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As American involvement in Vietnam escalated in the 1960s, the military's need for medical personnel rose as well. A shortage of qualified nurses in the United States coupled with the requirements of providing adequate troops abroad meant increased opportunity for male nurses. To meet the needs of Army personnel, the Army Nurse Corps actively recruited men, a segment of the nursing population that had previously faced daunting restrictions in the Army Nurse Corps (ANC). Amidst mounting tension, the Army Student Nurse Program began accepting men and provided educational funding and support. Additionally, Congress extended commissions in the Regular Army to previously excluded male nurses. Men answered the call and actively took advantage of the new opportunities afforded them by the demands of war. They entered the educational programs and committed to serve their country through the ANC. Once admitted to the corps, a large percentage of male nurses served in Vietnam. Their tours of duty proved invaluable for training in trauma medicine. Further, these men experienced personal and professional growth that they never would have received in the civilian world. They gained confidence in their skills and worked with wounds and diseases seldom seen at home. For many, the opportunities created by the war led to a career in military medicine and meant the chance to seek additional training after nursing school, often specialized training. Relying heavily on oral histories and the archives of the Army Nurse Corps, this study examined the role these nurses played in entrenching men as a vital part of the ANC.

In 1993, a group of unionized bedside nurses took control of their state nursing association. In 1995, they disenfranchised themselves from the American Nurses Association, which historically had billed itself as - THE voice of the profession of nursing. This study utilizes a case study format to look at who they are, what their intentions are, and what their vision is for the future of the profession. Twenty questions were submitted to key participants identified by the California Nurses Association (CNA). The questions were organized into three main areas: the period leading up to the disenfranchisement, the period of growth after the takeover up until the historic passage of the ratio laws and whistle blower protection, and the period after the passage of the laws wherein the association began a national movement. This movement continues to evolve, and in December, 2009, the CNA (now the National Nurses United) became the largest nursing organization in the country. As the title of the study implies, one intention of the study is to look at the implications for the profession of nursing and the inevitable political implications for the national healthcare debate. Another purpose is to introduce this group to the academic and professional nursing communities, which until now have largely ignored them. Still another purpose is to lay out a blueprint for other state nursing associations who may wish to empower themselves, to analyze the process by which this group has grown to political prominence. No other nursing association has been able to duplicate their political success. Finally, the study raises many crucial questions which nursing academics and nursing leaders must address if nursing is going to able to utilize our only real political power, the power of numbers. Uniting the field, or at least growing the association to significant numerical strength, is the only way nursing can become an equal partner in the national healthcare debate. / by John Silver. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010 / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Estimates indicate that Asian nurses have become the majority of international registered nurses (RNs) working in U.S. Studies have shown that differences in values exist between members of collectivistic cultures, such as those in Asian countries, and members of individualistic cultures, such as those in most Western countries. The purpose of this study was to understand factors related to turnover among Asian RNs working in the U.S.: level of collectivist orientation; perception of practice environment; degree of organizational commitment, and intention to leave current job. The research design was cross-sectional, correlational, and descriptive. A temporally ordered model was developed using the research literature and well-established instruments measured Asian RNs' level of collectivist orientation (Collectivist Orientation Scale), perception of practice environment (Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index), organizational commitment (Organizational Commitment Questionnaire), and intention to leave current job (Anticipated Turnover Scale). A snowball of 120 RNs was obtained. Descriptive, Pearson correlation, hierarchical regression, and the Sobel test were used to analyze data. Results showed that Asian nurses were highly collectivist-oriented. Generally, they had high levels of satisfaction with their practice environment and organizational commitment, but had low intention to leave their current jobs. Collectivist orientation, perception of practice environment, and organizational commitment were significantly and positively correlated to each other, but were significantly and negatively associated with intention to leave. The strongest predictor of intention to leave was organizational commitment. Organizational commitment mediated the relationship between perception of practice environment and intention to leave. It is important for administrators to understand characteristics of members of collectivist cultures and their organizational commitment. This may be crucial for administrators to lower the rate of turnover among Asian RNs. Future research should focus on longitudinal and controlled interventional studies to understand Asian nurses' satisfaction with their practice environment and their organizational commitment.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Despite more than 40 years of research and governmental support, African Americans continue to be underrepresented in the nursing profession compared to the population it serves. Though some progress has been made over the past 20 years, the American Nurses Association (ANA), American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) continue to identify increasing diversity as a disciplinary priority. Further understanding of the experiences of African American nursing students is needed to inform decisions about recruitment, retention and successful matriculation of these students. This qualitative descriptive study focused on understanding the experiences, and the meaning those experiences had, for African American students who attended predominately European American schools of nursing. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with fourteen African American nurses who shared their experiences in pre-licensure nursing programs. Thematic analysis revealed two salient themes: "Standing out" and "It's not just about me." The findings from this study shed new light on this persistent issue and inform faculty members and nursing school administrators about the strategies and ways of framing the educational experience that may create environments that are welcoming to African American students to address the retention of African American students in pre-licensure nursing programs.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine nursing homes‟ compliance with state minimum nurse staffing standards and its relation to quality-of-care deficiencies. Specifically, this study, reviewing staffing standards from 50 states and the District of Columbia for the year 2007, proposes a unique algorithm to calculate the states‟ expected nurse staffing levels for individual nursing homes in order to investigate their compliance with the state nurse staffing standards. By using hierarchical linear modeling method, this study attempts to capture the impact of the staffing standards on actual nurse staffing levels under resource dependence perspectives. Path analysis using structural equation modeling was conducted to investigate both direct and indirect effects of the staffing standards on nurse staffing levels and quality-of-care deficiencies. The major findings were as follows: (1) nursing homes in states with higher state staffing standards for the categories of RN, LN, and total nurse were found to have higher RN, LN, and total staffing levels, respectively; (2) higher nurse staffing levels resulting from higher state staffing standards were significantly associated with better quality of care (less quality-of-care deficiencies cited) in nursing homes; and (3) state staffing standards were found to have much stronger contribution to nurse staffing levels than any other organizational or contextual factors while nurse staffing levels, particularly licensed staff, were found to have stronger contribution to quality-of-care deficiencies than any other organizational factors. The study findings suggest that if the goal is to increase nurse staffing levels for better quality, increasing the stringency of both federal and state nurse staffing standards would be the iv most effective way. However, the staffing standards first need technical changes to reduce their ambiguity and ensure their fairness. If the goal is to achieve better quality, merely increasing nurse staffing levels may not be effective since the variation of the quality-of-care deficiencies explained by exogenous variables was smaller than random variation 5%. If state Medicaid reimbursements can be utilized for financial incentives for better performing nursing homes, nursing homes may improve their productivity by efficiently managing organizational personnel or increasing job satisfaction among nursing practitioners. Lastly, longitudinal analysis, considering variation in length of state staffing policy implementations, is encouraged to investigate the long-term effects of state staffing standards on nurse staffing levels and quality of care.