THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE THE PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS OF CLINICAL LADDER PROGRAMS IN NURSING.
Contributors: Temple University.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 158
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study was designed to critically investigate the outcomes of clinical ladders in acute care hospitals in the United States. To accomplish this it was necessary to design an instrument which could be used to measure the effectiveness of clinical ladder programs. In developing the Clinical Ladder Assessment Tool it was necessary to address the following research questions: (1) Which common outcomes of clinical ladders as defined by the literature are considered by the validation jury as essential? (2) Can a reliable too based on the identified essential outcomes of clinical ladders as validated by the jury be developed? (3) Can the instrument developed for this study be used to assess the perceived effectiveness of clinical ladder programs in acute care hospitals in the United States?.

Using a validation jury of authorities on clinical ladders, a tool was developed to assess the perceived effectiveness of Clinical Ladder Programs. The Clinical Ladder Assessment Tool was subjected to testing for content and construct validity and test/re-test reliability.

Registered nurses (N = 385) representing twenty-four hospitals with clinical ladder programs participated in the study. The questionnaire was designed so that the participant would respond yes or no to each of the sub-components (questions). To determine if the responses of the participants were representative of the population proportion which would respond similarly, Z tests were performed. All of the responses were accepted as representative of the population since they fell within the low and high population mean.

A majority of the registered nurses participating in the study responded favorably to all sub-components (questions) of five of the seven essential outcomes. The five essential outcomes included: (1) Differentiation of levels of nursing clinical competence; (2) Reinforcement of responsibility and accountability in nursing practice; (3) Guide for evaluation of clinical performance; (4) Assures opportunities for professional growth; (5) Provides for increased levels of autonomy and decision making.

The majority of registered nurses responded yes to three of the four sub-components (questions) of the essential outcome, job satisfaction through recognition for clinical practice.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-06, Section: B, page: 2343.

Thesis (ED.D.)--TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, 1989.

School code: 0225.