Attitudes of nursing staff towards nursing process

Author(s)

Erika de Souza Guedes

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Enfermagem (EE/SBD)
• Defense date: 2012-02-27

Examining board members

Dina de Almeida Lopes Monteiro da Cruz; Miako Kimura; Rita de Cassia Gengo e Silva

• Advisor: Dina de Almeida Lopes Monteiro da Cruz

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The Brazilian nursing legislation requires that the nursing process (NP) is documented in all health institution. Attitudes of nursing staff towards the nursing process (NP) and their perception on their own clinical power to make changes are factors potentially associated with implementation and maintenance of the NP. OBJECTIVES: To describe the attitudes towards NP (attitudes on NP and perception of clinical power) of auxiliary nurses and baccalaureate nurses; and to analyze associations between attitudes towards the NP and selected variables. METHODS: An exploratory descriptive study with cross-sectional design, with a non-probabilistic sample of 973 auxiliary nurses and 632 baccalaureate nurses from 35 health agencies linked to the Ministry of Health of São Paulo, Brazil (86.9% female, mean age = 44.12 years (SD = 9.55), 52.3% worked in general hospitals, about 44 hours per week, were in institutions for 10 years on average). Data were collected by self-report using a form for personal, educational and other social data, and the Positions on Nursing Process (PNP) tool, adapted for this study, and the Power as Knowing Participation in Change Tool-Brazilian version (PKPCT), which showed good estimates of validity and reliability. Nonparametric tests were used to test associations between attitudes towards the NP and the selected variables. RESULTS: The mean PNP total score was 112.37 (SD = 22.28) (possible range = 20-140) and the mean PKPCT total score was 281.12 (SD = 38.72) (possible range = 48-336) for 1605 subjects. There was an association between the two PNP-related attitudes and professional category; the attitude of baccalaureate nurses on the NP was more favorable than that of auxiliary nursing (p = 0.024) and perceived clinical power of the baccalaureate nurses was higher than that of the auxiliary nurses (p = 0.004). There was moderate positive correlation between the scores of the PNP and PKPCT for auxiliary nurses (r = 0,480, p = 0.000) and baccalaureate nurses (r = 0.460, p = 0.000). The female auxiliary nurses had higher scores on PNP (111.93vs 106.11; p = 0.018) and PKPCT (279.75vs. 270.84; p = 0.020) than the male ones. There were no associations between sex an attitudes towards NP among baccalaureate nurses. Only for auxiliary nurses sample attending a continuing education program was associated with higher NP scores (119.0, p = 0.011). Baccalaureate nurses serving in leadership positions had higher mean total score on PKPCT (293.52) than nurses serving in direct care (282.61 p = 0.010), but there was no association between leadership position and PNP scores. Association tests for scores of the PNP and PKPCT and the variables age, time since graduation, main activity, satisfaction with the career, satisfaction with the workplace, knowledge on NP and contact with the NP resulted in negligible correlation coefficients or non-significant coefficients at 5%. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/04181-1 - Nursing process implementation: characteristics of nursing personnel at the health agencies of the São Paulo estate
• Grantee: Erika de Souza Guedes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master