Measuring the socialization of graduate and diplomate nurses using the Corwin Role Orientation Scale

The nature of United Kingdom (UK) nursing education has changed significant ly as the responsibility has been transferred from hospitals to the Univers ity sector. More information is needed on the outcome of the Project 2000 d iploma and degree courses given the rapidly changing health care context. T his paper focuses on the role socialization of graduate and diploma nurses. As part of a larger study, this research investigated the role orientation s of 52 nursing graduates and 28 diplomates from two different universities at three time points; on graduation and at 6 and 12 months postgraduation. The Corwin Role Orientation Scale was selected and modified for the study. It comprised of three separate scales measuring professional, bureaucratic and service orientation. The data from the two groups of nurses were exami ned to identify nurses' ideal role orientations and role discrepancies over the transitionary period from graduate to qualified nurse. Although the re sults showed observed differences between the groups over time, none of the se differences were statistically significant. The findings raise a number of questions about the value of the instrument as a measure in the contempo rary nursing context. Furthermore, each of the Corwin subscales had a low i nternal reliability. A possible explanation may be that the instrument, whi ch was developed in the United States of America (USA) in the 1960s, and mo dified, for this study, has little relevance for contemporary UK nursing. T he study findings are also limited by the small size of the sample. In spit e of these limitations, the study suggests there are few differences betwee n the role orientations and socialization experiences of UK nursing graduat es and diplomates. Indeed, both programmes commonly take place in universit y settings and students receive the same amount of clinical experience. Fur ther instrument development and exploratory research is recommended to iden tify the role socialization and orientations of UK nurses through larger na tional studies.