NURSE PARTICIPATION IN UNIT DECISIONS (CRITICAL CARE NURSES, MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSES).
Contributors: Seattle University.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 334
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Behavioral.; Business Administration, General.
Description: This study compared perceived levels of participation in decision making between critical care nurses and medical-surgical nurses. The study also analyzed nurse characteristics, personality preferences (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), perceptions of job situations (Job Diagnostic Survey), and unit managers' leadership styles (Lead-Self) for differences in the two groups of nurses and for moderating effects on perceived levels of involvement in unit-level decisions. A nonexperimental, analytical survey research design was used to test the hypotheses. The data for the study were collected from 111 critical care nurses and 138 medical-surgical nurses from three tertiary hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. Data regarding leadership styles were collected from thirty unit-level managers.

Significant differences were found between the mean group scores of medical-surgical nurses and critical care nurses for both current and preferred involvement in unit-level decisions. However, the differences were not significant if the levels of involvement were measured as the gap between current levels and desired levels of involvement. For all groups of nurses in the study results showed that a significant difference existed between the perceived levels of current involvement and the desired levels of involvement in decision making.

Significant differences were found between the two groups of nurses in age, time licensed as a registered nurse, time in current specialty, time worked in current hospital, and the highest degree obtained in nursing. Because these biographical factors were also shown to have a relationship to the perceived levels of involvement, further study is needed to determine whether the documented differences in involvement resulted from differences in specialty or differences in nurse characteristics.

A significantly higher frequency of feeling preferences were documented among the medical-surgical nurses and a higher frequency of thinking preferences among the critical care nurses. No significant correlations were found between personality preferences and perceived involvement.

Critical care nurses scored their jobs as significantly higher for skill variety, experienced meaningfulness, and on meeting individual growth need than the medical-surgical nurses did. Correlations were found between most job attributes and perceived levels of involvement in decision making.

No significant differences were found between the leadership styles of medical-surgical unit managers and critical care unit managers.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-04, Section: B, page: 1962.

Thesis (ED.D.)--SEATTLE UNIVERSITY, 1991.

School code: 0551.