Re-entry women in baccalaureate nursing programs: the achievement of selected developmental tasks

This study sought to determine if there is a difference in the level of development, as assessed by the Student Developmental Task Inventory (SDTI-2), between the traditional age woman and the re-entry woman who has entered a baccalaureate nursing program. It builds upon the theoretical formulations of accepted principles of human growth and development and recent life cycle research, which suggests that further achievement of developmental tasks is possible throughout adulthood. The subjects consist of 156 traditional age and 50 re-entry women nursing students. Data were analyzed with the use of the subprograms "Frequencies" and "T-Test" of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Examination of the null hypotheses related to the achievement of developmental tasks and subtasks revealed that the traditional age woman and the re-entry woman did not differ on the majority of the developmental tasks and subtasks. Implications for nurse educators are discussed.