Educational mobility among licensed practical nurses: Facilitating and impeding factors

There is a critical deficit of registered nurses to care for America's residents. The deficit of registered nurses negatively impacts the quality of and accessibility to health care and threatens patient and nurse safety. Under representation of minorities, men, and nurses prepared at or above the baccalaureate degree level negatively affects the effectiveness and growth of the workforce. Licensed practical nurse-to-registered nurse educational mobility is a plausible approach to increasing the number and diversity of registered nurses in the workforce. Factors that influence licensed practical nurses' engagement in educational mobility had not been identified. An instrument to study influential factors to licensed practical nurses' engagement in educational mobility was not available. The purposes of this study were to identify factors that facilitate and impede licensed practical nurses' engagement in educational mobility and test the validity and reliability of the Licensed Practical Nurse Educational Mobility Survey, which is an instrument designed to study the licensed practical nurse population. The theory of planned behavior served as the theoretical framework of the study.; The study used a correlational research design. A 50-item survey was mailed to 1,050 randomly selected licensed practical nurses. A sample of 385 respondents was obtained. The researcher found that financial assistance and work and class schedule conflicts were commonly cited as influential factors to educational mobility among the subjects. Thirty-seven percent of subjects intended to pursue a registered nurse level degree within the next 5 years, with the licensed practical nurse-to-associate degree pathway being preferred. African American licensed practical nurses were more likely than other ethnic groups to intend to advance to a registered nurse level. The Licensed Practical Nurse Educational Mobility Survey had an acceptable level of internal consistency but needed further revision to achieve an acceptable level of construct validity. The three determinants of the theory of planned behavior were predictors of behavioral intention among licensed practical nurses in the study. The findings had implications for nursing education, practice, and research.