J Nurs Educ
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A study of 227 baccalaureate and 111 master's nursing students was conducted to determine the influence of the level of formal education on three selected factors: ethical/moral reasoning, attribution of responsibility, and ethical/moral dilemma resolution. Moral development theory and Heider's attribution of responsibility construct provided the theoretical framework. ⋯ The results of this study suggest that undergraduate and graduate nursing programs must place more emphasis on identifying dilemmas, increasing ethical/moral reasoning levels and attributing responsibility in a justifiable manner. Nurse researchers must continue to study how nurses respond in dilemma situations and how personal characteristics, factors in the environment, education, and the assignment of responsibility affect nurses' ability to resolve ethical/moral dilemmas.
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The purpose of this study was to identify factors which may be important in the publication productivity of university nurse faculty. Two central research questions were addressed: 1) What relationship exists between selected professional, educational, and career variables and the publication productivity of university nurse faculty members? 2) What is the typical publication productivity profile of university nurse faculty? The population consisted of 422 full-time tenure tract nurse faculty teaching in seven nursing schools that offered baccalaureate, master's and doctoral programs and were located in public Research Universities I. All data were obtained through the use of a questionnaire. ⋯ Eleven of these variables (highest degree, years since first master's, age, rank, teaching responsibilities, time spent teaching, time spent in research, hours of clinical instruction, teaching and research preferences, journals received, beliefs about the desirable relationship between publication and promotion and tenure) and five motivational variables were included in a regression analysis. These 16 variables grouped into three clusters, accounted for .4845 percent of the total variation in university nurse faculty publication productivity. Current job socialization factors and motivational factors accounted for a significant amount of variation in faculty publication productivity even when highest degree, years since first master's, age, and rank were controlled.
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The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between formal organizational structure and the dean's job satisfaction. A two-part questionnaire was sent to 345 deans of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree nursing programs. ⋯ The findings showed that decentralization and some degree of complexity and formalization were related to job satisfaction. In spite of these findings, deans should consider all personnel, academic, and budgetary implications before proceeding with organizational restructuring.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the leadership behaviors of nursing deans and selected organizational variables in baccalaureate and higher degree nursing programs in the United States. The sample consisted of 170 deans who provided data on their self-perceived leadership behaviors as measured by the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire and on institutional characteristics of both their nursing programs and parent institutions. ⋯ Significant relationships were also found between the dimension of Initiating Structure and the nursing program variables of faculty expertise and educational task and the parent institution variables of control, educational task, and size. This study proposes that organizational variables should be included in leadership theory for nursing academic administrators.
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Comparative Study
Retention of Basic Cardiac Life Support content: the effect of two teaching methods.
Does the method of instruction affect retention of Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) knowledge and skill? This was the primary question addressed in a study conducted in a university school of nursing. The teaching methods studied were a lecture-demonstration-return demonstration method and a self-paced method. The sample consisted of 63 baccalaureate nursing students who were assigned to one of the two teaching methods. ⋯ However, neither group was able to demonstrate retention of performance skills at a mastery level. Additional data indicate the self-paced subjects spent less time in BCLS learning activities. While the self-paced instructional package was more costly on a one-time basis, repeated applications would decrease the cost/student.