Nurses' self-efficacy and academic degree advancement

Abstract

<p>The last decade has brought about a synergy of new influences and mandates that provide a clear indication of the need for registered nurses to continue to advance their professional preparation and credentials along the trajectory of their career path. The literature indicates that there is correlation of perceived self-efficacy on behaviors related to or similar to professional development but this has not yet specifically been assessed in the nursing workforce. Self-efficacy is a malleable construct and could be sensitive to intervention should the association with success in academic advancement be substantiated. The potential for enhancement of self- efficacy in nurses at a lesser self-assessed level could be an important variable in their future success with professional development goals around academic attainment. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the relationship between perceived self-efficacy of registered nurses in a Magnet&reg; designated community hospital and success in advancing academic professional development goals. The evaluation used a non-experimental correlational design to determine whether there was a relationship between self-efficacy and academic nursing degree advancement of nurses who began their career with a Diploma or Associate Degree (Mann-Whitney U) and select characteristics of age and tenure (Pearson's correlation). The project sample included 124 registered nurses at a community hospital who participated in a voluntary survey in the spring of 2013. Findings show a difference in all aspects of perceived self-efficacy of those nurses who began their career with a Diploma or Associate Degree and went on for academic advancement and those who did not advance however, only select questions were statistically significant. Age and tenure were not significantly correlated to one's level of perceived self-efficacy. Perceived self-efficacy is higher in those nurses who have pursued academic advancement. The relationship of the hospital environment overall requires further study as does the ability to enhance self-efficacy prior to academic pursuit to enable success. Further investigation is indicated to confirm findings in other settings and populations.</p>