Head Nurses’ Support and Registered Nurses’ Preparation for the Advancement of Career Ladder as Perceived by Registered Nurses in Secondary and Tertiary Hospitals in the Three Southernmost Provinces

Abstract

This correlational research aimed to study 1) head nurse’s support for registered nurse’s advancement of career ladder, 2) the registered nurse’s preparation for advancement of career ladder, and 3) the relationship between head nurse’s support and registered nurse’s preparation. The sample comprised 330 registered nurses working in secondary and tertiary hospitals in the three southernmost provinces. Research instruments consisted of 1) a demographic questionnaires, 2) the head nurse’s support for registered nurse’s career advancement questionnaires, and 3) the registered nurse’s preparation for career advancement questionnaires. The contents of latter two instruments were validated by three experts, CVI values of .82, .89 respectively, yielding values of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.98 and 0.97 respectively. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation, and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed that the head nurses’ support for registered nurses’ advancement of career ladder was at a high level (M=4.13, S.D.=0.57), the registered nurses’ preparation for advancement of career ladder was at a moderate level (M=3.67, S.D.=0.52), and the head nurses’ support was significantly positively correlated with the registered nurses’ preparation for advancement of career ladder at a moderate level (r=.50, P<.01) The findings serve as a guideline for the head nurses to further plan for registered nurses’ preparation for the advancement of career ladder using a systematic approach. Keywords: support of head nurses, tertiary hospital, registered nurses’ career ladder