VOCATIONAL NURSE EDUCATION: STUDENTS AND THEIR REASONS FOR PARTICIPATING.
Contributors: Texas A & M University.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 292
Subjects: Education, Vocational.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Students in two Texas schools of vocational nursing were studied with the intent of learning about vocational nursing students and their reasons for selecting the vocational alternative. The study utilized 118 respondents from which 60 informants were recruited for interviews. Informants were selected so that each of four groups was equally represented: a 1986 group from Houston, a 1987 group from Houston, a 1986 group from Bryan, and a 1987 group from Bryan.

Findings from the four primary research questions include the following: (1) Education Participation Scale (EPS) results revealed that these students were more highly motivated to return to school by ideals of community service, cognitive interest, and professional advancement. They were least motivated by external influences. (2) Analysis of the students' reasons for desiring to be a nurse revealed responses which were categorized according to the following system: Social, or people centered, Incentives; Intrinsic, or personal, Incentives; Employment, or work related, Incentives; and Intellectual and Professional, or knowledge and career, Incentives. Of these, the Social Incentives were mentioned most often and Intrinsic Incentives were mentioned the next most often. (3) The students gave reasons for choosing a vocational education over another mode of entry into nursing which were categorized into the major domains of Push, or expediency, reasons and Pull, or enticement, reasons. The major Push factors were "time", "location", "money", and "questioning". The major Pull factors were "steppingstone" and "school". The students felt that the Push factors were more compelling than the Pull factors. (4) An analysis of the characteristics of the students revealed a predominantly female, Anglo, post-adolescent group. Most of the students had been married at least once and had dependent children living with them. A major finding which emerged during interview sessions was the influence of life stressors and traumas which had occurred to most of the informants.

Major conclusions of the study were: (1) Vocational nurse education provides an important source of training and future employment opportunity for individuals with limited resources who might not otherwise have pursued further learning; and (2) Vocational nurse education creates a situation in which individuals with lowered self esteem can prove their abilities and improve their self image.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-06, Section: A, page: 1442.

Thesis (PH.D.)--TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, 1987.

School code: 0803.