A Q-ANALYSIS OF THE STRESSORS OF ADULT FEMALE NURSING STUDENTS ENROLLED IN BACCALAUREATE SCHOOLS OF NURSING.
Contributors: University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 90
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Administration.; Education, Adult and Continuing.
Description: Becoming a student at age 30 or more places one in a stressful situation. The female, especially, tends to experience situations that are stressful. Most of these situations exist because she does not forego her many other roles, but instead, adds the student role to the already long list of existing roles. Thus, stress ensues and a reaction occurs. The purpose of this study was to identify the stressors of adult female nursing students enrolled in baccalaureate schools of nursing. In this descriptive study, Knowles' Andragogy Theory and Neuman's Health Care Systems Model were utilized as a conceptual framework with Q methodology being utilized for the purpose of analysis. Q methodology is the assignation of quantitative values to qualitative data.

Stressors were identified through a review of literature related to stressors of man, adult stressors, female students, and nursing students. Items were reviewed by a panel of experts in order to establish content validity. Reliability was determined by sort-resort utilizing a related sample of five subjects.

The final Q sort was administered to 20 adult female nursing students enrolled in junior or senior nursing courses in two universities in a large metropolitan city in the Southeastern United States. Q-type factor analysis of the data revealed three distinct person types. The subjects were assigned to a type according to the responses made to the Q sort items. The majority of the stressors identified were both interpersonal and extrapersonal in nature. Person types 1, 2, and 3 all revealed that they were most distressed by extrapersonal stressors related to circumstances in the environment and least distressed by interpersonal stressors related to those relationships with other people.

Recommendations included that the use of Q methodology in determining adult female nursing student stressors should be extended and, through the use of the Q sort instrument, specific ages and cultures be studied in various school settings and time frames so that stressors can further be delineated. Through specific identification of stressors, nursing education, practice, and research can direct efforts to better meet the needs and recognize the contributions of these students.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-09, Section: B, page: 3919.

Thesis (D.S.N.)--UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, 1989.

School code: 0005.