Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic led to fractures in the nursing profession. Whereas a nursing shortage related to labor growth has been ongoing with no foreseeable resolution, nursing turnover has also increased in the past five years. Nurses made many sacrifices during the pandemic and unmet expectations seem to be driving dissatisfaction and turnover in the nursing profession.
Chapter 2, “Are We There Yet? A Concept Analysis of Newly Licensed Nurse Transition,” explores the concept of transition in relation to new nurses. Defining attributes are identified and include separation, increased energy expenditure, adjustment, empowerment, and integration. These attributes are important in comparing the transitional reality shock of a newly licensed nurse to disillusionment in experienced nurses.
Chapter 3, “Development of the Nursing Disillusionment Scale,” details the development of the novel instrument to measure disillusionment in bedside nurses. It includes an extensive review of literature on disillusionment and the development of the Theory of Nursing Disillusionment. Foundational works critical to the development are introduced, and the process of item generation and 1 refinement is described.
Chapter 4, “Psychometric Testing of the Nursing Disillusionment Scale,” provides the results of two studies. The first study details further refinement of the Nursing Disillusionment Scale. The second study includes analyses of disillusionment and other variables. Narrative responses to two open-ended questions are presented.
Finally, Chapter 5 provides a summary and integration of the work completed in this dissertation. Implications for nursing academia and nursing administrators are discussed. Directions for future research are also provided.
Date of publication
Summer 7-31-2025
Document Type
Dissertation (Local Only Access)
Language
english
Persistent identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/4878
Committee members
Belinda Deal, Beth Mastel-Smith, Sylvia Niehuis
Degree
Nursing Ph.D.
Recommended Citation
Timmerman, Jennifer L., ""IT'S JUST NOT THE SAME": DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF THE NURSING DISILLUSIONMENT SCALE (NDS)" (2025). Nursing Theses and Dissertations. Paper 153.
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/4878