Two measures of nurses' attitudes toward abortion as modified by experience

Random samples of nurses in two states which differed in abortion statues were sent questionnaires. Content areas included experience with 12 specific nursing activities associated with abortion, willingness to participate in the same activities, and extent of agreement with statements related to abortion. Attitudes toward abortion were inferred from the willingness-to-participate items and from the agreement section. These two measures correlated highly suggesting a common underlying dimension. However, the two samples differed significantly in extent of agreement but did not differ in willingness to participate. These results were interpreted as supporting the position that attitudes derived from items using situational contexts might bear a better relationship to behavior. The findings also suggest that abortion facilities can probably be staffed without violating personal preferences since so many expressed willingness to participate in at least some of the activities. Comparison across the two samples suggest that increased experience or even the potential for experience with abortion patients tended to increase the favorableness of attitudes toward this issue.     

A cross-national study of attitudes toward mental illness.

Administered Cohen and Struening's Opinions About Mental Illness scale to a total of 1,212 college students, physicians, nurses and police in Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, and West Germany. Although there were differences among occupational groups, the differences among countries were much more substantial. Results suggest that (a) attitudes toward mental illness are part of a person's general orientation to social issues, rather than a narrow function of his concept of mental illness; and (b) in a community climate characterized by an authoritarian social-political structure, authoritarian and socially restrictive attitudes toward the mentally ill can be expected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A behavioral study of staff attitudes toward mental illness.

65 nurses and aides completed 2 factor analyzed attitude questionnaires. Hospitalized psychiatric patients (N = 188) screened for ability to identify their staff and make valid behavioral ratings, rated their ward staff on a 55-item interpersonal behavior inventory. Relationships between perceived behavior and endorsed attitudes were examined. Restrictive attitudes were consistently related to controlling and restricting behavior. Protective Benevolence was related to such behaviors as aloofness, distance, and dishonesty. Hence, some attitudes were related to behaviors which were congruent with the endorsed attitude, some attitudes were related to seemingly incongruent behaviors, while other attitudes had no significant behavioral correlates. A new attitude area, highly related to outgoing interpersonal behavior, was identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multiregional study of nurses' beliefs and attitudes about work safety and patient assault

OBJECTIVE: The study attempted to increase understanding of nursing staff members' beliefs and concerns about work safety and patient assault. METHODS: A study conducted at a university-affiliated psychiatric facility in California in the late 1980s was replicated in five other psychiatric settings. Data were collected using the Attitudes Toward Patient Physical Assault Questionnaire, containing 31 statements designed to elicit nurses' beliefs about safety concerns, staff performance, and legal issues related to assaults. RESULTS: A total of 557 nursing staff members at the six sites responded to the questionnaire; 84 percent were female. The majority (76 percent) had been physically assaulted at least once, but 71 percent reported feeling safe in their work environment most of the time. Compared with female staff members, males tended to believe that assaults were to be expected, that assaulted staff have personality traits that make them vulnerable to assault, and that legal action against assaultive patients might jeopardize their jobs. Recently hired staff were more confident that their facilities did not admit unmanageable patients and that the environment was adequate to prevent assaults. Staff who had been assaulted more frequently tended to believe that assaults were to be expected. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights a nationwide concern among nursing staff about safety. Ensuring a safe working environment requires better training, more adequate staffing, and a security plan to protect staff, patients, and others.     

校企合作中的委托制继续教育探索

企业在进行继续教育方面进行了诸多有益的探索,委托制继续教育由于其针对性、方便性、经济性、整合性而具有突出的优势.委托制继续教育实质上是一个基于校企双方相互需要的契约合作的双赢教育形式.通过企业提出培训需求,学校针对企业需求进行项目、课程开发并实施合作的过程.委托制继续教育实施的关键是课程对需求响应的准确性,为此,提出了需求分析、课程比对选择和教学效果监测等有效性建议.     

Subdoctoral education in psychology: A study of issues and attitudes.

Discusses several psychological conferences and committee's attitudes toward the desirability of "programs to train for psychological service at less than the doctoral level." 7 central areas of contention concerning subdoctoral training are (1) type of training, (2) level of training, (3) responsibility for training, (4) locus of training, (5) degree and/or title, (6) roles and duties, and (7) implications for psychology. The 7 issues served as the basis of the specific questions in a large scale survey. The sample (N = 4308) included American Psychological Association members of the Clinical, School, and Counseling Divisions of Psychology and chairmen of graduate departments of psychology. Results indicate that "the large majority of psychologists recognize the need for and approve the training of people at less than the doctoral level to do psychological work." A consensus as to how this is to be implemented was not reached. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and education: A continuing, productive partnership.

