INCORPORATION OF LEARNING AMONG BRITISH AND AMERICAN NURSES: TWO CASE STUDIES.
Contributors: University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Published: 1983
Number of pages: 245
Subjects: Subject No Longer Used.
Description: Continuing or lifelong learning is one means of coping with the growing complexity of today's world. While a number of espoused theories suggest processes by which professionals can incorporate continuing learning in their lives, we know little about these professionals' actual theories-in-use.

A cross-cultural, ethnographic research design, utilizing participant observation and key-informant interviews, provided materials to describe and analyze the relationship among the concepts of nurse, learning and work. As a result, this study identifies the theories-in-use of continuing learning for a group of British and a group of American nurses.

A pair of case studies provide details of the initial findings. Each case includes a descriptive account of the setting's physical layout and patterns of nursing care, followed by a discussion of certain issues of themes which emerged throughout the course of the research as pertinent to the issue of continuing learning. Edited field notes and transcribed interviews form the basis for these thematic discussions, with additional references to outside literature and research findings to further define, explain, and clarify each theme.

In the British case study, an emphasis on experiential learning closely links the concepts of learning and work. However, because of a distinct role differentiation between "learner" and "staff member," qualified nurses frequently must re-adopt the learner role in order to participate in formal learning programs.

In the American case study, nurses frequently carry concurrent roles of staff nurse and learner. However, learning often takes place in a classroom setting far removed from the nurse's work environment. In addition, nursing tends to emphasize most the credentialing aspect of this learning process.

Further analysis indicated that the traditional conflict between nursing's professional role component and its service forms the basis for the process of non-corporation of learning in both settings.

Recommendations for further research focus upon the identification and development of more effective theories-in-use for continuing learning among nurses. Suggestions are offered for the creation of environments which encourage learning-oriented behaviors among nurses and the fostering of linkages between the nurse's work environment and the professional learning environment.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-05, Section: A, page: 1277.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE, 1983.

School code: 0263.