A descriptive study of the career mobility of ET nurses.

A qualitative study of the career mobility of ET nurses in the United States was conducted. Self-report questionnaires and demographic data sheets were mailed to a sample of 117 ET nurses, and the return response was 54.3%. Members of the study sample ranged in age from 29 to 58 years, and the range of duration of practice as an ET nurse was 1.5 to 18 years. The current positions of the respondents varied from staff nurse in a non-ET nurse role to director of marketing or education for manufacturers of wound, ostomy, and incontinence products. Practice sites were evenly distributed between industry and clinical. Analysis of self-report questionnaires and telephone interviews identified 30 themes, which were reassessed for similarities and condensed to eight themes. These include consequences of the experience of being an ET nurse, precipitating event that resulted in a career change, ET nursing as a demarcation in practice, perception as currently practicing as an ET nurse, career mobility, feelings regarding ET nursing experiences, self-directedness in professional growth, and trajectory from clinical nursing to the business world.