Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Title

Nursing students' attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and intent regarding implementation of gerontological competencies

Authors

Christopher Garrison, Nova Southeastern University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing Education

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Department

College of Nursing

Publication Date / Copyright Date

2014

Publisher

Nova Southeastern University

NSUWorks Citation

Christopher Garrison. 2014. Nursing students' attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and intent regarding implementation of gerontological competencies. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Nursing. (3)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_con_stuetd/3.

Abstract

Background: There is a growing need for skilled gerontological nursing care. Nursing students often fail to appreciate the importance of implementing gerontological nursing competencies. Purpose: The problem is that nursing education research on students' attitudes about gerontology has been hampered by a lack of valid and reliable instruments. Theoretical framework. This study is based on and tests the propositions of the theory of planned behavior. Methods. Qualitative interviews were conducted to determine the terms used to describe the constructs by the target population. Using these terms, an instrument was developed and subjected to tests for psychometric estimates. A pretest-posttest design was used to test the impact of an educational intervention on students' attitudes. Results. The instrument demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. Students' scores increased significantly for attitude, subjective norm and behavioral intention regarding implementing gerontological competencies from pretest to posttest. Attitude and subjective norm predicted behavioral intention in the regression model. Conclusions: The results support that an educational intervention can positively impact nursing students' intent to implement gerontological competencies.

Disciplines

Nursing

Keywords

Social sciences, Health and environmental sciences, Education, Gerontology, Nursing education, Psychometrics, Theory of planned behavior

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