SPECIALIZED ACCREDITATION IN NURSING EDUCATION: COMPARISONS OF ACCREDITED AND NON-ACCREDITED PROGRAMS ON SELECTED MEASURES OF QUALITY.
Contributors: University of Maryland, College Park.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 141
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Voluntary specialized accreditation has enjoyed a special place in American higher education, and in nursing education in particular. While considerable literature exists regarding the accreditation process and its value in general, few studies have been done comparing accredited nursing programs with similar non-accredited nursing programs on selected indices of quality. Are accredited programs, in fact, better than similar non-accredited programs? Is specialized accreditation worth the time and costs involved to achieve it? These and other questions were explored in this study.

This study compared fourteen specialized accredited and non-accredited community college nursing programs in Maryland on selected program components, faculty and student characteristics, student performance on the licensing examination and included their employment record after graduation in order to assess whether accredited programs were better than non-accredited programs on such indices of quality. Multiple measures, based on quantitative and qualitative data, were used to develop answers to these questions.

Structured interviews were conducted with the administrators of each of the fourteen nursing programs to elicit their opinions about the reasons why they sought or did not seek specialized accreditation.

It was expected that accredited programs would be superior to the non-accredited programs on each of these multiple indices of quality. No such differences were found between the two types of programs in terms of their goals and objectives, distributions of curriculum hours, and student performance on the licensing examination. Small differences favoring accredited programs were found in faculty preparation at the doctoral level and there were fewer graduates of accredited programs working outside the field of nursing.

The reasons given for not seeking specialized accreditation included cost and uncertainty regarding the validity of the specialized accreditation criteria. The reasons for seeking specialized accreditation included: status, prestige, increased self-confidence of the faculty, and maintaining options for students in their future work.

Considerable similarity was found between the specialized accreditation criteria and the standards imposed by the Maryland State Board of Examiners of Nurses. This similarity may not be true of other states.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-12, Section: B, page: 5228.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK, 1986.

School code: 0117.