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. / 2999-01-01

Thesis (M.N.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing. Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on November 15, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe factors perceived to be important to nursing practice by registered nurses. The sample, 170 medical-surgical nurses, was 37% of the total in the primary study (N = 455). An exploratory/descriptive design was used to content analyze the qualitative data obtained from one open-ended question asked in the Differentiated Group Professional Practice in Nursing project. Results showed two concepts in the conceptual framework, Group Cohesion and Job Satisfaction, with regard to Pay and Physician/Nurse Relationships, were supported. Other categories generated included the importance of Administrative Support, both Nursing and Non-Nursing, Education, Adequate Staffing, Flexibility in Hours, and Role Recognition. Another set of responses were categorized as Conflicts - Dissatisfiers. Categories generated included Entry into Practice, Non-Nursing Functions and Changing Attitudes.

D.Litt. et Phil. / In an examination of the training of nurses in Swaziland from 1927 – 2007, this study argues that the actions of the Church of the Nazarene (CON) and the state, as well as local conceptions of gender, contributed to the introduction and advancement of training of young Swazi women as nurses at the Ainsworth Dickson Nurses’ Home. Aiming at opening a medical mission at Bremersdorp in the Manzini District in Swaziland in 1925, the CON entered into an agreement with the British Colonial government, whereby the latter provided the CON with a piece of land on which to establish the first hospital in Swaziland, which it would staff with a British physician and white nurses. This agreement began an enduring relationship between the CON and the Swaziland government, which saw not only the establishment of the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital (RFM) but also the inauguration of nursing training in 1927. This study argues that the endurance of this training programme was largely dependent on the government’s financial support and on the provision of medical workers by the CON. From the 1930 onwards, the government not only paid salaries for the teaching staff, but also provided funding for nursing students. Following the example of Florence Nightingale, the CON and the Swazi government agreed, in the 1930s, to train only Swazi girls as nurses on the job, using the RFM as the teaching hospital. This agreement proved very suitable to the Swazi context, where cultural understandings precluded the training of boys as nurses, yet, from the beginning, marking the training of nurses in terms of gender...

The problem this study addresses is the need for nurses to adhere to guidelines on pressure ulcer prevention and treatment, so patients best possible health outcomes. This study created and utilized a new tool to assess nurses’ training, attitudes, knowledge, and skill/ability for adhering to practice guidelines of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel. The study sought to identity significant predictors of Personal Knowledge Rating Scale (TPKRS-101) and Personal Skill/Ability Rating Scale (TPS/ARS-101). The online study’s convenience sample of nurses (n=190) was 80.5% (n=153) female, 59.5% (n=113) Black, and 18.4% (n=35) Asian—with mean age of 40.27 years (min 23, max 73, SD=10.95). Some 53.2% (n=101) were not born in the US, while 16.8% (n=32) were from Ghana, 7.9% (n=15) from Jamaica, and 7.4% (n=14) from Philippines. Annual household income mean was $50,000 to $99,999 (mean=4.43, category 4, min=2, max=10, SD=1.00). Mean years working in nursing was 8-10 years (mean=4.34, category 4, min=1, max=9, SD=2.14). Nurses rated themselves “good” for performing pressure ulcer care tasks, as follows: (a) Nursing Training Rating Scale (TNRS-101) with global mean of 4.11 (SD=0.60, min= 1.94, max=5.00), or good; (b) Personal Knowledge Rating Scale (TPKRS-101) with global mean of 4.15 (SD=0.57, min=2.79, max=5.00), or good; and, (c) Personal Skill/Ability Rating Scale (TPS/ARS-101) with global mean of 4.13 (SD=0.62, min=2.56, max=5.00), or good. Higher Personal Knowledge Rating Scale (TPKRS-101) scores were significantly predicted by: more positive Attitudes Regarding Practice Guidelines-Relevance Scale (ARPG-R-5) (b = .067, SEB = .029, p = .022); and, higher level of Social Desirability (13 items) (b = .030, SEB = .013, p =.023). For this regression model, R2=.063, and AdjR2=.053, meaning that 5.3% of the variance was explained by model. Personal Skill/Ability Rating Scale (TPS/ARS-101) scores were significantly predicted by: higher level of Social Desirability (13 items) (b = .051, SEB = .014, p = .000). For this regression model, R2=.064, and AdjR2=.059, meaning that 5.9% of the variance was explained by model. Finally, the quantitative data were augmented by qualitative findings for barriers nurses experience to pressure ulcer prevention and treatment, as follows: Category I-External Barriers; and, Category II-Internal Barriers.

