ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses loyalty and commitment to organizations, the sociologist should always be sensitive to understanding the level or levels of the organization to which an employee is committed or loyal. It focuses on the total organization as the unit of loyalty is to neglect those who are loyal only to a particular work group. The basic distinction between the nursing profession and other organizational settings lies in the nature of the profession and how it is viewed by its membership. The cosmopolitans did not refer to an external group, did maintain high in-group loyalty, and were motivated toward organizational commitment. Membership in the Bell Laboratory, which has established itself professionally, or in a famous eye-and-ear clinic may have both high professional commitment as well as high loyalty to the local structure. The challenge for nursing is to develop a system where loyalty to the hospital is compatible with performing nursing functions.
