title: Comparison of nursing students' and clinical nurses' attitude toward the nursing profession.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To develop nursing education and promote nursing strategies, there is a need for a staff with positive attitude. The present study was conducted to compare the attitudes among clinical nurses and nursing students toward the nursing profession.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this descriptive- analytical study 313 clinical nurses and 81 nursing students (total n = 394) of Tehran, Iran, were selected through a systematic sampling method and their viewpoints were investigated using a nursing professional attitude questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The findings of this study showed that 72.6% of nurses and 65.4% of students had positive attitude toward their profession, and despite the high percentage of the clinical nurses' positive outlook, the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that approximately one-third of the students and nursing practitioners had neutral or negative attitude toward their occupation. Due to the serious effect of one's professional attitude and commitment of service, it is necessary to have further studies about the current situation to eliminate such negative factors.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Faculty and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Noruzi
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Koushali
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hajiamini
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ebadi
keywords: Attitude; nurses; nursing students; occupation