|
|
Thesis/Dissertation Information
- Degree Disciplines:
- Nursing
Notes
- Abstract:
- Background: The American Red Cross and other disaster response organizations depend largely on registered nurse volunteers in the United States’ responses to disasters. Volunteer registered nurses provide medical care to all persons involved in a disaster and are essential to effective disaster response. Often an insufficient number of trained nurses volunteer for disaster duty, affecting the safety of victims and surrounding communities. Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to explore and gain understanding about the critical influences that registered nurses use to decide to become an affiliated volunteer with a disaster response organization. Philosophical Underpinnings: Symbolic interactionism was used as a study philosophical framework that focuses on the subjective aspect of life as applied to disaster response volunteer registered nurses. Pragmatism was used to further elucidate the nurses’ lived realities in disaster situations, their motivations in interactions with individuals in their social environments, and the practical consequences of their actions to determine meaning, truth, or value. Methods: A qualitative research method, grounded theory, was employed with an asynchronous web-based interview posted on Qualtrics. Qualitative data analysis was used to extract themes and patterns in participants’ responses to five open-ended interview questions and generate a theoretical model. Results: Thirty-five registered nurses completed a short demographic survey and the interview questions, 33 women, 2 men, primarily Caucasian, age range 24-72. Four major themes emerged regarding the critical influences on registered nurses to volunteer. The core theme was “Gain by giving when asked,” with helping others and personal satisfaction major motivators. The major themes were Gratification (great satisfaction, personal rewards of helping), Asking (by others, many sources), Necessity to Be Prepared and Informed (be ready, resilient, and self-reliant; stay abreast of training), and “Do It” (follow one’s heart and do not pass up the experience). Conclusion: Findings and the theoretical model generated supported the critical influences in registered nurses’ decision-making process in volunteering for disaster duty. Study results can be applied to nursing education, research, and clinical practice to help disaster organizations develop effective strategies for measurement of volunteers’ competencies, training and education, recruitment, and retention.
- Thesis:
- Thesis (Ph.D.)--Barry University, 2013.
- Bibliography:
- Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-132).
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- Barry University
- Holding Location:
- Barry University Archives and Special Collections
- Rights Management:
- Copyright Linda K. Connelly. Permission granted to Barry University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
- Resource Identifier:
- RT116.C66 2013_ConnellyLinda ( BU-Local )
- Classification:
- RT116.C66 2013 ( lcc )
|
|
