Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2009. / Submitted to the Dept. of Professional and Community Leadership. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 85 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Syfte: Undersöka hur nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor upplever sin första yrkesverksamma tid och om utbildningen upplevs ge en tillräcklig förberedelse inför yrket. Metod: En deskriptiv kvalitativ studie. Åtta sjuksköterskor som arbetat mellan åtta och 18 månader på en medicinsk avdelning intervjuades med semistrukturerade frågor. Alla var kvinnor och i åldrarna 24-36 år. Analysmetoden som användes var kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Det upplevs som en stor omställning att börja arbeta som sjuksköterska. Det var mycket nytt att lära och de upplevde yrket som ansvarsfullt, vilket kunde kännas skrämmande. Successivt upplevde de att de blev tryggare i sin roll. Upplevelser av skräck och osäkerhet inför att börja arbeta var vanliga men arbetskamraterna upplevdes vara ett stort stöd. Att börja arbeta möttes med blandade känslor och den grundläggande omvårdnaden upplevdes vara det lättaste. Det som upplevdes vara mest relevant från utbildningen var kurserna med medicinskt innehåll inklusive den verksamhetsförlagda utbildningen. Det sjuksköterskorna upplevde var mindre relevant i utbildningen var den vetenskapliga metodiken samt pedagogikkurserna. Slutsats: Det kan upplevas vara en stor omställning att gå från student till legitimerad sjuksköterska och möts ofta med blandade känslor. Det finns flera delar i utbildningen som skulle kunna omarbetas för att bättre förbereda sjuksköterskan inför yrket. / Aim: Investigate newly graduated nurses experiences of their first period as nurses and if the education are perceived to provide a sufficient preparation for the nursing profession. Method: Descriptive qualitative study. Eight registered nurses who had worked between eight and 18 months at a medical ward were interviewed using semi-structured questions. All participants were female in the ages between 24-36 years. The analytical method used was qualitative content analysis. Results: It’s perceived as a major adjustment beginning to work as a nurse. There were many new things to learn and they perceived the profession as a great responsibility, which could be frightening. Gradually they experienced that they became more comfortable in their role. Experiences of fear and uncertainty were common before starting their work but their colleagues were a great support. Starting to work was met with mixed emotions and the basic nursing care was perceived to be the easiest thing. The courses with medical content and the clinical education were perceived to be relevant during the education. They felt that the scientific methodology and the pedagogical courses were less relevant. Conclusion: Going from student to registered nurse could be perceived as a big adjustment and is often met with mixed emotions. There are several elements in the education that could be revised to better prepare nurses for the profession.

The overall aim of this thesis is to describe perception of conscience, stress of conscience (stress related to troubled conscience) and burnout, to explore their relationships and to illuminate meanings of the lived experience of troubled conscience in one’s work among registered nurses (RNs) and nurse assistants (NAs) in municipal residential care for the elderly. The thesis comprises four studies; studies I-III are based on questionnaire data from 50 RNs and 96 NAs and study IV is based on interview data from 6 RNs and 6 NAs selected from the participants in the questionnaire study. Questionnaire data was analysed with multivariate statistics (I-III). Narrative interviews were interpreted with a phenomenological hermeneutic method (IV). Study I showed two relationships explaining a noteworthy amount of the shared variance by themselves (25.6% and 17.8%). One relationship was shown between having to deaden one’s conscience in order to keep working in healthcare and stress of conscience related to external demands which was interpreted as having to deaden one’s conscience in order to be able to collaborate with co-workers. The other relationship was shown between having to deaden one’s conscience in order to keep working in healthcare and stress of conscience related to internal demands which was interpreted as having to deaden one’s conscience in order to be able to feel like a good healthcare professional. Study II showed a relationship between stress of conscience and burnout (43.6% explained variance) indicating that experiences of shortcomings and of being exposed to contradictory demands are strongly related to burnout. The relationship between perceptions of conscience and burnout (33.9% explained variance) indicated that having to deaden one’s conscience in order to keep working in healthcare is strongly related to burnout. Study III showed that both RNs and NAs perceived conscience mainly as an asset and a guide and not as a burden in their work. Lack of time and high demands of work influencing home life were the situations related to the highest stress of conscience for both RNs and NAs. The predictive pattern for RNs was interpreted as RNs showing sensitivity to expectations and demands and NAs using their conscience as a guide in their work. Study IV showed that meanings of the RNs’ lived experience of troubled conscience in their work are of being trapped in feelings of powerlessness and a sense of being inadequate. They feel they are failing to live up to expectations from residents and their families, colleagues and themselves because of feelings of powerlessness, cowardice and incompetence. Meanings of NAs’ lived experience of troubled conscience in their work are a sense of being hindered in providing the level of care they would like to provide because of pre-determined conditions and by feelings of being inadequate. They are betraying the residents and themselves by accepting perceived inadequate working conditions and through their own perceived sense of cowardice and negligence. The conclusion of these studies is that stress of conscience is related to burnout among RNs and NAs in municipal residential care for the elderly. Experiences of inadequacy, powerlessness and feelings of being hindered are shown in situations where they have troubled conscience. When the norms of others and/or the pre-determined conditions do not correspond to their own values and norms it may result in the feeling that they cannot perceive themselves as good healthcare professionals.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate demographic, pre-admission, and academic variables of nursing students to identify the best predictors of success on the NCLEX-RN. A convenience sample of 237 students from Indiana Wesleyan University comprised the population for the study. User-oriented evaluation provided the conceptual framework for the study.Multiple regression analyses were used to determine relationships between the variables and success on the NCLEX-RN. Relationships were studied between variables and scores on the NCLEX-RN prior to 1988 (NCLEX 1) and success on the NCLEX-RN for the total sample (NCLEX 2).Demographic variables included age, race, marital status, and the number of semesters required to complete the program. The findings of the study evidenced no significant relationship between demographic variables and NCLEX-RN scores (NCLEX 1).Pre-admission variables included high school grade point average, Scholastic Aptitude Test math and verbal scores, advanced placement credit, and college credit prior to admission. Pre-admission variablesaverage, and scores on the National Comprehensive Nursing Achievementaccounted for 19% of the variance in scores on the NCLEX-RN.Academic variables included grade point averages in science courses, humanities courses, nursing courses, at the end of each year of study, scores on National League for Nursing Achievement Tests, and the Mosby Assess Test. Grade point averages in physical and biological sciences, in sophomore nursing courses, at the end of the freshman year, and scores on the Mosby Assess Test had a significant relationship with scores on the NCLEX-RN. Scores on the Mosby Assess Test accounted for 25% of the variance in NCLEX-RN scores. The highest prediction equation, accounting for 49% of the variance of NCLEX-RN scores, included a weighted linear composite of Scholastic Aptitude Test math scores, Mosby Assess Test scores, junior nursing course grade point League for Nursing Test.Multiple regression analyses of all variables with success on the NCLEX-RN for the total population (NCLEX 2) demonstrated no significant relationships. All findings were communicated to faculty at Indiana Wesleyan University applying the theoretical framework chosen for the study. / School of Nursing

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2006. / "A dissertation in urban leadership and policy studies in education and education." Advisor: Carolyn J. Thompson. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed Oct. 31, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-219). Online version of the print edition.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ball State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 21, 2009). Research paper (M.S.), 3 hrs. Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-61).

Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Kentucky University, 2007. / Made available through ProQuest. Publication number: AAT 1441006. ProQuest document ID: 1283974311. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-88)

Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Kentucky University, 2006. / Made available through ProQuest. Publication number: AAT 1437573. ProQuest document ID: 1203575511. Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-46)

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 143 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-123).