PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDES: A COMPARISON STUDY OF REGISTERED NURSE STUDENTS AND GENERIC BACCALAUREATE STUDENTS.
Contributors: Rutgers University.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 146
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The aim of this study was to investigate differences in professional orientation between registered nurse students in baccalaureate degree completion programs and generic baccalaureate students in NLN accredited nursing programs in the state of New Jersey. It was based on the premise that registered nurses who enter a baccalaureate degree completion program have been socialized in their basic educational programs and have acquired a set of professional attitudes from their occupational position. The majority of new registered nurses graduate from associate degree programs, then enter baccalaureate degree completion programs within three years. These two factors support the need for this study.

It was hypothesized that entering registered nurse students would demonstrate a higher degree of professional orientation at the beginning of their program than entering generic baccalaureate students; graduating registered nurse students would have a higher degree of professional orientation than graduating generic baccalaureate students; and age, years of health-related work experience, and occupational genealogy would affect professional orientation.

A purposive sample of 59 entering generic baccalaureate students, 85 entering registered nurse students, 74 graduating generic baccalaureate students, and 69 graduating registered nurse students responded to Stone's Health Care Professional Attitude Inventory, as modified by Lawler, and an investigator-designed demographic data questionnaire. Construct validity for the attitude inventory was established by Lawler, using the contrasted group approach and the convergent principle. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for the scale is.73.

Analysis of the data showed that entering registered nurse students have a higher degree of professional orientation than entering generic baccalaureate students; however, no support was found for the hypothesis that graduating registered nurse students have a higher degree of professional orientation than graduating generic baccalaureate students. The data also showed that there is a relationship between age and professional orientation, and that there is a relationship between years of health-related work experience and professional orientation. A relationship between occupation genealogy and professional orientation was not supported.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-07, Section: B, page: 3534.

Thesis (ED.D.)--RUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY - NEW BRUNSWICK, 1991.

School code: 0190.