A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT RELATIONSHIPS EXPERIENCED BY ARMY NURSE CORPS STAFF NURSES AND SELF-REPORTS OF PROFESSIONALISM, JOB SATISFACTION, AND INTENT TO STAY.
Contributors: University of Pennsylvania.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 168
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, Industrial and Labor Relations.; Education, Adult and Continuing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the context and demographic profile of the types of career development relationships (CDRs) experienced by Army staff nurses, and to investigate the relationship between the presence of a career development relationship and nurses' self-reports of professionalism, job satisfaction, and intent to stay in the military. The CDRs investigated were precepting, peer-strategizing, coaching, sponsoring and mentoring. The broad conceptual framework recommended by Hunt and Michael (1983) to study mentoring was used.

The population consisted of all Army staff nurses. A random sample of staff nurses was obtained. A scannable questionnaire packet was developed using the following instruments: the Alleman Mentoring Scale, Hall's Professionalism Scale, the Nursing Work Index, and Hoppock's Job Satisfaction Scale. Information concerning the demographics of the respondents was also obtained. The questionnaire packet was sent to 750 staff nurses with a response rate of 66 percent; 390 cases were used for analysis.

Analyses of the demographic data and the content of the descriptive summaries were completed using frequency tabulations and measures of central tendency. Pearson's Product Moment correlation was used to examine the outcome variables and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if CDRs had any effect on the outcome variables.

The findings indicated that CDRs, ranging from precepting to mentoring, were experienced by 61 percent of the staff nurses in the sample. Coaching was by far the most predominant type of relationship experienced. Although cross-gender and cross-racial relationships were taking place, most CDRs consisted of individuals of the same race and gender.

This research represents a first attempt to differentiate various types of CDRs for nurses. Professionalism was not a statistically significant outcome of CDRs, whereas job satisfaction and intent to stay were significantly associated with having experienced a CDR. It appears that any type of CDR can be vital to enhancing job satisfaction, and intent to stay if the staff nurse perceived it as a positive experience. The results contradict the prevailing literature, which indicates that mentoring is the CDR of choice in order to feel successful and nurtured in one's discipline.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: B, page: 3406.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1992.

School code: 0175.