The impact of self-stereotyping in the nursing profession on life satisfaction: a pilot study

Introduction:
The nursing profession remains predominantly female, burdened with numerous challenges and often poorly understood. It is associated with both positive and negative stereotypes. Nurses themselves frequently perpetuate and reinforce these stereotypes, contributing to the devaluation and underappreciation of their professional role. Aim of the study was to assess self-stereotyping of the nursing profession and its impact on life satisfaction.

Material and methods:
The study involved 174 nurses. Research tools included a custom-designed questionnaire and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The study was conducted online from February to April 2024. The consent of the Research Ethics Committee of the Jagiellonian University Medical College was obtained. The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the R programming language were used for statistical analysis. The Spearman correlation test, the Wilcoxon test, and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to assess the relationship between variables. The normality of the distribution was tested with the Shapiro-Wilk test. The mean, median, standard deviation, and Kendall correlation were used to analyze the variables. The significance level of 0.05 was adopted, but results close to this level were also considered statistically significant.

Results:
Among the surveyed group, 45.4% reported a high level of life satisfaction, 44.3% a moderate level, and 10.3% a low level. A statistically significant correlation was observed between degree of self-stereotyping and life satisfaction among nurses. The higher self-stereotyping coefficient, the higher level of life satisfaction reported by the participants, which was found to range between moder-ate and high.

Conclusions:
Stereotypes play an important role at both the social and individual levels. They can be beneficial for the nursing environment, but they may also present a risk. The study demonstrates considerable research potential; however, greater participation from nurses is necessary.