THE RELATIONSHIP OF ATTITUDE TOWARD BSN EDUCATION, SELF-ESTEEM, LIFE EVENTS AND RNS' DECISION TO RETURN TO SCHOOL TO EARN A BSN.
Contributors: Widener University School Of Nursing.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 257
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Adult and Continuing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships among attitudes toward BSN education, self-esteem, the occurrence of negatively and positively perceived life events and the decision to return or not return to school to earn a BSN.

Participants were limited to female RNs who were randomly selected from five PNA districts within the state of Pennsylvania. Of the 201 respondents, 102 RNs were enrolled in BSN earning programs and 99 had not returned to school to earn a BSN. The four-part questionnaire collected socio-demographic information and measured attitudes toward BSN education (ATBSNE), performance self-esteem levels (PSES), and the perceived positive and negative impact of life events (LES).

Data were analyzed using discriminant analysis. The hypothesis was not supported. Additional analyses revealed that attitudes toward BSN education contributed significantly (p $<$.001) to differences between the RNs who did return to school and the RNs who did not return. Performance self-esteem levels and the perceived positive and negative impact of life events that had occurred within the year prior to returning to school or completing the questionnaire did not significantly explain differences between the two study groups. The study variables, as measured by the ATBSNE, PSES, and LES, were found to be statistically independent of each other.

There were some socio-demographic differences between the two groups of RNs. The RNs who did not return to school tended to be older, generally had more children, and were licensed as RNs for a longer period of time than the RNs who had returned to school. A higher percentage of the nonreturned RNs were also diploma graduates and many of them stated that they had no intention of returning to school to earn a BSN.

A majority of the respondents (69%) felt they had sufficient access to information related to earning a BSN and most of them (70%) used other RNs as their primary source of information.

The Roche Model of Participation in Adult Education, developed as the conceptual framework for this study, was not fully supported although the discrepancies may be more methodological in nature than theoretical.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-07, Section: B, page: 3532.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--WIDENER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING, 1990.

School code: 0969.