OCCUPATIONAL IDENTITY OF NURSE-MIDWIVES IN RELATION TO NURSING, MEDICINE, AND MIDWIFERY.
Contributors: Arizona State University.
Published: 1995
Number of pages: 161
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology.; Women's Studies.; Sociology, Industrial and Labor Relations.
Description: An investigation of how Certified Nurse-Midwives define their occupational identity was begun by interviewing 20 Certified Nurse-Midwives at length. It was found that they used traditional midwifery ideologies of Advocacy, Normalcy, and Competency to differentiate themselves from physicians and nurses. A nationwide survey was then sent to 300 nurse-midwives in which they were asked whether they identified more with midwifery, nursing, or medicine. Their choice of identity was examined in light of midwifery ideologies, situational and background factors, and ability to tolerate ambiguity. The analysis of the survey indicated that nurse-midwives identify occupationally with midwifery rather than nursing or medicine even though there is some mixture with both of the other occupations. The variables that were most predictive of a positive midwifery occupational identity were agreement with nurse-midwifery ideologies and years of nurse-midwifery practice. These results were then placed in historical context by discussing the move of the whole occupation of nurse-midwifery away from nursing in the last two decades.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-04, Section: B, page: 1938.

Thesis (PH.D.)--ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1995.

School code: 0010.