An analysis of master's educational needs perceived by baccalaureate educated community health nurses working in developed and developing areas

• Main Author: Hickman, Margaret Jane
• Other Authors: Nesper, Paul W.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Community health nursing > Research.; Nursing > Developing countries.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/176776; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/387224

The purpose of the study was to compare perceived master's level educational needs of baccalaureate educated community health nurses working in developed areas of the world to perceived master's level educational needs of baccalaureate educated community health nurses working in developing areas of the world. Forty subject areas recommended for master's education in community health nursing were identified. A questionnaire to determine the perceived importance of each subject area was administered to a sample population of nurses working in community settings in the United States and in twenty-eight developing countries. Forty null hypotheses were developed. Each hypothesis stated that there was no difference in perceived importance of including-the selected subject areas in master's education identified by community health nurses working in the United States and by community health nurses working in developing countries. Hypotheses were tested using the Chi-square, with the null hypotheses being rejected at the .05 level of significance.FindingsRespondents included 389 baccalaureate educated nurses from the United States and 39 baccalaureate educated nurses from developing countries. The analysis of data identified significant differences in responses of nurses working in the United States and nurses working in developing countries regarding the importance of including the following subject areas in master's education in community health nursing: applied sanitation, tropical diseases, school health practice, obstetric-gynecological practitioner skills, nurse-midwifery, outpatient medical-surgical skills, family coun seling, gerontology, grant writing, management theory, computer skills, medical anthropology, urban sociology, cross-cultural nursing, nursing theory, current issues and trends, research methods, political science, health policy and public speaking, in master's education in community health nursing.Subject areas were also analyzed for perceived importance to the entire population. Subject areas identified as very important to more than fifty percent of the population were community needs assessment, program planning, health education methods, physical assessment of adults, physical assessment of-.children, family counseling, nutrition therapy, gerontology, and current issues and trends.