A Sociological Study of Nursing Profession: A Case Study of Baroda City of Gujarat State in India

The role of sociology in the field of nursing profession continues to cast new light on many aspects of health and illness in society. Over the last 20 years, nursing profession has seen sociological knowledge as a valuable clinical tool, both in the diagnosis and prognosis of a wide range of illnesses and long-term conditions. The study of health and illness and of the professionals and other organizations devoted to health care is one the most fascinating fields. Health is an important factor in assessing the quality of a society's life. Medicine and other health services are not only dependent upon   the biological and physical sciences, but also on health service organizations, medical profession, and social organizations. By social organization, it is meant the interdependence of parts. Interdependent parts consist of some of the following tasks, roles and activities which are being undertaken by individuals in hospitals. Adopting a sociological approach, this paper tries to bring to light the role of nurses with others in role set in hospital as an organization. Paper also tries to examine the socio- cultural and economic background of the nurses from where they come and what factors motivate them to join this profession. The paper also focuses on aspects of role performance and interpersonal relationship among the para -medical staff. The paper also examines into the professional problems of nurses. The present study is based upon the primary data collected from 100 nurses working in the public and private hospitals of Baroda city in Gujarat state of India.