The nursing workforce has experienced considerable change during the previous decade, resulting in a chronic shortage of nurses. Issues such as economic rationalism, increased workloads, changes in nursing education and the advancing age of the current nursing workforce are the chief contributors to this shortage (Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, 2005b; Buerhaus, Staiger, & Auerbach, 2000b). Operating room (OR) nursing is a primary specialty area that has been especially affected by rising nurse attrition and a reduction in nurse recruitment (Australian College of Operating Room Nurses, 2003; Australian Health Workforce Advisory Committee, 2002). Accordingly, the loss of skilled nurses from the OR specialty compounds the negative effects on morale for those who remain in the environment, as they struggle to provide safe patient care while concomitantly being responsible for the clinical development of neophyte and inexperienced nurses (Australian Health Workforce Advisory Committee, 2002; Arndt, 1998). In the midst of working in the OR environs where the nature of the associated stressors is unique, resilient qualities may assist nurses to meet and overcome these challenges. If there is to be a continued nursing presence in the OR, it is essential that nurses be given the opportunity to develop resilience. At this time when nurse retention rates are continuing to decline steadily, there is a compelling need to identify and describe the relationship between resilience and its predictors in the context of the OR. To date, little is known about predictors of resilience and their potential to ameliorate the effects of workplace stress in the OR. The overall purpose of this study was to identify and describe the predictors of resilience in OR nurses. A literature review and concept analysis of resilience was initially conducted. Hope, self-efficacy, coping and personal characteristics were identified as defining characteristics of resilience. Next, the research was conducted as a mixed method phased study that was underpinned by the pragmatist paradigm, and employed a sequenced combination of qualitative followed by quantitative inquiry (Morgan, 1998). The first phase used a mini-ethnography to identify and describe the components of workplace culture in an OR in relation to their potential impact on nurses’ ability to adapt in this culture. A triangulated approach was used involving participant observation, a reflective journal, field notes and interviews. This phase revealed that competence, knowledge, collaboration, peer support and the ability to manage challenges were central components of OR workplace culture. From these categories, three themes were abstracted and subsequently developed into constructs that were measured and validated in the larger second phase. The second phase used a predictive correlation survey to describe empirically the relationship between resilience and its hypothesised predictors in a systematic random national sample of nurses who were members of the Australian College of Operating Room Nurses (ACORN), and a combined sample of hospital nurses purposively drawn from two similar hospital sites. The survey included scales measuring perceived competence, collaboration, managing stress, self-efficacy, hope, coping, and resilience, as well as gathering information about the demographic characteristics of nurse respondents. Out of a total potential sample of 1,730 OR nurses, the overall response rate was 51.7% (n = 896). Differences between the ACORN and hospital samples were found in age, years of experience, education and years of employment; therefore, the national and hospital samples’ findings were analysed separately. Five independent variables – hope, self-efficacy, coping, managing stress and competence – predicted resilience in the larger sample of ACORN respondents (n = 772). For the substantially smaller sample of hospital respondents (n = 124), hope, self-efficacy and managing stress predicted resilience. Given that the smaller hospital sample resulted in a similar model, this consistency lends strength and weight to the revised resilience model. Over 60% of the variance in resilience was explained by the independent variables in each model. Given the dearth of literature describing the efficacy of resilience in ameliorating stress in OR contexts, the results of this study have extended the theoretical application of the resilience concept to include a nursing context. There is a need to implement resilience-building strategies that address the culture of the OR, both at the departmental and organisational levels. Strategies that provide a supportive workplace environment in relation to goal-orientation, the provision of stress management and education programs, and strategies that facilitate cultural assimilation may improve resilience, and hence retention and recruitment rates in the OR. The findings of this study support the need for further research not only to test the stability of the proposed model among other groups of nurses but also to explore further predictors of resilience in the OR setting.

The recent expansion of focus within medicine to include palliative care has created a new corps of professionals who fulfill a role that might be considered antithetical to their profession. This new medical role calls for individuals who have personality characteristics that will allow them to constantly face death. This study was concerned with examining, in Adlerian life style terms, the personality characteristics of one segment of that corps--the hospice home care nurse. The subjects used in this study represent the population of nurses (N = 6) who provide the care within the framework of the home care program of Hillhaven Hospice of Tucson. A structured interview was held by the researcher at which time the subjects responded to each of the items on the Life Style Interview Guide. Three experts trained in Adlerian psychology and life style interpretation collectively analyzed each life style in order to arrive at a life style summary for each nurse as well as a composite summary. The results of this study showed a high degree of similarity and consistency with regard to attitudes, personality characteristics and life style themes of the hospice home care nurses studied.

