Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
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Completion of nursing degree programmes – does the gain
exceed the pain?
Ms Orla Sheahan RGN, ENB 219 (Orthopaedic Nursing), BNS, RNT,
MHSc
Nurse Lecturer
Room 305
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Brookfield Health Science Complex
University College Cork
Cork
Ireland
o.sheahan@ucc.ie
Background and context
Nursing is central to effective health service delivery and nurses
must be prepared through education to meet societies changing
needs and enable people to achieve an optimum state of health.
The acquisition of increased knowledge, skills and attitudinal change
as a result of undertaking nursing degree studies and their
subsequent translation into practice cannot be assumed (Francke et
al, 1995). A literature review suggests that nursing practice is
positively affected by nurses completion of degree studies (Spencer,
2006; Wildman et al, 1999). Higher education in nursing is
associated with improved patient care, enhanced critical thinking
and increased autonomy in practice. However there is a lack of
consistency between studies with some studies identifying barriers
to the incorporation of learning into practice and negative impacts
of higher education. The impact of degrees for nurses, merits
examination in view of nurses’ increasingly demanding roles, the
recent establishment of nursing in Ireland as a degree-based
profession and the recent growth in post-registration degrees for
registered nurses. Furthermore, there is as a paucity of research
exploring the impact of higher education on nurses and nursing in
the Irish context.
Aim
This research study was conducted to determine nurses’ attitudes
on the personal and professional impact of having attained a degree
in a nursing related discipline.
Methodology
The research design was a descriptive quantitative survey using a
self-report questionnaire which was adapted from that used by
Whyte et al (2000). A convenience sample was recruited which
consisted of 88 clinical and non clinical nurses who worked in
different specialities in two hospitals. The response rate was 63%.
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