Army Nurses' Experiences as Faculty and Students' Perceptions of Military Nurses

Bibliography

Name: George Zangaro

Rank: LCDR(ret), USN

Organization: University of Maryland, Baltimore

Performance Site: University of Maryland, Baltimore

Year Published: 2008

Abstract Status: Final

Abstract

A shortage of nursing faculty currently exists and qualified students are being turned away from nursing schools due to the faculty shortage. In response to the faculty shortage, the United States Army Nurse Corps (ANC) and the University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Nursing (UMBSON) formed a partnership to address not only the faculty shortage but also to help the Army recruit and retain nurses on active duty. Under the direction of Major General Pollock, Chief of the ANC, the Army initiated the Professional Nurse Education Program (PNEP), and assigned six ANC officers to serve as full-time faculty at the UMBSON for a two year period. The purpose of the proposed study is to explore the experiences of ANC officers who are assigned as faculty at the UMBSON, as well as explore the experiences of students being taught by ANC faculty. A secondary purpose is to identify factors that influence an undergraduate student's decision making process about pursuing a military career. The six ANC faculty will be asked to participate in interviews and 462 junior and senior BSN students will be provided the opportunity to complete a survey. A sample of approximately 18 students will be asked to participate in interviews. This study will use a mixed methods approach. In the first phase of the proposed study qualitative interviews will be conducted with ANC faculty utilizing a phenomenological approach. In the second phase of the study the Career Decision Making Inventory will be administered to the students and the research team will recruit and interview students for the purpose of exploring their experiences with the ANC faculty. Qualitative data will be analyzed using traditional methods of analysis and the quantitative data will be analyzed using SPSS software. Descriptive, bivariate, ANOVA, and multiple regression will be used to analyze the results. The outcomes of a qualitative analysis of information provided by ANC officers coupled with quantitative data obtained from the students should provide information that could be incorporated in the ANC's recruiting process and policy. The proposed study will provide nursing leaders with a description of the career decision making values of baccalaureate nursing students. This information will enable recruiters to modify their strategies to effectively recruit nursing graduates in the Army and may have transferability to the other services.

 

Final Report is available on NTRL at: https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/dashboard/searchResults/titleDetail/PB2012107...