FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF ARTICULATION BETWEEN PUBLIC TWO- AND FOUR-YEAR COLLEGIATE NURSING PROGRAMS IN MASSACHUSETTS.
Contributors: University of Massachusetts (System)
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 265
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study examined the perceptions of nursing faculty in Massachusetts public higher education concerning articulation between the associate (ADN) and baccalaureate (BSN) levels of nursing education. Objectives were to determine faculty perceptions of: (1) compatibility/incompatibility of the two levels; (2) pressures against and for articulation; (3) strategies to encourage or discourage articulation; (4) participant's willingness to promote articulation in Massachusetts.

The study had two parts. The first involved interviews with a selected sample of nursing faculty (N=10). Data were used to develop the questionnaire distributed to ADN and BSN faculty in Part Two (N=179). Completed returns numbered 149 (83%).

Major findings, implications, and conclusions follow: (1) Eighty percent or more of each faculty group found the two levels of programs compatible (due to common core or overlapping content), and were willing to promote articulation. This suggested that a strong base exists for opening faculty discussions on planned articulation. (2) Philosophical beliefs, lack of a clear definition of nursing, and need to protect program territoriality were perceived as pressures against articulation. Social forces were seen as pressures for articulation. (3) The major strategy to encourage articulation was seen as the evaluation and adjustment of curricula by both levels of education; one entry level into professional nursing (BSN) was perceived as a strategy to discourage articulation. (4) Generally, ADN faculty expressed stronger opinions of either agreement or disagreement than did BSN faculty on pressures and strategies for and against articulation. The BS faculty responses were much closer to "undecided" on the majority of items. Further research on articulation issues was indicated. (5) Less overt resistance to articulation was found than could have been predicted, given the slow movement in the state toward planned articulation. The base seems to exist for a concerted, organized, regional effort in this direction. given the indecisiveness of BSN faculty responses, however, the BSN group may be more open to other alternatives than ADN faculty for facilitating the educational mobility of ADN RNs.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-03, Section: B, page: 0794.

Thesis (ED.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1985.

School code: 0118.