An Evaluation of the Nursing Success Program

Does reading ability predict student success? A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

Nursing students do not only have to understand the content they read, but they must also analyze, synthesize, and think critically as these skills are required for success in clinical practice. This review investigates if testing reading in students can predict outcomes of student success in nursing programs.

DESIGN

A scoping review of the literature on reading assessments in nursing education.

DATA SOURCES

Databases explored included CINAHL, ERIC, and MEDLINE and included English language papers published from January 2001 to November 2022.

REVIEW METHODS

Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methods informed this review.

RESULTS

Data were extracted from 34 full text papers and dissertations. All papers examined reading as an independent predictor of outcomes such as NCLEX-RN success, program completion, or early program success. Various reading tests delivered at admission were more likely to predict proximal outcomes such as early program success rather than more distal outcomes such as NCLEX-RN failure or program completion.

CONCLUSION

Reading assessments are effective predictors of a student's potential for academic success in nursing programs which has many implications for admission and progression policies. Many areas for future research are proposed including examining the developmental nature of reading improvement across nursing programs, development of reading interventions, and building faculty capacity for reading support. This body of literature said very little about the impact of race and racism on reading as they relate to academic outcomes which also must receive attention in future research.

Language as a proxy for race: Language and literacy and the nursing profession

Defining a nurse as literate is disciplinary and contextual, linked to professional identity formation, and an issue impacting patient safety. Literacy and language proficiency are concepts assessed through examining skills in four pillars: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. This article explores how literacy is not only a practice issue but inextricably intertwined with issues of race, equity, diversity, and inclusiveness in our profession-both in regulatory policy and classroom pedagogy. In making the argument that language is a proxy for race, three cases of language and literacy will be presented. First, the deficit discourse of multilingual student struggle is stereotyped to the presence or absence of an accent, with multilingual student needs often treated homogeneously in disregard of population heterogenous abilities. Second, regulatory policies for language testing internationally educated nurses are discriminatory with testing context bearing little relationship to the language needs of nursing practice. Third, that the myth of "one standard English" results in racist evaluation practices of student academic performance. Recommendations are made for reframing how language and literacy are viewed in nursing education and regulation of practice with a focus on acknowledgment of one's personal relationship to racial issues and emphasizing the need for a change in mindset toward racialized multilingual students and writers.

Predicting nursing baccalaureate program graduates using machine learning models: A quantitative research study

BACKGROUND

Despite powerful efforts to maximize nursing school enrollment, schools and colleges of nursing are faced with high rates of attrition and low rates of completion. Early identification of at-risk students and the factors associated with graduation outcomes are the main foci for the studies that have addressed attrition and completion rates in nursing programs. Machine learning has been shown to perform better in prediction tasks than traditional statistical methods.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to identify adequate models that predict, early in a students career, if an undergraduate nursing student will graduate within six college years. In addition, factors related to successful graduation were to be identified using several of the algorithms.

DESIGN

Predictions were made at five time points: the beginning of the first, second, third, fourth years, and the end of the sixth year. Fourteen scenarios were built for each machine learning algorithm through the combinations of different variable sections and time points.

SETTINGS

College of Nursing in a private university in an urban Midwest city, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

Seven hundred and seventy-three full time, first time, and degree-seeking students who enrolled from 2004 through 2012 in a traditional 4-year baccalaureate nursing program.

METHODS

Eight popular machine learning algorithms were chosen for model construction and comparison. In addition, a stacked ensemble method was introduced in the study to boost the accuracy and reduce the variance of prediction.

RESULTS

Using one year of college academic performance, the graduation outcome can be correctly predicted for over 80% of the students. The prediction accuracy can reach 90% after the second college year and 99% after the third year. Among all the variables, cumulative grade points average (GPA) and nursing course GPA are the most influential factors for predicting graduation.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides a potential mode of data-based tracking system for nursing students during their entire baccalaureate program. This tracking system can serve a large number of students automatically to provide customized evaluation on the dropout risk students and enhance the ability of a school or college to more strategically design school-based prevention and interventional services.

