Is Professionalization by Professional Associations an Appropriate Strategy?

—A Qualitative Survey of Certified Nurses—

Abstract

Semi-professionals’ professional associations in most industries have strived to develop professionalization, aiming to improve work conditions. In this article, I focus on the nursing industry, which is a representative semi-professional occupation, in order to clarify the validity of the professional association’s strategy. Over the past quarter-century, three educational programs have been established: for certified nurse specialists, certified nurses, and for nurses’ designated procedures. The Japan Nurses Association (JNA), whose programs were paid, provided benefits to these: specialized services for certified nurse specialists and certified nurses respectively, and autonomous acts for nurses’ designated procedures. In response to the increasing numbers of nurses with advanced knowledge, the JNA stratified work types by employing nursing assistants who perform miscellaneous tasks for the nurses. My interview research with 28 certified nurses shows the following results. First, these interviewees were rather negative about taking the program for nurses designated procedures, and needed neither the work hierarchy nor the certificates that they currently hold. Second, while the nurses’ initial motive for the certificate was improve their care quality rather than increase their income, they stepped into leadership roles at work after being trained to act as a leader. Semi-professional nurses, who do not aspire to professionalization in itself, should initially improve work conditions. Regarding the improvement of organizational quality, in conclusion, the education program of certified nurses is greatly meaningful as Japanese nursing education has historically preferred quantity to quality.