Abstract

Retention of nurses is a major concern for the profession, especially in light of the nursing shortage; specifically, new graduate nurses are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon. While there are many causes for turnover and attrition within the profession, nurse burnout has been indicated as a central cause. As such, researchers have dedicated much energy and focus into pinpointing approaches that may mitigate the effects of burnout, turning to grit as a possible solution. However, research on grit in nursing is limited, with even less being included on how this trait can be developed. Nevertheless, researchers agree that strategies for developing grit and focusing on retention in nursing professionals should begin during pre-licensure education. As such, this study aimed to examine the relationship between the service-learning pedagogical approach and grit and their associations with retention in novice registered nurses. The study used a quantitative, descriptive correlational approach to examine the various associations among the study variables in a sample of 266 working registered nurses who had been licensed to practice for at least three months but no longer than 24 months in the United States. There was no significant relationship found between service-learning and grit, neither was a significant correlation noted between service-learning and retention. On the other hand, grit and retention were found to have a statistically significant association. Focusing efforts on developing grit in nursing professionals, especially newer registered nurses, has the potential for effectively improving the nursing shortage. Though service-learning is pedagogical approach associated with many positive benefits, additional research is needed to determine if cultivating grit is one such benefit.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 29062601; ProQuest document ID: 2668161396. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Caitlin M. Lofton, EdD

Sigma Membership

Gamma Iota

Lead Author Affiliation

Pfeiffer University, Misenheimer, North Carolina, USA

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Descriptive/Correlational

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Nursing Education, Nurse Retention, Pedagogical Approaches, Novice Nurses

Advisor

Julie Skrabel

Second Advisor

Sherry Koenigsman

Third Advisor

Martha Bramlett

Degree

Doctoral-Other

Degree Grantor

Bryan College of Health Sciences

Degree Year

2022

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2022-07-25

Full Text of Presentation

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