Introduction. Demeanour is a link which acts as an intermediary between social information in a community and a way person reacts to it. Aim. Analyse the demeanour of nursing staff towards newly employed graduates. Material and methods. 160 male and female nurses employed at treatment and conservative wards took part in the research. A selection criterion for respondents was employment at a ward which employed graduates in the past year. In order to collect the research data author’s owes questionnaire was used. Results. Overall, law level (R = -0.190), negative and important (p = 0.015) statistically correlation was found between the age of respondents and the emotional component. With regards to the behavioural component, correlation with was low (R = 0.128) and unimportant (p = 0.105). A very important (p = 0.006), negative and at a low level (R = -0.214) correlation between emotional component and length of employment was established. The longer the length of employment the smaller are results for this subscale. With regards to the behavioural component, correlation with the length of employment was low (R = 0.137) and unimportant statistically (p = 0.082). Conclusions. Positive demeanour of staff towards graduates employed was characterised by: creating pleasant atmosphere, providing help and advice, giving guidance, praising, sole responsibility during adaptation period. On the other hand, negative demeanour was presented in: lack of trust in personal competence, unsatisfactory evaluation of practical training of graduates, recognition of differences in education.

Key words: demeanour, demeanour components, nurse.