The role of physical design and informal communication

Items pertaining to both informal learning and unit culture were randomly
combined to jointly form part II of the survey. For each item, nurses responded on a
7-point Likert scale, with choices ranging from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly
Agree (7).
The survey was intended to be administered three times over the course of the
12-week orientation period (once in the beginning, again at the mid point, and a third
time at the end). Because of unexpected circumstances, the survey was administered
only twice to the graduate nurse. Despite this change, it was still be possible to assess
whether or not there were changes in survey responses over time. The first
administration occurred at the end of orientation week 3 (in actuality only her second
full week on the unit since week 1 was spent in the classroom). The second
administration occurred at the end of orientation week 7.
The survey was also administered once to the Orientor and to eight RNs who
work the 7am – 3pm shift on 6N. This was done to provide a baseline assessment of
the unit with which to compare the graduate nurse’s responses.
2.6.3 Blood Pressure Recordings
Blood pressure measurements were used as a biological measure of stress that
could be compared to subjective assessments of stress reported by the graduate nurse
in the surveys. The decision to use blood pressure readings was informed by the body
of research establishing the relationship between workplace stress and blood pressure.
According to Krantz and Falconer (1995), the involvement of the cardiovascular
system in processes such as emotion and arousal in combination with the increasing
attention devoted to the effects of acute and chronic stress in the development of
cardiovascular disorders, it is not surprising that cardiovascular variables are important
and widely used measurement tools employed in stress research. For example, in a
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