This article describes a study that was undertaken to examine the influence of the 'locus of control' (LOC) on perceived satisfaction of nursing students. LOC is an internal, dynamic capacity of an individual which influences how one deals with everyday outcomes. Rotter (1966) proposes that the degree to which people believe their lives are under their own control is an important variable of personality which varies from person to person. People with an internal orientation believe they have control over what happens to them, whereas people with an external orientation attribute what happens to them to fate, luck, chance or powerful others. Three groups of 50 students in first, second and third years of the nursing diploma course were tested on LOC (Rotter, 1966) and satisfaction (Betz et al, 1970; Pennington et al, 1989) questionnaires. It was anticipated that the students would become more internal on the LOC orientation over time and would therefore perceive greater satisfaction with time on the course. The effects of LOC on satisfaction were analysed using t-tests, analysis of variance and Pearson's product-moment correlation. Results showed that students with internal orientation on LOC perceived greater satisfaction than students with an external orientation. However, no significant differences in LOC were found between the groups. The nursing students tested were found to be more external in their LOC orientation than other student populations have been in the past. The implications of this and the other findings for future research are discussed.
It is widely recognised that healthcare assistants (HCAs) have taken some registered nurse (RN) roles; however, the importance of competencies, supervision and monitoring of HCAs is not always recognised. The aim of this project was to examine the education needs of HCAs for the tasks delegated to them and to provide an education day relevant to these needs. Methodology involved an audit of knowledge of the participating HCAs. The audit included a short questionnaire, participant observation and focus groups and it provided information on the needs of HCAs. Findings showed that HCAs spent 80% of their time on direct patient care, 5% on cleaning tasks and 15% on documentation. However, no direction was given to them and there was no monitoring from the RNs. Initially, one day of training was planned, but after feedback, two days were offered to maximise learning (see Box 2 ). After the sessions, attendees were given an evaluation form and the feedback from the two-day course was positive.
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