AN EXAMINATION OF RELATIONSHIPS: PERCEIVED NORMATIVE ETHICAL STANCE/PERCEIVED REALISTIC ETHICAL CHOICE AND SELF-ESTEEM AMONG SELECTED GROUPS OF REGISTERED NURSES IN WASHINGTON STATE.
Contributors: Gonzaga University.
Published: 1983
Number of pages: 134
Subjects: Education, Guidance and Counseling.
Description: The study examined the correlates of self-esteem and perceived normative ethical stance/perceived realistic ethical choice among registered professional nurses. Findings were based on data obtained from responses to mailed questionnaires by 305 registered nurses. A sample of 800 RNs was randomly selected from a list of 4,483 RNs in Washington state currently licenced to practice and current members of districts 2 and 4 of the Washington State Nurses Association.

The Judgments About Nursing Decisions (JAND) model of analyzing ethical stance developed by Ketefian, provided a framework for examining perceived normative ethical stance/perceived realistic ethical choice in nursing dilemmas. Self-esteem was examined using the Self-Cathexis Scale developed by Secord and Jourard.

Findings of the study indicated that self-esteem may be related to normative ethical stance but not realistic ethical choice. However, because the magnitude of the correlation between self-esteem and normative ethical stance was weak, any implications drawn need to be viewed cautiously and tentatively.

There were no significant differences in ethical stance related to selected background variables including religious practice and prior course work in ethics. Additionally, personal experience with a given ethical dilemma did not seem related to ethical stance except in one situation involving an understaffing issue. There was a statistically significant difference between nurses' perception of their normative ethical stance and perception of realistic ethical choice.

These findings suggested that there was a dichotomy in nursing between "what ought to be" n□ormative ethical stance □and "what is" r□ealistic ethical choice.□ Further research may be indicated to analyze this dichotomy in light of the nursing shortage. Although nursing literature provides some insight, little prospective research exists. It may be that the organizational bureaucracy of a hospital or nursing school has a significant impact upon the individual's realistic ethical choice.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-01, Section: A, page: 0084.

Thesis (ED.D.)--GONZAGA UNIVERSITY, 1983.

School code: 0736.