IMPACT OF NURSES' TASK CONCEPTIONS ON PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION: A STUDY OF DIABETES PATIENT EDUCATION IN A HOSPITAL.
Contributors: Washington University.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 335
Subjects: Education, Administration.
Description: Nurses' performance of a new task are influenced by their task perceptions and by the way tasks are supervised. This study reports relationships between task conceptions of a new task and performance of a new task. It reports relationships between task allocations and new task conceptions, as well as relationships between task conceptions of ongoing tasks and task conceptions of a new task. It also reports relationships between centrality and influence of a new task evaluation on rewards and importance of a new task. It reports relationships between importance of a new task and performance.

Perceptions were collected by a structured questionnaire followed by an interview with 74 nurses on seven medical divisions in a single hospital. Measures of performance were collected by reviewing patient records. Results demonstrated that "more active" task conceptions were not associated with "more responsive" performance. New task conceptions were strongly influenced by task conceptions of ongoing tasks and only slightly influenced by task allocations. "More important" task conceptions were associated with some indicators of effort. The perceived importance of the new task was strongly associated with the influence and centrality of rewards on the evaluation of the new task.

Results are discussed in terms of Dornbusch and Scott's theory of evaluation and authority; are applicable to implementing a new task in an organization; and provide practical information to nursing supervisors who are responsible for implementing a patient education program in a hospital.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-07, Section: A, page: 1792.

Thesis (PH.D.)--WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, 1985.

School code: 0252.