A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF THE POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION PROCESSES OF NURSES IN SPECIALIZED ROLES IN THE FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS.
Contributors: George Mason University.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 157
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Political Science, General.
Description: This descriptive study aimed to describe the political socialization processes of nurses who had attained specialized roles in public policy development and implementation in federal and state governments. A purposive sample of 33 nurses in specialized roles in public policy development and implementation in federal and state governments was studied. Primary data were collected via a structured interview schedule with fixed alternative and open-ended questions developed by the investigator and based on Greenstein's (1968) work. Data collection was accomplished by face-to-face and telephone interviews conducted from November 1987 through January 1988.

The conclusions of the study included the following: (1) Nurses who had been socialized to specialized roles in public policy development and implementation were not typical of employed nurses in general; (2) Nurses who are activists in the political arena typically were not socialized through formal nursing education; (3) Although not directly socialized through formal nursing education, some nurses in specialized political roles gained certain skills and knowledge through their formal nursing education that were transferrable to the political arena; (4) Organized nursing has the potential to prepare nurses to assume specialized political roles; and (5) Nurses who have been socialized to the political process believe that future nurse activists should be socialized through formal educational experiences.

The conclusions of the study indicate a need to conduct further studies of factors influencing political socialization. Barriers to a political career choice and to the political career development of nurses also require further study, as do explanations for the lack of nurses in politically responsible positions. Most importantly, strategies for eliminating barriers to a political career choice and to the political career development process of nurses need to be developed and addressed through nurses' formal education. Also warranting investigators' attention are nursing curriculum changes that would enhance nurses' participation in the political process as well as the effects of those changes on the political behavior of nurses.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-05, Section: B, page: 1849.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY, 1989.

School code: 0883.