Factors Influencing Nurses’ Decision to Join a Professional Association in Russia

Abstract

Many professional associations of nurses in Russia and other countries struggle to increase their membership. Even though there are obvious advantages of membership in a professional organization, many people decide against it, which makes the study of factors that affect their decision-making a pertinent task. The aim of our research is to study the factors of membership or nonmembership of nurses in professional organizations in Russia. We conducted semi-structured interviews among nurses in different Russian regions (N = 16). Their responses were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. We identified the main factors that determine nurses’ membership or non-membership in professional associations and distinguished between objective and subjective reasons as well as active or passive attitudes demonstrated by our respondents in this regard. The conclusion is made that nurses often adopt a “formal” approach to membership in professional associations, seeing it primarily as a certification requirement. This means that their interests may not coincide with the goals and mission declared by these associations in their charters. Some respondents, however, demonstrated a more active attitude, pointing out such reasons for membership as professional growth, opportunities for advanced training, socialization, exchange of ideas and so on.