Paper Title
Nurse Professional Autonomy in Geriatric Health Services Facilities

Abstract
Professional autonomy is an essential attribute of a discipline striving for full professional status. This study aimed to develop a professional autonomy scale for nurses in geriatric health service facilities (GHFs). The study was conducted in 800 GHSFs across Japan and used a descriptive cross-sectional design. To determine the level of nurses’ professional autonomy and collect background information, a questionnaire consisting of 47 items was used. Nurses’ autonomous professional behavior was analyzed using principal factor analysis (Promax rotation). The participants were nurses (n=728), the majority of whom were female (n=537, 74%), having a mean age of 49.7 years, with a junior college diploma (n=345, 47.8%), and in the position of staff nurse (n=484, 66%). We extracted 40 items by factor analysis, which were classified into four factors (Competency in Practice, Responsible Discretionary Decision Making, Creative Performance, and Value and Receptive Capacity to Others). Utilizing the scale developed by Kikuchi and Harada as a reference, we clarified the structural characteristics of professional autonomy scale of the nurse in GHSFs. The scale showed a four-factor structure of “competency in practice, responsible discretionary decision making, creative performance, and value and receptive capacity to others.” The validity and reliability of the scale items were confirmed. Keywords - Geriatric Health Services Facility, Geriatric Nurses, Professional Autonomy