36x48 Horizontal Poster

1
Use of Zoomerang to Assess Interest in Nursing as
a Career Choice Renee Creeden BS, RN, Karen
Devereaux Melillo PhD, Jacqueline Dowling PhD,
Lisa Abdallah PhD, Mary Findeisen PhD, Margaret
Knight PhD, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL
Logo
Conclusions
Introduction
Results
Methods
Bring Diversity to Nursing Use of Zoomerang to
Assess Interest in Nursing as a Career Choice
Renee Creeden RN Masters Student/Family Nurse
Practitioner Research Assistant for Bring
Diversity to Nursing MDPH grant The need to
increase diversity in the workforce is well
recognized in the nursing profession. Bring
Diversity to Nursing (BDN) at the is a unique
project aimed to recruit, retain, and graduate
minority and economically disadvantaged students
in an attempt to create a more diverse nursing
workforce. BDN is targeting the communities of
Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts to increase
students competitiveness for entry into UML
nursing program and ensure successful
completion. One important component of the BDN
project is to promote awareness of a career in
nursing. To assess middle and high school
students knowledge of this possible career
choice, a 66-item survey was developed by the BDN
researchers based on a review of literature and
group consensus. Following Institutional Review
Board approval, Zoomerang, an online survey
template and data collector, was used to survey
students between July and November 2008. Students
accessed the Zoomerang Nursing Assessment survey
during health education and study periods and at
UML summer pre-initiative workshops offered by
the BDN project. Self-reported ethnic and
racial demographics of the students revealed 31
White, 38 Hispanic, 18 Asian, 9 Black, and 4
other. Of those who responded, 43 were in 7th
and 8th grade. Results indicated that while 70
of students know a nurse, 4 could not identify
where nurses work and 4 did not know who nurses
care for. Only 14 of students surveyed indicated
that they were interested in a nursing career.
These data indicate that students are not
strongly considering nursing as a viable career
choice, and some lack knowledge of the profession
itself. To date, 1,341 students have completed
the survey, showing Zoomerang is an effective and
appropriate tool for survey dissemination and
data collection. It is the goal of BDN to
improve access to the nursing profession by
recruiting minority and disadvantaged students
through pre-entry initiatives at the Middle and
High school level in Lowell and Lawrence, MA. .

• Researchers decided on an online data collection
  method to reduce dissemination costs, decrease
  errors in data conversion and to maximize
  response rates.
• The communities of Lowell and Lawrence, MA were
  chosen for their cultural diversity
• Lowell has a Hispanic and Asian population
  higher than the state average and 69 of the
  population in Lawrence is Hispanic (Massachusetts
  DPH, 2005).
• Zoomerang was chosen as the data collection
  method for its reliability and user-friendly
  design.
• When compared with other online data collection
  survey methods, CoolSurveys, Survey Monkey and
  Profiler, Zoomerang offers easy-to-use templates
  with no prior programming knowledge and allows
  email dissemination.
• Results are analyzed instantaneously and the
  researcher can view data by percentages, raw
  numbers, bar graphs and pie graphs.
• The survey was open to all middle and high school
  students in Lowell and Lawrence, MA from July
  2008 through December 2008. At the end of this
  time period 1341 students had completed the 15
  minute online survey. Collaboration from teachers
  at the schools was crucial since most of the
  surveys were completed during school hours in the
  fall of 2008. Students who attended the summer
  college prep program at the UML were given time
  to complete the survey in the library the morning
  prior to the start of the program activities.
  Surveys taken at this time were monitored by BDN
  researchers.

Table 1.

• Middle and high school students from Lowell and
  Lawrence, MA have a knowledge deficit regarding
  nursing as a career choice.
• Students lacked knowledge of the role of nurses
  in healthcare, education requirements of nurses,
  and overall demonstrated a lack of interest in
  nursing.
• The majority of respondents indicated that they
  thought nursing was too difficult for them or
  answered that they did not know.
• 55 are not interested in becoming a nurse.
• 57 did not want to learn more about nursing.
• 57 thought the survey was too long.
• Results demonstrated that although there is a
  lack of interest in pursuing a degree in nursing
  46 acknowledged that the survey was important
  and a majority felt that nurses are respected,
  caring and trusted. Though only 14 expressed
  interest in pursuing a degree in nursing.
• With the positive feedback about nursing it is
  realistic that BDN, through initiative programs
  and community outreach, can improve students
  interest in nursing and subsequent applications
  to the nursing program at the University of
  Massachusetts Lowell.

Figure 2.
Figure 1.
Figure 3.
Reference

• Massachusetts Department of Public Health 2005
  Race and ethnic breakdown, of population Lowell,
  Lawrence and Lynn2005. Retrieved March 1, 2009,
  from www.mass.gov.
• The Bring Diversity to Nursing Project is funded
  by the U.S. DHHS, Health Resources and Services
  Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health
  Professions, Division of Nursing and the
  Massachusetts Department of Public Health.