Date of Award

Summer 7-7-2014

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PhD Health Sciences

Department

Health and Medical Sciences

Advisor

Terrence F. Cahill, Ed.D

Committee Member

Genevieve Zipp, Ed.D

Committee Member

Lee Cabell, Ed.D

Keywords

Organizational Support, Self-efficacy, Job Satisfaction, School Nurses, Path Analysis, Amos

Abstract

Background: School nursing is a specialized practice and provides health care on-site. With a high prevalence of medical conditions and complex health care needs for school-aged children, school nursing services have become a great demand. However, school health is not a central part of the educational mission; and school nurses are a small percentage in the overall RN population. Therefore, school nurses’ issues receive less attention.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to explore how perceived district support and self-efficacy may interact to affect job satisfaction among public school nurses in New Jersey.

Methods: It was a quantitative, web-based survey research. A solicitation letter with a survey link was emailed to a convenience sample from a membership list, and snowball recruitment requested forward of the letter to non-members. Three instruments, the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support, General Self-efficacy Scale, and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire were included. Path analysis was used for statistical analysis.

Results: Three hundred school nurses provided usable information for the final analysis. In this sample, school nurses did not perceive that their school districts valued their contributions and cared about their well-being. They have a higher self-efficacy score than the US adult population, and, in general were satisfied with their job. Of the demographic variables, only ethnicity was found to be related to two of the three study variables, organzational support and job satisfaction. In the test of theoretical framework, perceived organizational support contributed both directly to job satisfaction as well as indirectly through self-efficacy. The theoretical framework was not fully supported for the reciprocal relationship between perceived organizational support and self-efficacy.

Conclusion: Support from school districts and self-efficacy both contribute to school nurses’ job satisfaction. Implications for school nursing education, practice, and future research are discussed.

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