Date of Award

2006-05-01

Degree Name

PhD Nursing

Dissertation Committee

Allen J. Orsi, PhD, RN, Chairperson; Patricia A. Roth, EdD, RN; Noriyuki Inoue, Ph.D

Keywords

California, creativity, intrinsic motivation, nursing, nursing educators

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study of 93 BSN nurse educators in the State of California was to examine the relationship between creativity fostering behaviors in the nurse educator and intrinsic motivation, creativity fostering behaviors and the teaching/learning goals, and creativity fostering behaviors and class size, number of years teaching, and university type. This sample included 93 participants, 93% were female, Caucasian (91%), with a mean age of 53 and worked in a public university (65%). Medical/surgical was the most common clinical specialty (26%), with a mean of 29.15 years in nursing practice, and 15 years as a nurse educator. Results demonstrated that there is significant correlation between creativity fostering behaviors and intrinsic motivation of the nurse educator, and between creativity fostering behaviors and the teaching/learning goals for the classroom. No significance was found between the variables of class size, number of years teaching, and creativity fostering behaviors. Public university nurse educators are more likely to exhibit higher scores on creativity fostering behaviors than their private university nurse educator counterparts. Prior to this study, the only empirical evidence regarding creativity in nursing has been with samples of nursing students, which demonstrated that creativity in nursing students is decreased or absent from nursing program entry to nursing program exit. The results of this study point the way for further investigation into the role of the nurse educator in affecting student creativity. If nursing student creativity can be fostered during the process of nursing education, then perhaps the transition to graduate nurse would be less confusing when the reality of nursing does not match what is experienced in nursing school. Further research is needed to examine some nursing student outcome measures, such as critical thinking or problem-solving and creativity fostering behaviors. Additionally, graduate programs focusing on nursing education need to incorporate the theoretical framework of Cropley's Theory of Behavior Characteristics of Creativity Fostering Behavior into the curriculum which focuses on teaching/learning.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Nursing

Included in

Nursing Commons

Share

COinS