The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge and attitudes of hospital postpartum and public health nurses towards postpartum depression (PPD) using interpretive description. Postpartum depression is the leading complication after childbirth and impacts negatively on the health of the mother and her child. The nurses in this study participated in focus groups and/or participant observation. The five patterns that describe participants experiences related to PPD were: “Nurses understand PPD in different ways”, “Nurses recognize that women need support”, “Nurses reported that teaching about PPD makes a difference”, “Strong relationships with a primary care provider is essential in the post partum period”, and “a key role of the nurse is to listen”. The nurses in this study revealed a rich understanding of PPD leading to recommendations for practice by hospital and public health nurses related to PPD contributing to better care for women experiencing PPD.

AIM: The aim of the study is to explore the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among registered nurses at KFH and to determine factors associated with job dissatisfaction among registered nurses at KFH. METHODOLOGY: A quantitative, descriptive, exploratory study was conducted to explore the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among Registered nurses at King Faisal Hospital. A non probability convenience sampling technique was used to include all the available registered nurses doing bedside nursing in the study. A criterion for inclusion into the study was to be a registered nurse working in the area for at least 6 months full time employment. Data was obtained through a questionnaire survey using Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), to assess factors influencing job satisfaction among nurses at KFH, Kigali-Rwanda. Data were analysed by SPSS 15.0 for Windows. FINDINGS: The findings of this investigation was that the factors, namely; supervIsIOn, coworkers, nature of work and communication were factors that contributed to a greater job satisfaction of registered nurses (45.5%); while factors such as pay, promotion, fringe benefit, contingent reward and operation procedures, were factors that caused moderate job satisfaction (55.5%). Simultaneously, the research found that these results also indicated, to some degree, that these factors are contributing to job dissatisfaction, albeit small. The study recommends strategies that management can utilise by improving income (salary, benefits and rewards), job promotion and working conditions may increase RNs' job satisfaction and therefore improve the overall well being of nursing personnel and quality of health services. These strategies may be used as a tool to keep employees satisfied and motivated in their jobs. It also recommends ways by which management can reduce job dissatisfaction amongst employees by improving and simplifying the hospital policy and administrative matters. CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed that registered nurses are moderately satisfied with their job. The nurse administrators will know that they need to do more to improve nurses' job satisfaction since registered nurses are only moderately satisfied. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Socialization into the nursing profession is essential for student nurses to develop an internalized professional identity and the corresponding professional role. The espoused professional values are the foundation for the development of professional identity and commitment to the profession. Nurse educators have a responsibility to foster students' learning for the development of the student nurse as a professional. The formation and internalization of a professional identity through acquisition of values that are congruent with those espoused by the profession facilitates professional development.The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how baccalaureate nursing students were professionally socialized into nursing values in the classroom. Mezirow's transformational learning was used to examine how nursing students came to critically reflect on personal and professional values as part of the process of professional socialization.The context for this study was a university classroom setting. A purposive sample of eight nursing students in a baccalaureate program in the first nursing, non-clinical course was used.The study used interviews, observations, and review of documents which included the informants' journals, course text, course examinations and syllabus. Two one-hour interviews were conducted with the informants at the fifth week of a seven week course and at completion. The instructor was also interviewed following completion of the course. The three classroom observations were conducted every other week to correspond with significant content areas. Journals were collected every other week.The findings suggest that nursing students do not attain the espoused professional values from the formal curriculum or role-modeling of the instructor in a classroom setting. Qualities attributed to the professional values were expressed rather than the values themselves through personal experiences. Content areas which were controversial and value-laden held the most meaning and triggered critical reflection on personal and professional values. Eight subcategories emerged from the data analysis: formal curriculum, perceived personal values, perceived values learned in the classroom, perceived values role-modeled, triggers for critical reflection, hidden curriculum, sense of belonging to the profession, and consequences of professional socialization.This study has implications for nurse educators regarding teaching strategies, nursing education and curriculum development, professions concerned with professional socialization, and adult educators interested in Mezirow's theory. Further study is recommended on aspects of belonging, triggers for critical reflection, and professional values. / Department of Educational Leadership