Gender differences among nurses in relation to self-efficacy and attitude towards their terminally ill patients

Abstract

This study sought to find out whether gender differences has a significant relationship on self-efficacy among nurses and attitude towards their terminally ill patients. Twenty (20) male and twenty (20) female nurses from Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital were randomly chosen to serve as participants for this study. The Self-efficacy Scale by Ralf Schwarzer and Matthias Jerusalem (1993) and a modified Attitude Checklist developed by Charlotte Epstein (1975) were utilized for data gathering.Results showed no significant difference in the level of self-efficacy among nurses in relation to their gender. Moreover, no significant difference exists in the nurses’ attitude towards terminally ill patients in relation to their gender. The Pearson- Product Moment Correlation revealed that there is a positive correlation between self- efficacy and attitude towards their terminally ill patients according to gender, male (r=0.37), female (r =0.31), though it is considered as a weak correlation. The researchers recommend that further research should be conducted with the topic under study with a bigger sample for a more valid and reliable results. It would also be better if other factors aside from gender will be considered as determinants in differences in the level of self-efficacy of nurses and attitude towards terminally ill patients.