PROFESSIONALISM IN GRADUATES OF DIPLOMA, ASSOCIATE DEGREE, AND BACCALAUREATE NURSING PROGRAMS.
Contributors: Northern Illinois University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 239
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Health.
Description: The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of educational preparation in nursing on degree of professionalism in practicing graduates from diploma, associate degree, and baccalaureate nursing programs. A secondary purpose of the study was to provide support for the ANA (American Nurses' Association) position on professional and technical nursing.

The subjects in this ex post facto study were 187 female and 7 male practitioners in nursing employed in one of three health agencies in a large midwestern metropolis. All of the subjects had been actively engaged in nursing for at least two years. Two instruments were used to measure professionalism: Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (I-E) and the Pankratz and Pankratz Nursing Questionnaire (PNQ). A demographic information sheet was also used to group subjects into categories of interest. The data were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance procedures.

The findings indicated that there were no significant differences between the three groups of practicing graduates when I-E scores were used as the dependent variable measure. There were significant differences between the three groups on the PNQ with the baccalaureate graduates scoring significantly higher than the diploma graduates on all three dimensions and the associate degree graduates scoring significantly higher than the diploma graduates on one dimension. There were no significant differences between the baccalaureate and associate degree graduates on the PNQ; therefore, the study was able to provide only partial support for the ANA position on professional and technical nursing.

Analysis of the demographic data revealed that more than half of the subjects in the diploma and baccalaureate groups were of Asian heritage, while a majority of the associate degree subjects were black. The racial/ethnic composition of the sample may have affected the findings.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: B, page: 3112.

Thesis (ED.D.)--NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0162.