CONTENT ANALYSIS OF PICTORIAL COVERS OF SELECTED PROFESSIONAL NURSING JOURNALS.
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 118
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Through a content analysis of pictorial covers of selected professional nursing journals, the following categories were investigated: nursing practice, role of women as nurses inclusive of both sex and role of the nurse image and visual form. The sample for this study consisted of 120 randomly selected pictorial covers from the following journals: American Journal of Nursing, RN and Nursing. The time period spanned by this study was from 1966 to 1986, a time when both professional nursing and the role of women in the workplace have undergone constant change and emphasis.

Content validity was established by a panel of experts. Both inter-rater and intra-rater estimates of.80 or higher were achieved for each of the categorizations. Overall agreement among raters was reached 91.25% of the time.

One of the most significant findings about professional nursing practice was the rating of "Illness" as the most common (29%) definition. This rating also demonstrated a significant increase for the time period of 1978-1986 as compared to 1966-1976. "Professional Issues" ranked second, indicating that a variety of concerns affect nursing practice.

As for sex of the nurse, the majority of covers (59%) did not contain a nurse image. When nurses did appear, they were portrayed as women. Male and female nurses were shown together 4% of the time. Men alone as nurses were never displayed.

With respect to role of the nurse, when a nurse character was featured, the nurse was portrayed as "Professional" (12%), "Traditional" (9%), and "Incompetent" (8%). There was a significant decrease in the "Traditional" rating in 1978-1986 as compared to 1966-1976.

As for visual form, "Illustrations" were used more frequently (33%), followed by "Photography" (30%). "Surrealism" (26%) was also used frequently within the journal cover picture while "Cartoon" was utilized the least (11%). There were no significant changes between time periods.

In summary, this study outlined some of the nonverbal communication patterns demonstrated by a nursing medium: the professional journal cover. How nurses view their practice, their role and themselves were revealed.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: B, page: 0907.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1989.

School code: 0055.