Date of Award
4-1-1991
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Abstract
Since there is no state-wide plan for the articulation of nursing education program in Virginia and articulation practices are largely the prerogative of personnel in individual programs, a wide range of articulation policies and procedures are used in nursing programs throughout the State. The impact of recent societal factors such as changing demographics of student populations, the growing demand for nurses, and a nursing shortage has motivated leaders in the nursing profession to seek practical ways to facilitate the educational preparation of nurses. Academic articulation is recording renewed attention by nursing educators as one means of facilitating the preparation of nurses at various educational levels. The major purpose of this study was to identify the extent and nature of academic articulation practices in Virginia, Since the phenomenon of articulation includes elements of process, attitude, and goal, the study included assessment of beliefs and perceptions of nursing education administrators about articulation and about the current status of articulation among nursing programs in Virginia, A secondary purpose of the study was to assess the perceptions of nursing education administrators in Minnesota about the advantages and disadvantages of regional consortium arrangements for nursing education articulation and to compare the beliefs and perceptions about articulation held by Minnesota respondents with those held by Virginia respondents. Five major questions were posed in the study. these were directed at Virginia participants and assessed their perceptions about the nature and extent of articulation practices currently in use in Virginia nursing programs, about academic articulation in general, about the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with current articulation practices in the State, and about what changes related to articulation needed to occur within one and five years following the study. Another question assessed the perceptions of nursing education administrators in Minnesota about the advantages and disadvantages of regional consortium arrangements for nursing program articulation in that state. Chief administrators at all nursing programs in Virginia and Minnesota comprised the study population. Names of these persons were obtained from lists provided by the respective state boards of nursing and from a list supplied by the National League of Nursing. Two questionnaires were developed to collect data for the study, one for Virginia participants and one for Minnesota participants, and were participants, and were mailed to participants for self administration. Descriptive methods were used to analyze the data. Less than half of Virginia nursing programs represented in the study had articulation arrangements in effect with other nursing programs. Beginning efforts at regional collaboration for nursing education articulation in Virginia were identified. The majority of Virginia respondents indicated acceptance of the concept of academic articulation and believed it possible to articulate nursing education through the baccalaureate level, High interest for nursing education articulation was evident among Virginia respondents, and the majority of Virginia respondents were amenable to the idea of state-wide planning for nursing education articulation. Virginia respondents indicated a need to have collaborative efforts for articulation underway within one year of the study, and many indicated willingness to be involved in such efforts. The majority of Minnesota respondents who represented nursing programs participating in regional consortia for articulation believed such arrangements had been beneficial to their students, programs, and faculty. They reported that some problems related to articulation had been resolved by consortium arrangements and that other problems had evolved. A greater percentage of Minnesota respondents expressed satisfaction with both the overall status of nursing education articulation in their state and with articulation practices used in their own programs than did Virginia respondents. Five recommendations were addressed to nursing education leaders in Virginia as a means of improving nursing education articulation in Virginia. Recommendations encouraged on-going attention to articulation issues by the nursing leadership, considerati0n of the use of regional consortia for articulation, the involvement of representatives from health care institutions in articulation efforts, and keeping counselors of nursing students informed of articulation practices.