NURSING STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND ADULT EDUCATION PRACTICE IN A MAJOR METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL: 1950-1980.
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 445
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: National health care concerns of rapidly changing technology, cost containment and accountability all have major implications for nursing continuing adult education within hospital settings. Little or no research exists on the history of nursing staff development, how it has been organized, its relationship to the environment in which it exists and whether or not it reflects knowledge and principles of effective adult education practice.

The purpose of this study is to: specify principles of effective adult education practice; document the practice of nursing staff development from 1950-1980 within one hospital setting; contrast and compare the staff development implemented with indicators of effective adult education practice; identify factors facilitating and impeding adult learning within hospital settings.

Primary methodology is open ended interviews with 33 respondents who represent a specified distribution of positions and practice years. Available historical documents are also examined. Constant comparative analysis is utilized, contrasting the interview results with indicators of effective adult education practice developed by the researcher for the results of both the literature review and a modified Delphi study done with adult education theoreticians.

The descriptive narrative of nursing staff development over thirty years is a rich resource for ongoing analysis, as in a case study. In addition, an adult learning model is developed by the author, nineteen conclusions are presented along with multiple areas for further study and four priorities for action are identified. Among the conclusions are: practitioners seldom consciously reflected upon their own practice and experience; respondents placed greatest importance upon environmental variables effecting their learning, less upon educator variables, and least importance upon content/curriculum variables; high value was placed upon academic learning while day to day learning was less valued and often unrecognized; the ability to facilitate learning was not limited to those in adult education positions but was rather a function of specific behavioral qualities and practice skills; nurse learners remain primarily women, making it critical that adult educators in acute care facilities be cognizant of, knowledgeable about and sensitive to women's developmental and psychosocial issues as these are expressed within the work experience.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-11, Section: A, page: 3945.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1986.

School code: 0055.