COMPARISON OF MANDATORY AND VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN CONTINUING EDUCATION OF NURSING PERFORMANCE.
Contributors: Northern Illinois University.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 199
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to look at the effects of compulsory education when used in a multiple-variable framework to measure performance outcomes. In nursing, 11 states require proof of continuing education for relicensure, yet little of the research has been based on studies of nurses attending under voluntary or mandatory conditions. With a sample of 20 registered nurses who volunteered to attend and 20 who were forced to attend, a one-day workshop on "Applying the Nursing Process in the Emergency Room" was offered.

Specifically, three questions were asked: Do nurses who attend a workshop demonstrate a difference in pre- and post-performance scores? Do nurses who voluntarily attend a workshop demonstrate different skills than those forced to attend? What is the relationship between the six independent variables of preaudit performance scores, "selected group," predisposition for change rating, program evaluation, behavior change factors, and social factors affecting ease of implementation.

Data were collected by auditing clinical records before and after the workshop. Supervisors also rated the participants' attitude toward professional practice. At the completion of the workshop, a three-point instrument was constructed.

Based on the statistical analysis, there was no difference in the postaudit scores between the two groups after adjusting for preaudit scores. Three variables, preaudit performance, behavior change factors, and social factors, affecting ease of implementation accounted for 54% of the postaudit variance, with behavior change factors and social factors having a negative correlation. "Selected group" had minimal effect.

The implications that can be drawn from the finding are that forced attendance can change behavior and a consistent effort to update, reinforce, and support new skills may help nurses adopt these new skills.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-02, Section: A, page: 0187.

Thesis (ED.D.)--NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, 1987.

School code: 0162.