This study described the registered nurses (RNs) who do and the RNs who do not pursue a BSN. The constructs of motivational orientations, Locus-of-Control, and perceived educational barriers guided the study. The subjects consisted of 102 RNs who lived/worked in the same geographical region. Fifty-three of the subjects were enrolled in a BSN program and included three male students. Forty-nine of the subjects were not enrolled. On average the RNs pursuing a BSN were younger, employed fewer years, and a slightly lower percentage held management positions than the RNs not pursuing a BSN. A pilot study aided in the design of the questionnaire for this study which consisted of four parts; the modified 48-item Education Participation Scale, the modified Reid-Ware Three-factor Locus-of-Control instrument, a modified barriers-to-education section, and a personal profile questionnaire. Follow-up interviews were conducted individually with four randomly selected RNs from each group. RNs pursuing a BSN identified barriers to education that were program or school related. In contrast, RNs not pursuing a BSN identified barriers to education that were personal i.e., cost. Both groups identified "time required to complete the program" as one of the three most notable barriers. RNs pursuing a BSN do so for Professional Advancement and Self-esteem. RNs pursuing a BSN indicated they had more control in their successes or failures and in the school and work setting than did RNs not pursuing a BSN. Motivational orientations (Professional Advancement and Self-esteem) and Internal Locus-of-Control (Social-System and Fatalism) were correlated with group membership of RNs pursuing a BSN. External Locus-of-Control Fatalism and age were correlated with group membership of RNs not pursuing a BSN. Recommendations included further research and a RN-BSN program to reduce identified barriers under the control of the educational system. / Ed. D.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/39418 |
| Date | 20 September 2005 |
| Creators | Root, Sylvia M. |
| Contributors | Curriculum and Instruction, Weber, Larry J., Battle, D.A., Cross, Lawrence H., Rice, R., Wildman, Terry |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation, Text |
| Format | vii, 107 leaves, BTD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | OCLC# 24448944, LD5655.V856_1991.R688.pdf |
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