POLICY MAKING: STATE REGULATION OF NURSING PRACTICE. A STUDY OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF NURSING (POLICYMAKING).
Contributors: University of Virginia.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 236
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Political Science, Public Administration.; Sociology, Public and Social Welfare.
Description: Occupational licensure is the traditional method of governmental regulation of the quality of services provided by professionals. In 1903, North Carolina (NC) became the first state to pass legislation regulating nursing. In 1981 NC became the first state to have a directly elected Board of Nursing empowered to administer its Nursing Practice Act.

The purpose of this study was to explore the policy making process of the NC Board of Nursing. Specifically the research questions were: (1) How is policy made by the North Carolina Board of Nursing? (2) What are the factors which influence the policy making of this state board? and (3) What effect does an elected professional nursing board have on policy making?.

The study was conducted within the theoretical framework of critical social theory, using a multi-source case study methodology. Ideological issues explored while addressing the research questions revolved around the theoretical assumptions and research findings found in the political economic literature on occupational regulation, and the nursing and professionalizing literature.

The study findings revealed that the NC Board of Nursing has a policy making process with marked similarities to that of a nonprofit voluntary association. The dynamics of Board members, the Board's professional staff, individual practitioners, and interest groups are influential in the policy making process. The effects of an elected professional nursing board remain somewhat enigmatic.

Political economic theories were nonexplanatory for this example of regulatory policy making. Although professionalizing values and beliefs were apparent in Board members and professional staff the findings did not confirm attempts to convert these views into policy actions. The operational structure of the Board, its perceived legal parameters, and its commitment to the "protection of the public", seemed to counter balance and even negate professionalizing policy initiatives.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-08, Section: B, page: 4084.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, 1993.

School code: 0246.