Abstract
The purpose of this research was to explore the influence of nursing experience on the relationship between health locus of control and factors influencing intentions of health education. The study was conducted from aperspective that places health education behaviors within the theoretical framework of planned behavior.
The subjects were 444 nurses working in general hospitals. The findings were as follows: 1) Internal-HLC, Family-HLC, Professional-HLC all showed positive correlation with intentions of health education, which became more prominent with more years of nursing experience. 2) There was no correlation between Chance-HLC and Supernatural-HLC. 3) In nurses with long careers, if the Internal-HLC was high, even if both the Family-HLC and professional-HLC were low, or if both the Family-HLC and Professional-HLC were high, even if the Internal-HLC was low, the significant positive intentions with health education related to “instructions and explanations” and “recognition of patients” tended to be maintained. With regard to health education and “social support, ” it was observed that the influence of the Internal-HLC faded, while the influence of Family-HLC and Professional-HLC tended to increase.
