and the questionnaire of professional nurses image. Its reliability was .96. Data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics, t-test, One-way ANOVA and the Pearson correlation coefficient. The results revealed that the total mean score of perception of a professional nurses image was 4.10 with a full score of 5 (SD = .85). When considering the 7 subscales, the highest mean score was a subscale of figure and personal characteristics (M = 4.38, SD = .72), and the lowest mean score was a subscale of income earning (M = 3.96, SD = .96). There was a significant difference of perception of the professional nurses image among students with different years of study (F = 4.18, p< .05). The students who received more information about nurses had perceived more appropriated professional nurses image (r= .26, p< .001). These findings indicate that professional and administrative nurses could obtain the study outcomes to apply as a fundamental data in management for the development of the professional nurses image, as well as promotion and maintenance of appropriated the professional nurses image. Consequently, positively attitude among high-school students with a major in sciences-mathematics for their future study selection in the nursing profession would be obtained