ASSOCIATE DEGREE NURSES AND BACCALAUREATE DEGREE NURSES: FACTORS INFLUENCING EMPLOYMENT.
Contributors: University of Alabama.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 123
Subjects: Education, Higher.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The idea of two levels of nursing, proposed soon after World War II, remains a controversial issue in the nursing profession. In the last few years, several factors have caused a renewal of efforts to re-think the educational and practice structure of nursing. Among these factors are cost-containment requirements and other constraints of Medicare's prospective payment system, as well as a reversal in the registered nurse (RN) job market with the resultant need for the fewer RNs. The question has been raised as to what the job market is now and what it will be in the next few years in the hospital setting for associate degree (ADN) and baccalaureate degree (BSN) nursing graduates.

Because hospital nursing service directors have the primary responsibility for making decisions about the educational preparation needed for staff nurses, it seemed appropriate to examine relationships between selected variables and the attitudes of nursing service directors concerning employment of ADN and BSN graduates. A questionnaire was sent to a sampling of 252 hospital nursing service directors within the southern region. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Chi-square was applied to determine if a relationship existed between these selected variables and the attitudes of nursing service directors' employment preferences.

Statistical analysis led to the major findings that the majority of nursing service directors preferred BSN graduates and believed the BSN should be minimum preparation for professional nursing. The educational background of the nursing service directors, both basic and highest degree held, influenced their choice of graduates. Constraints such as DRG, acuity of patients, and budget also were influential.

Major recommendations from the study are that two levels of nursing be supported and that ANA's 1985 Resolution be enacted within state nurse practice acts. It is further recommended that the number of technical programs be limited and that the number of professional programs be expanded to permit greater accessibility in location and in career mobility. It also is recommended that the curricula of both programs be revised to enhance clear delineation of the roles of professional and technical graduates.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-06, Section: A, page: 2051.

Thesis (ED.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, 1986.

School code: 0004.