Abstract

Background: In health related areas it is clear that there are different perceptions of nursing. Perception by itself is merely defied as an idea, belief, or an image you have as a result of how you see or understand something. The Perception of nursing may vary depending on age, educational level, social and professional experience. Objective: To assess Nurses#x2019; knowledge and Attitude towards Nurses Profession in public hospitals in Mekelle Town, Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods: Institution based cross sectional study design was conducted used to assess knowledge and attitude of nurses towards the nursing profession. Sample size was calculated using a formula for estimating a single population proportion. Accordingly, sample sizewas 135. The dependent variable was attitude of nurses. Simple random sampling techniques were used to select the desired institutions and population proportion to size allocation was done to select the intended study subjects. Data was collected by 10 professional nurses for 1 week using structured self administer questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16. Result: According to the findings 135 nurses were participated with a response rate of 92%. Accordingly, socio-demographic characteristics, more than half, 75(55.5%) of the respondents were females. About 48(35.6%) of the respondents age lies 36- 40. Nearly half, 112(81.7%) of the respondents were married and the majority of the respondents, 117(86.6%) were orthodox followers. About 67(%) of the respondents were diploma graduates in Nursing. Fifty six of them get monthly salary of 774- 1644 ETB. The majority, 117 (86.6%%) of the respondents primary work place were government hospitals and 86 of them had more than ten years of workexperience. Out of 135 nurses, 124 (91.8%) of them had a favorable attitude for nursing profession. Majority of them, 99 (73.3%) have good knowledge towards nursing profession. Conclusion and recommendation: Majority of the respondents like