An Empirical Study of the Technology of Nursing Subunits

Ju ne 1977, volume 22 The purpose of this study was to describe and differentiate empirically the technology of seven types of nursing subunits (n=71) in hospitals. Technology was measured by a 34-item questionnaire given to a random sample of five nurses from each subunit (response rate 95.5 percent). Data analyses were performed on subunit scores. By factor analysis, three independent technological factors were identified, which were labelled uncertainty, instability, and variability. Significant differences (a= .05) between some of the types of subunits were shown in terms of these three factors. From the application of 0 technique, three categories of nursing subunits were identified, which were interpreted in terms of their degree of indeterminacy of their technologies.