Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2002

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Human Resource Development

Major Professor

Gregory C. Petty

Committee Members

Ernest W. Brewer, Debbie Mackey

Abstract

As the amount of money spent by organizations for training increases year after year, the need to demonstrate a return on investment for training becomes more and more important. One way to measure the successful implementation of training is to determine the amount of training that transfers from the classroom to the workplace. Using the Transfer Performance (TPT) Instrument to access the perceptions of a sample of registered nurses (RNs), this study investigated 5 factors thought to influence the transfer of training. The objectives of this study were to (a) use the TPT to record perceptions of transfer of training among RNs along 8 demographic dimensions, (b) identify variables that enhanced or impeded the transfer of training using descriptive statistics and a Univariate of Analysis (ANOVA), (c) analyze data generated to determine what relationships existed among the data, and (d) draw conclusions and recommendations from this data sample. The study population consisted of 276 RNs employed at 3 hospitals in a southeastern city of approximately 300,000 people. There were 115 surveys returned and used in this study. The response rate for the sample was 41.6%. Descriptive statistics were generated for the demographic data. Significant differences were found for the variable of gender, age, and unit assignment. It was concluded that, the intention to transfer training decreased as levels of length of service, level of education, and age increased for RNs. For example, RNs who had attained the minimum educational requirement to practice, an associate degree, had a more positive attitude towards transfer of training than did RNs with more education. Recommendations included (a) conducting a structured interview with respondents to get feedback on the TPT instrument, (b) using this instrument on a larger sample of RNs, (c) developing more comprehensive evaluation tools to evaluate transfer of training for RNs, and (d) conducting a review of training record keeping to determine if duplication of training is a concern as indicated by some respondents.

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