Date of Award
12-1990
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
Nursing roles in school health programs differ within various school settings. These roles range from traditional nursing activities to nurse practitioner and mental health nurse roles. Literature specific to the roles of nurses in a school health program is limited; however, studies indicate that the school nurse role is multidimensional. Role theory was the framework used for this study. The purpose of this study was to determine school administrators' perceptions of the role of the nurse in a school health program.
The sample profile included 48 school administrators from a two county area in an upper midwest area. The two counties were adjacent to one another, but in different states. The sample consisted of 41 males and six females. A convenience sample was used. The participants were surveyed using a questionnaire which consisted of two parts. Part one was demographics which included age, gender, years in educational administration, primary administrative assignment, educational preparation, access to a school nurse and position status of that nurse. Part two pertained to activities nurses perform in a school setting. These activities were divided into nine subscales; screening, service to handicapped children, skilled nursing intervention, health education, preventive health services, administration, athletic training, counseling, and inappropriate activities.
Data were collected to determine differences of the perception of school administrators of school nurse roles in regard to gender of the administrator, years of practice in education administration, and employment status of the school nurse. ANOVA results showed no significant differences relative to years of practice in education administration and perception of school nurse roles. Results using ANOVA showed administrators from schools which employ full-time and part-time nurse scored higher on the screening subscale than did administrators who had access to a nurse on an on-call only basis. Male respondents had a higher average on the counseling subscale than did female respondents. Additional analyses were done to determine differences in perceptions due to educational preparation of the administrator, age of administrators, primary administrative assignment and location of the school district. Consistent with role theory, school nurse roles need to be redefined and realigned in order to change perceptions of their activities
Recommended Citation
Gorsegner, Vida A., "Perceptions of School Administrators of the Nurses' Roles in a School Health Program" (1990). Theses and Dissertations. 7403.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/7403