title: The relationship between paramedics' level of education and degree of commitment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel attrition is a serious concern. Two fundamental psychological constructs linked to attrition are organizational and occupational commitment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if there is a relationship between a paramedic's degree of occupational/organizational commitment and the following: (1) levels of education and (2) type of employment.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study of paramedics in 6 states that require continued paramedic national registration. The data collection instrument consisted of demographic and occupational and organizational commitment sections. For level of education, the primary independent variable, each subject was placed into 1 of 3 groups: (1) certificate, (2) associate's or bachelor's degree in EMS (degree), and (3) paramedic certificate or degree with a non-EMS postbaccalaureate degree. Type of employment (fire based vs non-fire based) was also used as an independent variable. Organizational and occupational commitment was measured using validated scales for each. Analysis of variance was used for the comparisons between levels of each of the independent variables. A P < .05 was considered significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For occupational commitment, the participants with certificate level of education had a significantly higher score (88.9) than did those with either the degree (83.6) or postbaccalaureate (80.9) level of education. There were no significant differences for total organizational commitment. There were also no overall differences in occupational and organizational commitment between fire- and non-fire-based employees.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Paramedic occupational commitment shows a statistically significant decrease with increased level of education. Factors associated with commitment of more highly educated paramedics need to be explored.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Braude
authors.forename: Amy A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fullerton-Gleason
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009042:Motivation; D010563:Personnel Turnover; D014481:United States