WOMEN'S ATTITUDES TOWARDS SELECTED HEALTH ISSUES: IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING EDUCATION (ABORTION, EUTHANASIA, SEXUALITY, CONTRACEPTION, SUBSTANCE ABUSE).
Contributors: State University of New York at Buffalo.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 374
Subjects: Education, Health.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to identify significant differences in attitude towards selected health issues between nursing-care givers as defined by the "entry into practice" concept and a composite of non-nursing women in women's occupations, and to use this knowledge to gain insight into future humanistic nursing educational planning.

A secondary analysis of seven pooled national surveys was conducted. Eighteen hundred thirty-two women reporting membership in women's occupations were selected. From this group of women nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, technical registered nurses and professional registered nurses were identified. Twenty-five attitudes and two behaviors were assessed. These attitudes addressed contraception, modification and termination of life, sexuality and substance abuse.

The impact of education and occupation was determined by two-way analysis of variance. Significant differences among the occupational groups was determined by one-way analysis of variance. Variables found to show significant occupational differences were then used to build discriminant function through multiple discriminate function analysis.

Regardless of their widely diverse demographic backgrounds the women's attitudes towards the selected health issues were remarkably similar. Only seven of the health issues revealed significantly different attitudes. The impact of education was modest and occupation was minimal. The greatest amount of liberalization occurred between the baccalaureate and graduate educational levels. Baccalaureate professional registered nurses were strikingly less liberal than baccalaureate non-nursing women. Only one modestly correlated discriminate function was found and labeled anti-abortion for singleness. This function was most typical of the licensed practical nurse.

This investigation suggested that early (pre-1978) professional nursing programs may not have utilized the liberalizing forces of the college education to the same extent as other women's occupations. There was some evidence of movement in that direction. It was recommended that baccalaureate nursing continue to encorporate liberal arts content into the curriculum and to increase student exposure to the college environment.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-09, Section: A, page: 3325.

Thesis (PH.D.)--STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO, 1986.

School code: 0656.