Discussion
In this study, staff nurses had moderate levels of professional autonomy This result was congruent with previous researches However this result was different from studies conducted in European countries. These studies indicated that staff nurses had high levels of autonomy. This difference could be explained by the barriers to nurses professional autonomy such as hospital rules, traditional modes of supervision and control, hierarchical relations between physicians and nurses, and high workload of staff nurses in the. Vietnamese health care system. Most of the staff nurses in this study had low level of education and low education leads to lack of respect by colleagues, inadequate opportunity for growth and lack of independence and freedom ", limited participation in decision-making, not enough authority and lack of confidence when they take care for patients.