Worklife of the graduates of schools for practical nurses in Israel

Abstract

Licensed practical nurses comprise about one half of the nursing manpower in Israel. The first LPN school opened in 1951, and by 1973, 25 schools had graduated 4600 nurses. Selected data were gathered in 1975 on 2857 graduates from 10 LPN schools by school-classmate method. Depth information on personal and professional characteristics, worklife history and opinion were obtained by questionnaire from a random - stratified sample of 431 graduates. Major findings were: 1. 1. the mode nurse at the time of the study was female (88%), 33 yr of age, born in Asia-Africa (46%), immigrated to Israel in the 1950's. She belonged to the low-middle social class. She was married (80%) and the mother of two children, one of whom was less than 5 yr of age. The LPN had 10 yr of general education, and in the middle of the 1960's had graduated from an 18-month program. She was interested in continuing study for RN status. The mode nurse worked in a full-time job in a hospital as a staff nurse. She was satisfied with her choice of nursing as an occupation, and found personal satisfaction in her work. However, she was less content with career opportunities, salary, and work conditions. 2. 2. At the time of the study 83.2% of the respondents were employed in nursing, 3.3% were on approved leave and 13.5% were not working in nursing. Two-thirds of the employed nurses worked full-time. 3. 3. Worklife patterns were similar among cohorts of nurses who graduated at different periods in time. 4. 4. The respondents worked 83% of all the possible years between graduation and the time of the study. 5. 5. The strongest influence on work retention was the sex of the nurse, with male nurses having higher retention. 6. 6. The major factors influencing work retention of women were number and age of children, with lower retention during the child bearing and rearing years. 7. 7. Three-quarters of the graduates who were not active in nursing were ready to return to work—conditions for same being improved work conditions and arrangements for child care. 8. 8. Thre-quarters of the respondents stated that they wished to continue study; most of them for achieving RN status.