Notes that in recent discussions about economic recovery in the US, 2 factors have fundamental behavioral and psychological correlates: One factor is a set of educational and motivational attributes of the citizenry, and the other is the accumulation of capital and its investment in equipment and research and development. Advances in a broad range of psychological research, particularly in the areas of learning and teaching, have contributed to improving educational systems. It is noted, however, that less than 5% of all federal funds allocated for education are spent on research relevant to understanding education. Opportunities for a continuing, productive partnership between psychology and education are highlighted. Interviews with 3 individuals involved in education (W. H. McGuire, Rep. P. Williams, and M. Thompson) are summarized. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

White children's attitudes toward Blacks and the physically handicapped: A developmental study.

Children's behavior toward adults who differed from them along 2 dimensions was examined from a developmental perspective. A total of 80 White kindergartners and 4th graders were tested individually by either a Black or a White female adult who either was or was not seated in a wheelchair. Three kinds of behavior toward the adult were measured: physical distancing, imitation, and helping. On the basis of previous findings, it was predicted that children at both age levels would show more physical avoidance, less imitation, and less helping in the presence of other-race and handicap cues, as compared with own-race and nonhandicap cues. On all 3 types of behavior, the White E was favored over the Black E in both the wheelchair and nonwheelchair conditions. In addition, there were interaction effects involving race, handicap, age, and sex that suggest the operation of complex developmental processes in the formation of attitudes toward different types of stigmatized individuals. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of rehabilitation counselors: Locus of control and attitudes toward the poor.

Studied the interrelationships among locus of control, attitudes toward the poor, attitudes toward the supervisor, job satisfaction, and the performance ratings of 90 practicing rehabilitation counselors (mean age 36 yrs). Ss were surveyed with a battery of attitude questionnaires, including Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale and the MacDonald Poverty Scale. Results indicate that Ss with an internal orientation had more positive attitudes toward the poor than Ss with an external orientation. It was further observed that internally oriented Ss received higher performance ratings than the externally oriented. Internal orientation was associated with higher job morale, greater job satisfaction, and more positive attitudes toward supervisors. Implications of the findings are discussed in the context of client-counselor relationships and of the consequence that these data may have in counselor preservice and inservice training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of occupational therapy education on students' perceived attitudes toward persons with disabilities

OBJECTIVES: The effect of occupational therapy education on students' perceived attitudes toward persons with disabilities was studied. METHOD: The perceived attitudes of 144 occupational therapy students toward persons with disabilities were measured before (retrospective pretest) and after (posttest) the students attended formal professional education at the University of Alberta. RESULTS: Posttest scores were significantly higher than the retrospective pretest scores, indicating that students' attitudes became more positive after they commenced formal professional education. The posttest scores of students at various levels of education, however, did not show any significant difference. CONCLUSION: On the basis of these observations, a positive but nonlinear relationship between occupational therapy education and attitudes toward persons with disabilities was postulated.     

Occupational health nurses and occupational hygiene: a study of South African nurses' attitudes

The objectives of this study were to assess the current occupational hygiene practices of occupational health nurses and to assess their attitudes to the identification and initial quantification of workplace hazards. A questionnaire was mailed to all occupational health nurses registered with the South African Society of Occupational Health Nurses. Responses were obtained from 221 (53.7%). Responders and non-responders did not differ on key characteristics. Only 14 (6%) of the respondents performed occupational hygiene tasks as part of their routine work and only 31 (14%) volunteered hazard identification and quantification as tasks that would significantly improve practice. Nevertheless, when asked directly, 120 (54%) agreed that occupational hygiene fell into the ambit of occupational health nursing. Over 70% were positive about receiving theoretical and practical hygiene training. Constraints to greater hazard identification included limited time and resources and concern about intruding into the domains of other practitioners. Sufficient numbers of occupational health nurses were interested in identifying hazards in the workplace for training courses to be planned and offered now; however, restraints to practice need to be clarified and removed for these new skills to be used effectively.     

