Original Article © 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 International Council of Nurses 137 Blackwell Publishing LtdOxford, UKINRInternational Nursing Review0020-8132© 2006 The Authors, International Nursing Review (2006) 200653••••Original ArticleTwo approaches to nursingA. Emami & A. N. Nasrabadi Two approaches to nursing: a study of Iranian nurses A. Emami 1 RN, RNT, PhD & A. N. Nasrabadi 2 PhD 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Care sciences, and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and 2 Assistant Professor,Tehran University of Medical Sciences, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran, Iran EMAMI A. & NASRABADI A.N. (2007) Two approaches to nursing: a study of Iranian nurses. International Nursing Review 54, 137–143 Background: Studying nurses’ experience from a sociocultural perspective can contribute to improving knowledge and understanding in this field. Purpose: To describe and compare three different groups of Iranian nurses’ experiences of their profession. Methods: The study was conducted in Iran and Sweden. The data were collected from semi-structured telephone interviews and analysed with latent content analysis. The participants were three groups of registered nurses (RNs) (21 persons). All RNs were born and grew up in Iran. The first group (A) were educated and had worked in Iran but were now working and living in Sweden. The second group (B) were educated and worked in Sweden. The third group (C) were educated and worked in Iran. Findings: The nurses in Sweden worked with a patient-orientated approach while nurses in Iran worked with a task-orientated approach. Nurses in all three groups explained that they suffered from stress, had a heavy workload, were underpaid and understaffed. The findings showed that RNs working with a patient-orientated approach, experienced work satisfaction to a greater extent than RNs working with a task-orientated approach, although other aspects also influenced the nurses’ situation considerably. Keywords: Iran, Nursing, Orientation, Patient, Sociocultural Perspective, Sweden, Task Introduction Nursing as a paradigmatic concept has different meanings in dif- ferent social and cultural settings. Thus, studying nursing experi- ences from various perspectives (sociocultural, educational and professional) can contribute to knowledge improvement and understanding of the process of professional socialization. Profes- sional socialization is frequently defined as the practice whereby the values and roles of a profession are internalized through rein- forcement by factors in the social environment. The importance of how individuals identify themselves within a profession should therefore be stressed (Moloney 1992). Nurses’ education and working environment are crucial aspects for the development of identity, skills and expertise. It is within this context that nurses can share their experiences and attain support from each other (Benner et al. 1996; Fagerberg & Kihlgren 2001). The study The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe and compare two different approaches to nursing care by focusing on the differ- ent sociocultural and educational factors in Iran and Sweden. All participants in this study were born and grew up in Iran. How- ever, their educational backgrounds and professional experience differed. Correspondence address: Azita Emami, Department of Neurobiology, Care sciences, and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, 23300, 141 86, Stockholm, Sweden; Tel: 46-8-6179329; Fax: 46-8-6179333; E-mail: azita.emami@omv.ki.se.