Abstract

In the past decade the nurse/population ratio in the West had been declining. The region was not educating enough nurses to replace normal labor market turnover. The migration of nurses into the area was not in proportion to the explosive growth. In view of the deficit it became imperative for California communities to plan for expansion of existing nursing education facilities and to consider the development of new programs where educational and clinical facilities were available.

This study was concerned with hospital facilities available for nursing education in Orange County, California. Its purpose was to investigate hospital resources that might be made available to the colleges conducting nursing education programs and to evaluate them according to specified criteria. It was recognized that other barriers to expansion existed. However, one of the more formidable obstacles to growth was the need for additional clinical nursing practice areas.

Data were collected by means of questionnaires sent to the administrators and nursing service directors of the twelve hospitals that agreed to participate in the study. A personal visit was made to each agency at which time these same people were interviewed and observations of clinical areas were made. Information was classified under the following headings: (1) accreditation, (2) philosophy and attitudes, (3) clinical facilities, (4) nursing care, (5) accessibility, and (6) instructional facilities.

The findings of this study indicated that additional clinical facilities were, or soon would be, available for nursing education in Orange County, Hospitals C, D, E and H were being utilized for associate degree nursing education. Hospital D had recently completed building expansion and the census in all areas was increasing. Hospitals C, D and H were in the process of constructing additional facilities that would greatly extend the opportunities for clinical experience in nursing. While it was impossible to estimate the specific number of students that could receive clinical nursing experience in these expanded facilities it did seem probable that both of the associate degree programs could increase their enrollment. The hospital facilities also seemed adequate to offer clinical experience to baccalaureate degree students when such a program was implemented in the community, Each college conducting a program would need to make a detailed investigation according to their specific needs and philosophy.

The medical-surgical facilities of Hospital A appeared adequate for at least eight to ten students. All services of Hospitals I and J seemed to offer potential for clinical nursing experience. Hospitals K and L were currently being utilized for vocational nursing and it did not seem advisable to add students from another program at this time. These agencies were also planning for expansion and it was recommended that they be evaluated again at a later date to determine their maximum utilization for nursing education. Hospital G was too small to be practical and Hospitals B and F were not suitable for participation in nursing education at this time.

A further finding of this study was the poor educational preparation of administrative and supervisory nursing personnel. This fact would not necessarily deter a college from using such an agency because the college instructors were responsible for all of the educational experience planned for the students. It was also evident that there was a good deal of misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of the philosophy and objectives of associate degree nursing education.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Maxine Atteberry

Second Advisor

Charlotte Ross

Third Advisor

Freda Oelke

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1962

Date (Title Page)

6-1962

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Education, Nursing -- California -- Orange County; Hospitals -- California -- Orange County

Type

Thesis

Page Count

xi; 146

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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