<p> Nurses assume preceptor responsibilities in addition to usual nursing duties and most have minimal pedagogical preparation for the role. However, preceptors influence the competence of new staff through their instruction. The development of self-efficacy is vital to patient outcomes and safety. Using Bandura's (1997) framework of self-efficacy, ten proficient preceptors participated in an action research study that included individual interviews and focus groups related to the research question: What do proficient nurse preceptors report about the development of their preceptor self-efficacy for the purpose of recommending ongoing professional development and best practices within a hospital setting? </p><p> Preceptors identified thirteen best practices for ongoing professional development within their hospital. These practices include areas of Instruction, Preceptor Support and Professionalism. The largest number of findings were within Instruction. Preceptors are the first teachers of new hires within hospitals. Effective instruction was predicated upon the existence of role support and inculcation of professionalism within the preceptor culture. </p><p> Recommendations for practice include adoption of these best practices into ongoing professional development curricula. A monthly preceptor forum, to facilitate preceptor networking and sharing, is recommended. Future research might examine teaching strategies utilized by preceptors and the timing of these strategies when engaged in precepting. A comparative study using a self-efficacy tool for assessment could be conducted to ascertain whether the preceptor forum was building self-efficacy among the preceptors in comparison to another non-participating group of preceptors.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / STATEMENT OF PROBLEM This study is an appraisal of the knowledge held by graduate students in nursing concerning the legal aspects of nursing. Statement of Hypothesis Graduate students in nursing have limited knowledge of the legal aspects of nursing. METHODOLOGY The sample chosen for study consisted of forty graduate students in nursing who were enrolled in a teacher education program. The study was done in the Spring of 1963 in a school of nursing which was an integral part of a large university in a metropolitan area of New England. A tool consisting of fifty true-false statements was designed to collect the data. These statements were concerned with law as it relates to the nursing profession. To establish the validity of the tool, it was submitted to a qualified attorney at a Law-Medical Research Institute for his consideration. He found the items to be valid in accordance with established criteria. The investigator administered the tool to the graduate students in a classroom setting. Each item on the tool had a value of two and a perfect score on the total tool of one hundred. FINDINGS A statistical analysis of the data showed the following: 1. The mean score was seventy-one; the median and the mode were seventy-two. 2. The standard deviation was 6.07 and the range of scores was from fifty-two to eighty-four. 3. A chi-square test for goodness of fit showed that the data could have arisen from a normally distributed population. A chi-square of 4.43 was obtained which was not significant at the five per cent level. 4. The application of the F test to the data showed that there was no significant difference among the means on the subtests. 5. Product-moment coefficients of correlation were found to be significant at the one per cent level between over-all knowledge of the test and knowledge of the items in the following categories: (1) relation of a nurse's rights and liabilities to her position and status, (2) negligence and malpractice, (3) torts and crimes, and (4) contracts for nursing. The correlation ratio between the questions concerned with the legal status of the nurse and over-all knowledge was found to be significant at the five per cent level. The correlation ratios between over-all knowledge and the items relating to the practice of nursing and witnesses and wills were insignificant. 6. Three of the test items were answered correctly by less than one-third of the selected sample. These items were concerned with (1) the use of textbooks as evidence in malpractice cases, (2) the status of nursing students in hospital schools of nursing, and (3) slander and libel. CONCLUSIONS From the data obtained in this study, the investigator concluded that graduate students in nursing have limited knowledge of the legal aspects of nursing and therefore, the hypothesis of the study was substantiated. The majority of the selected sample answered three of the questions incorrectly. These items were concerned with slander and libel, the use of textbooks as evidence in malpractice cases, and the status of the nursing students in hospital schools of nursing.[TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

<p> Nurse practitioners (NPs) have been undergoing a rapid transition in their entry-level degree, from Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) to Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). At this time, it is important to establish research evidence on the effects of doctoral education on NP practice. Therefore, a qualitative study of practicing NPs that have returned for the DNP degree was conducted. The purpose was to describe NPs' perceptions of their DNP education, and particularly its influence on their professionalism and patient care. A literature review and evidence synthesis process showed that the available body of research provides little insight into the question of how DNP education affects NP practice; therefore, qualitative description methodology was used to describe this phenomenon. The research questions that guided the study were: 1) What changes do practicing NPs describe about their clinical practice after the experience of completing a DNP?; and, 2) What are the NPs' perceptions of and concerns about the influences of their DNP educational experience on their clinical practice? Two published models and the DNP Essentials (AACN, 2006) informed and guided the data collection and analysis process. Purposive sampling and analyses continued concurrently until data saturation was achieved. Ten DNP prepared NPs were interviewed, and there was wide variation in the sample. The overarching theme <i>Growth into DNP Practice</i> summarizes the participants' perceptions of the changes that have occurred as a result of their DNP educational experience. Four major themes that support the overarching theme are: (a) <i>Broader Thinking and Work Focus</i>; (b) <i> New Knowledge and Interests</i>; (c) <i>New Opportunities</i>; and, (d) <i>"Doctor" Title an Asset</i>. Conceptual categories under each major theme are described. Participants were overwhelmingly positive about the influences of their DNP education on their practice, but the role of the DNP graduate in knowledge translation has yet to be fully operationalized. </p>

<p> National calls for a better-educated nursing workforce are proliferating. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) challenged the nursing profession by setting the goal of having 80% of the nation's nurses prepared at the baccalaureate level (BSN) or higher by 2020. This is an ambitious goal given that, nationally, only 50% of nurses have a BSN. In fact, only 40% of nurses in Michigan have a BSN, and in the rural North-Central Region of this state, only 29% (the lowest in the state) of the nurses have a BSN. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand and interpret the meaning of being an associate degree (AD) nurse, the meaning attaining a BSN has for rural registered nurses who currently have an AD, and the barriers they experience that inform their decisions to return to school (or not). The investigator interviewed 11 AD nurses from rural North-Central Michigan and analyzed interview transcripts to identify common experiences and shared meanings using methods identified by Diekelmann, Allen, and Tanner (1989). Two themes were explicated in this study: "Getting in and Getting out" and "What Difference Does it Make?" The findings in this study challenge many of the common assumptions about academic progression in nursing and provide educators, administrators, and legislators with insight about the strategies that may be most helpful for achieving the IOM goal in rural Michigan.</p>

<p> A quantitative, randomized, pretest, posttest study was conducted to assess the effect of aromatherapy on cognitive test anxiety among nursing students. Sophomore nursing students (n = 39) from a private, 4-year college, were randomized into either the control group (n = 18) or the experimental group (n = 21). Each participant completed the Cognitive Test Anxiety Survey (Cassady; 2001, 2004, 2010) twice; once for baseline data, and a second time after the intervention for comparison. Students in the experimental group completed their second exam in a room with diffused aromatherapy, and the control group remained in a classroom without aromatherapy. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed for this study. There were no significant differences between the control and study group in relation to baseline cognitive anxiety scores (<i>M</i> = 78.17, <i>M</i> = 73.62) respectively. In the control group, there was a 3 point decrease in cognitive test anxiety scores between pretest and posttest. However, there was a significant decrease in cognitive test anxiety scores between the students who received aromatherapy and those who did not (<i>p</i> = 0.10). Age and gender were not moderating variables in this study. This novel discovery suggested that aromatherapy has a positive effect on cognitive test anxiety among nursing students, and warrants further research in nursing education.</p>