published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

It is against the background of new developments and initiates taking place in various countries to make basic nursing education systems more responsive and relevant to the ever-changing nature of society that a cross-national study of the current systems of basic nursing education of francophone African countries of WHO Afro Region was undertaken. The aim of the study was to describe and analyze the current systems of basic nursing education in Francophone African countries of WHO Afro Region with 'a view to providing guidelines for change toward a basic nursing educatian system that is in line with the recommendations of WHO (1994, 1985, 1984, 1966) and the various countries' health care delivery systems' policies. In the first phase, data was generated by means of a self-completion mailed questionnaire, administered to the members of the national regulatory bodies of nursing and nursing education from eighteen countries. The design of the above named questionnaire was based on the WHO (1994, 1985, 1984, and 1966) recommendations pertaining to basic nursing education systems. The main results of the findings of this phase showed two major trends. Firstly, more differences than similarities existed between the WHO (1994, 1985, 1984, and 1966) recommendations and the current basic nursing education systems of the countries under study. Secondly, discrepancies existed between the various countries' health care delivery systems' policies and the existing systems of basic nursing education. Finally, all the respondents expressed the views that the current basic nursing education systems are faced with educational and organizational changes and they agreed that there is a need to change the current basic nursing education systems. In the second phase, data was generated by means of three rounds Delphi questionnaires, administered to the national members of the regulatory bodies of nursing and nursing education as well as the members of national nursing associations from eighteen countries. The design of the first round Delphi questionnaire was based on the results of the first phase of this study, while the preceding round informed the design of the questionnaire of the next round. The main results of the findings showed similarities between the future orientation of the basic nursing education systems and the recommendations of the WHO as well as the global trends in the development of the basic nursing education. The stakeholders expressed the view that the national governments, the National Associations of Nurses and the Regional Office of WHO Afro Region need to play an active role in the transformation and the development of the basic nursing education systems in the Region. They suggested that the systems of educating nurses should move toward meeting the demands of the health care services and the global trends in the development of nursing and nursing education. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Dr. Ronald Cervero (1985) identified learner motivation, the nature of the change, the social system of the organizational climate, and the educational program as factors affecting the application of learning to professional practice. A repeated measures research design was used to measure stability over time of instruments developed to measure variables in Cervero's model. Participants, N=27) graduate students, completed the instruments, "New Ideas and You" which measures learner's motivation to change, "The Nature of Change" which measures the learner's perception of the proposed change, and "Organizational Climate of the Social System" which measures the learner's perception of the social system's affect on the implementation of change. Staff nurses (N=27) completed the instrument "Continuing Education Offering Evaluation" which measures the learner's perception of the educational offering. Participants then completed the instruments again in three weeks. Procedures for the protection of human subjects were followed. The test-retest reliability coefficients were: "New Ideas and You," r=.72 L)-.01; "The Nature of Change," r.84 p=.01; "Organizational Climate of the Social System," r.83 p=.01; "Continuing Education Offering Evaluation," r.91 p=.01. The significance of this study was the initial establishment of stability over time of instruments developed to measure specific factors that affect the application of newly gained knowledge to nursing practice. Establishing reliability coefficients of instruments to measure the variables in Cervero's model is a step forward in the investigation of the larger question, "Does continuing education change practice?" / School of Nursing

Dubin's and Cohen's (1970) Empirical Motivational Model of Updating (EMMPU) guided the design of this research, leading to the examination of the relationships among lifelong learning characteristics, job satisfaction, and engagement in professional updating activities for occupational therapists. Occupational therapists completed the Characteristics of Lifelong Learners in the Professions Questionnaire (Livneh, 1986), the Index of Organizational Reactions (Smith, 1976), the Professional Activity Engagement Survey, and participated in qualitative interviews.Statistically, no relationships were found among job satisfaction, characteristics of lifelong learning, and engagement in professional updating activities. The qualitative data suggested that these relationships existed. Characteristics of lifelong learning significantly predicted 7% of the variation in time spent engaged in professional updating activities. There were significant differences found on characteristics of lifelong learning and engagement in professional updating activities among therapists with varying educational 1eve1s.Utilizing grounded theory methodology, a theory of Professional Learning Management emerged from the data, contributing to the understanding of professional updating that was not addressed by the EMMPU model. In the theory of Professional Learning Management, patient treatment interaction triggered the need for updating by occupational therapists. The patient interaction determined the specifics of the necessary learning in regards to the content, timing, context, and methods. Occupational Therapists were reliant upon off-the-job learning in order to provide quality patient care. There was a cyclical feedback loop between off-the-job learning and application of that learning on the job within the patient treatment situation.Unlike the EMMPU model, updating occurred under both positive and negative contexts. The high engagers in professional updating were able to learn in spite of the barriers restricting learning efforts. The barriers to learning were not managed as well by the medium and low engagers in professional updating activities. Regardless of level of updating, occupational therapists utilized a variety of updating methods in accordance with the way in which the learning needs were defined by the patient treatment situation.3 / Department of Educational Leadership

Continuing education requirements in all fields and professions are intended to promote continued competence, to develop current knowledge and skills, and to enhance professional skills and judgment beyond the levels required for entry-level practice. The idea of enhancing one’s knowledge and the ability to stay current with the newest updates in one’s profession is vital to the success of an individual and his/her profession. The profession of athletic training is no different. Being a part of the allied health field, the profession of athletic training continues to evolve. All professionals continue their education through experiences, formal schooling or continuing education systems. How can continuing professional education be most effective in enhancing the certified athletic trainer (ATC) in the ever evolving allied health field? The purpose of the study was to examine and then determine the most preferred method of continuing professional education (CPE) for certified athletic trainers (ATC). The research study evaluates the most effective instructional method to disseminate the content, context and the process of the athletic training profession to its members through continuing education activities. Continuing education requirements are intended to promote continued competence, development of current knowledge and skills, and enhancement of professional skills and judgment beyond the levels required for entry-level practice. The governing body of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) requires its members to participate in continuing education activities for these reasons. The study involved 287 certified athletic trainers (ATC) and their responses through a survey instrument. The survey instrument was sent to every certified athletic trainer in Indiana through the Internet and their responses were collected by Ball State University’s Research Design and Analysis Services. The ATCs responded to a multitude of questions concerning their view of continuing education, impediments to continuing education and their demographics. After reviewing the data, certified athletic trainers responses resulted in showing a strong preference to hands-on and interactive opportunities as being the best perceived delivery system to provide the profession and its members with continuing education experiences. / Department of Educational Leadership

Knowing how to promote oneself in written self-promotional genres is a vital, yet neglected, component of non-native speaker (NNS) communicative competence. / Focusing on the self-appraisal, I explore some of the impression management (IM) tactics and interpersonal metadiscourse (MD) markers used by writers to manage the impressions they give off. Of particular interest is the extent to which (a) patterns of self-presentation, and (b) language background (NS/NNS) contribute to the affective response of the reader. / The self-appraisals, collected from 41 students taking a required undergraduate writing course, were grouped according to the affective response of independent readers. Patterns of IM and MD use were compared across positive- and negative-affect groups, and across NSs and NNSs. / The findings reveal distinct differences between affect groups in patterns of IM and MD use. Interestingly, NS/NNS differences did not contribute to the affective response of the reader, thus challenging the assumption that NS linguistic form is requisite to pragmatic competence.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [204]-210).

Thesis (M.A.)--California State University Channel Islands, 2007. / Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Education. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed September 2, 2008).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-139).