FACTORS INFLUENCING CAREER COMMITMENT OF NURSES (LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, NURSE PRACTITIONERS).
Contributors: University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 347
Subjects: Sociology, Social Structure and Development.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: A difficulty in meeting health manpower needs has been the inability of the health care sector to attract and retain sufficient nurses. Despite increasing money expended to educate nurses, shortages continue as experienced nurses leave practice. One explanation for the decreased labor force participation of nurses is the lack of long-term commitment generally associated with being a professional. This study hypothesizes that occupational commitment can be manipulated by various strategies. In turn, labor force participation might be enhanced or weakened by changes in professional commitment.

This research examines three perspectives in the analysis of nursing commitment: the economic perspective, the extended role conflict perspective, and the work control perspective associated with the professionalization model. Within these three models, the extent of commitment of nurse pracitioners, a more professionalized segment of nursing, is compared to the commitment shown by nurses in more traditional roles. The influence of health policy is also explored in relation to employment behavior of nurses.

Data were collected using a national questionnaire to obtain responses from 610 nurse practitioners and registered nurses. This data demonstrates that nurse practitioners, assuming many of the patient care responsibilities normally carried out by medicine, have higher levels of commitment to their nursing role and to nursing profession, and total commitment, than nurses practicing in more traditional nursing roles. Nurse practitioners did not have significantly higher levels of organizational commitment than registered nurses.

Overall, the autonomy of nurse practitioners accounts for the greatest influence on the commitment score, contributing five times as much as income. Being married and having children contribute only small amounts to explaining variation in commitment scores.

The state health policy milieu was not significant in influencing commitment perhaps because law rather than actual practice was measured. The influence of commitment on labor force participation could not be measured as there was very little variation in labor force participation rates between groups, both demonstrating very high levels of participation.

These findings suggest that policy interventions designed to foster professional autonomy and control over work would be more successful in keeping nurses in the labor force than relying only on traditional economic incentives.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: A, page: 0676.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY, 1985.

School code: 0434.