A comparison of Guatemalan and USA nurses' attitudes towards nursing.
BACKGROUND
Student nurses from the United States of America (USA) spent 5 weeks working with Guatemalan nurses in an acute care setting in Guatemala. This experience led to a heightened awareness of the global scope of nurses' discontent and a desire to better understand the driving factors and drawbacks to practising nursing in both the USA and Guatemala.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research was to identify those factors that discourage nurses and those that motivate nurses to continue in their practice despite the drawbacks.


METHODS
Qualitative interviews using field notes were conducted with five Guatemalan and five USA nurses. Themes were derived through qualitative content analysis.


RESULTS
Nurses in both the USA and Guatemala had similar reasons for choosing and staying in nursing. The different health care systems presented different problems resulting in different discontents.


CONCLUSIONS
The two groups of nurses had much in common, especially in their reasons for staying in nursing. The Guatemalan nurses were most discontent with the lack of resources to treat patients, while the USA nurses focused on work environment drawbacks.


CONCLUSIONS
Strategies to support nurses and nursing in developing countries need to be developed and implemented. As nurses reach out to their colleagues in other nations, understanding our commonalities and differences will help us to support each other in improving health throughout the world.
Coverston
C R
CR
College of Nursing, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA. cc24@email.byu.edu
Harmon
K R
KR
Keller
E R
ER
Malner
A A
AA
D000208:Acute Disease / Q000451:nursing; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology; D002321:Career Choice; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006166:Guatemala; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009042:Motivation; D020380:Needs Assessment; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010563:Personnel Turnover; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States