ESSENTIAL GERONTOLOGICAL CONTENT FOR THE ASSOCIATE DEGREE NURSING CURRICULUM.
Contributors: University of Missouri--Columbia.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 460
Subjects: Education, Curriculum and Instruction.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.
Description: Purpose. The purpose of this descriptive study was to develop a statement of the gerontological content essential for the associate degree level of nursing education. The study was designed to elicit content selection by participants based upon the theory of curriculum content validity described by Taba (1962) and Zoot (1979), requiring content selection criteria to reflect relationship of course content to program outcome. Selection of content by participants was based upon appropriateness for associate degree nursing as defined by the five practice roles of the associate degree nurse.

Procedures. Data were gathered from a nationwide Delphi panel of associate degree nurse educators, a nationwide Delphi panel of registered nurses working in long-term care, and the 1986 American Nurses' Association survey of gerontology curriculum content. Each panel, working independently, ranked 249 content items in importance on a 5-point Likert scale. Seventy-eight percent of the educators and 67% of the registered nurses completed all three rounds.

Findings. Three high-ranking content areas identified by both panels included Ethical Issues, Common Health Problems of the Elderly, and Chronic Illness. Although considerable congruence was found between panel recommendations, some incongruencies were noted. Comparison of the Delphi findings with the results of the ANA (1986) survey found many items ranked Essential were included in a higher percentage of the associate degree programs surveyed. Distinct areas of incongruency were also noted.

Conclusions. The result of this Delphi study was a listing of essential gerontological content for associate degree nursing. An educational emphasis ranking system, utilized in Round 3, was found to be no more effective than the importance ranking for determining appropriate gerontological content. Use of this ranking system was recommended not as an alternate but additional ranking system because of the different perspective it provided. An association was found between gerontological nursing content and the five practice roles of the associate degree nurse. Study recommendations included use of nursing practice roles as criteria for curriculum content selection, refinement of the educational emphasis scale as a curricular decision-making tool, and inclusion of both educators and practicing nurses in future curriculum studies.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-08, Section: A, page: 2371.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI - COLUMBIA, 1989.

School code: 0133.