SPATIAL ABILITY, MANUAL DEXTERITY AND FIELD DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE RELATED TO PERFORMANCE IN BACCALAUREATE CLINICAL NURSING.
Contributors: University of South Florida.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 213
Subjects: Education, Curriculum and Instruction.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the relationship between measures of psychomotor ability, spatial ability and field dependence/independence, and the clinical nursing component in a baccalaureate program of nursing. The predictor variables were performance on the Purdue Pegboard Test, The Comprehensive Ability Battery Spatial Test, and the Group Embedded Figures Test. The criterion variables included four components of clinical performance, Assessment, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation, measured by the Clinical Evaluation Instrument. Additionally, junior nursing students were rated on performance and time required to perform a sterile dressing change procedure as an example of nursing implementation.

The sample consisted of 43 junior and 15 senior nursing students who were enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program in the southeast part of the United States. The students were typical nursing students based on comparison of licensing scores on the NCLEX state board examination parallel with the national distribution of scores for students from other baccalaureate nursing programs. Women composed 91% of the sample and ages ranged from 20 to 47.

The methodology included correlation, canonical correlation, and multiple regression procedures to evaluate data. Correlational procedures were used to examine relationships between predictor and criterion measures. Canonical correlation procedures were used to examine the relationship between all predictors and all clinical components. Multiple regression was used to identify relationships between specific predictors and individual criterion variables.

The findings of this study indicate that a linear combination of manual dexterity, spatial ability, and field dependence/independence did not reliably predict a linear combination of clinical nursing scores of Assessment, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. The Implementation scores and a score for the sterile dressing change procedure yielded the greatest multiple regression coefficients. The Evaluation scores and total clinical nursing scores were significantly correlated with all predictors for combined junior and senior students. Reducing the number of predictors for combined junior and senior students resulted in significant relationships between Assessment and the Embedded Figures Test, Spatial test, and Purdue Pegboard Assembly. Implementation was significantly related to the Purdue Pegboard for Both Hands, the Purdue Assembly, and the Purdue Pegboard for the Right Hand (R =.33). Predictors of Evaluation included the Embedded Figures Test, the Spatial test, and the Purdue Pegboard for the Right Hand (R =.42). (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-05, Section: A, page: 1046.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA, 1987.

School code: 0206.