PROFILE OF ADMINISTRATORS OF SCHOOLS OF NURSING .1. RESOURCES FOR GOAL ACHIEVEMENT

Part one of a two-part study was conducted with administrators of scho ols of nursing to determine the perceived importance of various resour ces in their goal achievement. The deans and directors of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing member schools were mailed a quest ionnaire that included the scale of Sources of Influence and sections on personal and career characteristics. A response rate of 73.5 per ce nt was obtained. The most important resource was communication skills; 99.1 per cent of the subjects indicated that this resource was highly important. The top resources also included interpersonal skills, crea tivity in thinking, ability to mobilize groups, and intellectual abili ty. The results were remarkably similar to earlier studies that used d ifferent subject groups. Similarities in the rankings were noted in th e top-ranked resources as well as the lower-ranked personal traits, wo rk or professional organization positions, and mentoring. The resource s that are of a supportive or prescribed nature appeared to be less im portant than the resources that can be controlled and developed. For n urse administrators, particular emphasis should be placed on the devel opment and enhancement of communication skills and the other thinking and relating types of skills. Copyright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Comp any