COMPUTER UTILIZATION WITHIN NURSING CURRICULUMS.
Contributors: United States International University.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 168
Subjects: Education, Curriculum and Instruction.
Description: The Problem. Several authors have postulated that much of the cognitive and psychomotor knowledge inherent to professional nursing practice will be delivered by computerized curriculums by the end of the twentieth century. The major concern of the study was to determine the general state of use of computers in nursing education curriculums today, short-term plans for inclusion and implementation and driving forces/restraining forces influencing computerization and faculties' attitudes toward computerized instructional technologies.

Method. Nursing programs accredited by the National League for Nursing were surveyed to determine computer utilization. Three hundred ninety-eight associate-degree nursing programs and 401 baccalaureate-degree nursing programs comprised the sample; each was surveyed using a mailed questionnaire.

A twenty-nine item questionnaire was developed; the instrument was designed to solicit data in four specific areas: (1) demographic data, (2) forces influencing computerization, (3) forces restraining or impeding computerization, and (4) faculties' main attitudes toward computer utilization in their curriculums. Data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using a multiple regression analysis for the hypotheses and descriptive statistics of a correlational type with frequency count and percentage for the research questions.

Results. The findings of the data showed that institutions that have incorporated the use of computers into the greatest number of areas of the nursing curriculum are schools that have had (1) adequate financial resources to purchase and/or develop software, (2) existing hardware and/or software, (3) individual faculty members with an interest in computers, and (4) areas of the nursing curriculum that lend themselves to incorporating computers. In addition, institutions that have incorporated the use of the computers into the greatest number of areas of the nursing curriculum have a faculty that does not believe that computers are too expensive and does believe that computers free an instructor's time for academic pursuits.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-10, Section: A, page: 2902.

Thesis (ED.D.)--UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, 1985.

School code: 0239.