THE RELATIONSHIP OF MEASURES OF SELF-ACTUALIZATION TO NURSING COMPETENCY OF STUDENTS COMPLETING AN ASSOCIATE DEGREE CAREER MOBILITY NURSING PROGRAM.
Contributors: University of Pittsburgh.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 131
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between measures of self-actualization and nursing competency of students completing an associate degree career mobility nursing program. The sample was composed of 88 students, all of whom were licensed practical nurses, completing an associate degree career mobility nursing program in a community college in Western Pennsylvania. Each subject completed the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) and a demographic questionnaire, and each student consented to permit records to be made available so that additional data could be collected (age, marital status, percentile rank on the National League for Nursing Achievement Test (NLN) for Practical Nurses, grades from the practical nursing program, employer recommendation, sex, grades in the nursing program, cumulative QPA).

The findings indicated that the sample group was more characteristic of the self-actualizing than the non-self-actualizing group. This finding might be due to the nature of the program under study where the student enters the program to achieve upward mobility and career advancement, which was likely to indicate that striving to become more self-actualized was a reason for program entrance.

The significant predictors of the achievement of nursing competency were found to be previous academic achievement, the NLN Achievement Test for Practical Nurses, and the POI scale, Inner-Directed, and subscales, Nature of Man and Self-Acceptance. One of the least significant predictors was found to be the number of years of experience as a licensed practical nurse prior to program entry. This finding was likely due to the student's conflict in having to relinquish one scope of nursing practice while assuming the next higher, more comprehensive scope of nursing practice. Self-Actualization was a more significant predictor when program grade was used as the criterion measure. This finding was likely due to the fact that as goal-oriented, non-traditional students, the courses directly related to nursing met their learning needs more directly.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-05, Section: B, page: 1428.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, 1984.

School code: 0178.