Diffusion of associate degree nursing programs among U.S. community colleges

Examinations of the adoption and diffusion processes relative to innovations have focused on a variety of factors including the characteristics of the environment, the adoptive unit, and the innovation itself. This study explored the relationship between environmental factors, organizational characteristics, and the spread of 2-year associate degree nursing (ADN) programs among community colleges in the U.S. Data were secured from census materials, educational directories, community college catalogs, various other documents, and interviews with community college representatives. Results indicated that such factors as general population heterogeneity, change and wealth, and various measures of the need for nurses and nursing education were not useful predictors of the prevalence of ADN programs among the population of community colleges in a state. Two-year colleges that operated ADN programs were larger, wealthier, offered more occupational programs, and were more likely to be publicly controlled than were community colleges that had not adopted the ADN program feature. Analysis of case materials suggested that at the community level, hospitals and hospital-sponsored nursing schools were important factors in the community college's decision to adopt or reject the ADN program feature.