Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Publication Date

7-27-1976

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify, describe, measure, and compare characteristics of school health aides to determine if there were categories of characteristics that would facilitate the selection process for employing school health aides. A questionnaire was developed and a pilot study was conducted with school health nurses who were not participating in the study. The survey instrument was subsequently distributed to school health nurses and school health aides in selected urban and rural schools in New Mexico. Completed questionnaires were received from 96 percent of the urban sample and from 100 percent of the rural sample. Items in the questionnaire were designed to obtain information about school health aide characteristics from six broad categories: Utilization, Working Relationship, Training, Biographical, Education, and Personal-Social. Data revealed from the questionnaires were subjected to the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS). The major hypothesis stated that no significant differences existed between ratings given by school health nurses and school health aides in any of the six categories of school health aide characteristics. The major hypothesis was rejected, as were the three sub-hypotheses. Statistical analysis showed that significant differences occurred between nurses and aides in the categories of Working Relationship, Training and Personal-Social characteristics. Urban and rural school health nurses differed significantly in the category of Education. Urban and rural school health aides differed significantly in the Working Relationship category. When urban and rural groups were compared, a signficant difference was found to occur in the categories of Working Relationship and Personal-Social characteristics. Recommendations offered on the basis of finds from this study were:

1. This investigation was considered to be a first stage investigation of generalized school health aide characteristics. Caution should be taken in making broad generalizations based on this study. More research involving a nation-wide sample of subjects from work related areas similar to the subjects of this study should be considered prior to drawing conclusions about school health aide characteristics.

2. Further research in the area of school health aide characteristics needs to be done to determine ways to measure quantitatively the characteristics and to use these measures as selection criteria for employment. These measures need to be of such a type that the average school health aide could be easily assessed. Also, the measures should be easy to use and interpreted by those who customarily hire or supervise school health aides.

3. It may be feasible for individual schools to use data from this study to develop selection criteria for individual school health service aide programs. This study has identified some characteristics which have been categorized and are capable of being rated by different groups of people in the school health service field.

4. Of a more general nature, the researcher recommends:

(a) that attitude studies using various types of instruments be initiated to determine whether the present findings are valid indicators of school health aide characteristics;

(b) that longitudinal studies be initiated to determine consistency or change in attitudes with an individual and to give insight into how and why attitudes change.

(c) that a factor analysis of school health aide characteristics be completed to try to determine categories and characteristics which could be worthy of consideration in characterizing a school health aide.

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Health Education

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences

First Committee Member (Chair)

Ella May Small

Second Committee Member

Marion Rohovec Fleck

Third Committee Member

Peggy Janice Blackwell

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