ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between professional self-concept, professional autonomy, self-esteem, and job satisfaction of clinical nurses. METHOD: Data were collected from a convenience sample of 289 clinical nurses who worked in one of 4 hospitals located in B City. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regression. RESULTS: There were significant differences in job satisfaction according to marital status, current position, shift pattern, and average income. There was a significant positive correlation between professional self-concept and professional autonomy, self-esteem and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction showed a significant positive correlation with professional autonomy and self-esteem. The significant factors influencing job satisfaction were professional self-concept, self-esteem and professional autonomy, which explained 29.5% of the variance in job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the important role-related variables of professional self-concept, self-esteem and professional autonomy of clinical nurses are significantly related, and that as, professional self-concept is an important factor for job satisfaction of clinical nurses, strategies to increase professional self-concept need to be developed.