Publication Date

1981

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Frank-Stromborg, Marilyn

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Nursing

LCSH

School nursing; Cancer--Psychological aspects; Tumors in children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of personal data, namely the age and school nursing experience of the subjects, with the attitude of the subjects toward children with cancer attending school. Basic to an examination of these relationships is a description of the attitudes of school nurses toward these children. It was hypothesized that: (a) school nurses would have negative attitudes toward children with cancer attending school; (b) school nurses 35 years old or older would have a more negative attitude than school nurses less than 35 years old; (c) school nurses with five or more years of school nursing experience would have a more negative attitude than those with less than five years experience; and (d) school nurses who had carried five or more children with cancer in their caseload would have a more positive attitude than those who had carried fewer than five. The subjects were a randomly selected sample of 175 certified school nurses who were listed on the 1979-80 membership rolls of the Illinois School Nurses' Association. Eighty-seven (49.7%) subjects participated in the study. Data analysis is based on 82 coded responses. Self-administration of the Attitudes Toward Cancer Questionnaire (ACQ) provided an individual score indicative of the attitude of the respondent. Demographic information was also obtained on the age, years of school nursing experience and number of children with cancer each nurse had carried in her caseload of students. Student’s t-test was utilized to analyze the data in terms of the hypotheses. The accepted level of significance was 0.05. The results of the analysis supported none of the hypotheses. The subjects displayed a positive attitude toward children with cancer attending school. This finding is in direct opposition to the literature. The results also indicated that for this sample of school nurses, age and years of school nursing experience had no relationship to their attitudes toward children with cancer attending school. There was a significant negative relationship (p = 0.017) between the number of children with cancer the school nurse had carried in her caseload and her attitude. It is recommended that this study be replicated with a larger sample to validate these results. It is also recommended that the education and nursing experience of the subjects be considered in the search for variables which influence attitudes.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

vi, 59 pages, 12 unnumbered pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Share

COinS