This study was conducted in order to analyze the variability in nursing professions in and out of the United States. The motivation behind the research was to evaluate the commonalities and differences that exist between nursing systems and to produce more research on an underdeveloped topic. In order to obtain my results, I crafted surveys and interview questions in English and Spanish. I sent out electronic surveys in the United States and in Costa Rica and coded the results. At the end of each survey there was the option to participate in an in-person interview with me to discuss the topic further, which was how I populated those who I interviewed. I recorded the interviews, translated and transcribed them, and coded the data. As a result, the major findings were that Costa Rican nurses were more likely to perceive their profession as a collective endeavor in contrast to the individualistic mentalities of nurses in the U.S. In Costa Rica, the majority of the nursing care provided falls under the category of “primary attention,†better known as preventative medicine. This is different from the U.S whose focus is better classified as “tertiary attention,†or treatment. However, there were also comparisons made between the two countries. All of the interviewed nurses described nursing as a trusted profession, dedicated to patient progress and helping others. This study lays the foundation to cross-culturally analyze the sentiments of the nursing profession on a global scale and blends the use of nursing and Spanish that will ultimately create high quality patient care.