Participation in continuing professional education in nursing: findings of an interview study

The evidence suggests that enrolled nurses and those working part-time and on night duty consistently attend less continuing professional education than their more senior, full-time and day duty colleagues. This was substantiated in the findings of this study which also highlighted the paucity of opportunities for continuing education among unqualified practitioners. In the light of recent developments within the health services, this inequitable provision of continuing professional education to all nursing practitioners will need to be addressed and resolved. Continuing professional education provided on an arbitrary and random basis will not afford maximum positive outcomes for clients, the service and practitioners and has the potential to increase the levels of frustration among disadvantaged groups of nursing staff.     

我国台湾技职教育探析

由台北科技大学、北京联合大学、上海第二工业大学和深圳职业技术学院联合主办的“2 0 0 0年海峡两岸技职 (高等职业 )教育研讨会”,于 2 0 0 0年 10月 15日至 2 5日在中国台湾举行。学术会收到论文 2 0 0篇 ,录用 10 8篇 ,以专题演讲、专题报告、论文发表三种形式发表了 10 0篇。大陆 9所高校共 2 6人参加交流会。台湾地区的技职校、院、所共6 0多人参会。会议期间大陆代表参访了台北科技大学、中华技术学院、台湾师范大学、大安高级工业职业学校、朝阳科技大学、高雄应用科技大学、屏东科技大学和彰化师范大学 8所学校。其中有些院校代表…     

Coping behaviors of the elderly with positive physical examination results in Kaohsiung City

The objectives of this study were as follows: first, to investigate the coping behaviors of the elderly facing the stress of disease after free physical examination; Second, to identify personal and disease characteristics, and the social support that influences coping behaviors in the elderly. The study sample consisted of 661 elderly patients who were found to have abnormal findings during a free physical examination provided by 11 regional health stations in Kaohsiung City. Data were collected with questionnaires through home interview. Four hundred and eighty-four subjects completed the questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SAS computer program. The major findings were as follows: 1.Problem-oriented coping behaviors were the more frequently used. The most frequently used coping behaviors were "accepting the situation as it is", "reling on myself to solve problems", "hoping that things would get better", "seeking professional help", and "letting things follow their natural cause". 2. The relative variables for problem-oriented coping were marital status, religion, medical insurance, educational level, disease characteristics, and social support. Sex, marital status, religion, medical insurance, perceived disease severity, characteristics of health problem, and newly found abnormality at this free physical examination were the relative variables for affective-oriented coping. 3. The best predictive variables for using problem-oriented coping behaviors were medical insurance, self-esteem support from family and friends, tangible support from health professionals, emotional support from health professionals, and whether it was the first time the patients knew their health problems. Findings from this study had implications for development of nursing care plans for elderly clients, as well as for collaborative team exploration of coping behaviors in the elderly.     

A scale for the measurement of attitudes toward French Canadians.

Constructed a scale (FC scale) for the measurement of attitudes toward French Canadians and its reliability and validity were assessed. 50 judges rated 45 statements for their favorableness-unfavorableness toward French Canadians. The method of successive intervals was used to derive scale values. 26 statements were included in the FC scale. Administering this scale to an English Canadian sample (n = 304) and a French Canadian sample (n = 208) yielded split-half reliability coefficients of .78 and .72, respectively. The scale was found to have considerable empirical validity when assessed. 1st, the correlations of the FC scale with the preference and the identity scales were significant and in the predicted direction for both samples. 2nd, as predicted, the French sample showed a highly favorable attitude toward themselves, while the English sample showed only a mildly favorable attitude toward the French Canadians. (French summary) (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multiplant factor analysis of employees' attitudes toward their company.

Is an attitude questionnaire designed to measure a specific attitude unifactorial? If not, what is the nature of the factors? 735 mailed questionnaires, representing a 50% return, were analyzed. Although designed to measure one thing, attitude toward the company, it was found to contain a large general factor of general attitude or bias toward the company. 1 of the other 3 factors found was respect for personal rights; the 3rd was opportunity for self improvement. The factorial structure of employees' work attitudes may be more complex than previously thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA-approved sponsors of continuing education in psychology.

The Sponsor Approval System, established in 1979 by the APA Council of Representatives, was developed in response to an increasing emphasis on more formalized continuing education programs for psychologists, with the accompanying need for methods of recognizing qualified providers. The system provides national standards for continuing education in psychology, a computerized APA Continuing Education (CE) Registry, and a CE calendar. This article provides a listing of the organizations that the Subcommitte on CE Sponsor Approval has approved to offer the education activities for psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)