Strategies for retention of nursing students: A scoping review

Retention of students in nursing programs is a costly concern that affects the supply and demand of nurses to the healthcare system. Successful retention strategies require consideration of social and academic institutional systems with attention to student integration in a program. This systematic review explores implemented retention strategies in nursing programs worldwide and provides guidance for nursing programs and researchers considering the retention question. Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methods informed this review. CINAHL, ERIC, PsychINFO, and MEDLINE, databases were searched from January 1998 to December 2019. Data was extracted from 112 full text papers and dissertations. Papers were of varying quality and inconsistently evaluated, usually lacking theoretical grounding. Student participants in strategies were preselected by racial minority status or through various markers of academic performance. Retention strategies described in the literature are single program and multifactorial, with mentorship, study skills, literacy and language approaches, and tutoring the most common components. Reports of graduation rates or attrition rates through comparison with a pre-strategy time period or a comparison group were the most informative evaluations. Whole-program strategies that provided pathway options to students based on reading assessments or other academic criteria were the most comprehensive and effective strategies presented in the literature.

Performance in grade 12 mathematics and science predicts student nurses' performance in first year science modules at a university in the Western Cape

Background

The demand for highly qualified and skilled nurses is increasing in South Africa as well as around the world. Having a background in science can create a significant advantage for students wishing to enrol for an undergraduate nursing qualification because nursing as profession is grounded in scientific evidence.

Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive validity of grade 12 mathematics and science on the academic performance of first year student nurses in science modules.

Method

A quantitative research method using a cross-sectional predictive design was employed in this study. The participants included first year Bachelor of Nursing students enrolled at a university in the Western Cape, South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyse the data by using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences versions 24. Descriptive analysis of all variables was performed as well as the Spearman’s rank correlation test to describe the relationship among the study variables. Standard multiple linear regressions analysis was performed to determine the predictive validity of grade 12 mathematics and science on the academic performance of first year student nurses in science modules.

Results

The results of this study showed that grade 12 physical science is not a significant predictor (p > 0.062) of performance in first year science modules. The multiple linear regression revealed that grade 12 mathematics and life science grades explained 37.1% to 38.1% (R² = 0.381 and adj R² = 0.371) of the variation in the first year science grade distributions.

Conclusion

Based on the results of the study it is evident that performance in grade 12 mathematics (β = 2.997) and life science (β = 3.175) subjects is a significant predictor (p < 0.001) of the performance in first year science modules for student nurses at the university identified for this study.

Academic success or failure in nursing students: results of a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND

Nursing student academic failure is a phenomenon of growing international interest, not only because of its economic impact but also because it negatively affects the availability of future nurses in different healthcare systems. To recruit the students with the highest probability of academic success, an open challenge for universities is to recruit students who have previously demonstrated superior scholastic aptitudes that appear to be associated with a greater likelihood of academic success. Documenting the relationship between the selection methods used when selecting nursing students and academic failure will contribute to the international debate concerning the optimisation of the selection strategies.

OBJECTIVES

The principal aim of this study was to investigate the role in predicting nursing student academic success of (1) the upper-secondary diploma grades and (2) the score obtained by students in the nursing degree program admission test.

DESIGN

A retrospective observational study was conducted.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

Five cohorts of nursing students, matriculated in consecutive academic years from 2004 to 2008, in an Italian bachelor's degree program were observed retrospectively.

RESULTS

Overall, 61.2% of the 1006 considered students concluded their degree within the legal duration allowed for the nursing degree. Students who failed were those who had lowest grades associated with their upper-secondary diploma coursework (p=0.000) and were male (p=0.000). The grades associated with the upper-secondary diploma coursework, unlike the admission test score, correlates positively with the final degree grade and the average value of degree program examination scores. No correlation was found between the upper-secondary diploma coursework grades and the scores obtained in the test for the nursing degree program admission test (r=-0.037).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that upper-secondary diploma coursework grades are a parameter that should receive great consideration, especially in cases where there are planned numbers of incoming nursing degree students.

Prescription for success in an associate degree nursing program

In the midst of a national nursing shortage and a demanding health care environment, nursing programs must prepare more nurses by facilitating student success from admission to program completion to licensure. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the factors that contribute to student success in associate degree nursing programs and on the NCLEX-RN(®). Six seniors and three faculty members were interviewed, and a document analysis was conducted. Emergent themes were categorized as student related, collaborative, and curriculum related. These themes included, but were not limited to, the need for support systems, motivation, health care experience, critical thinking skills, prioritization of roles and responsibilities, diligent study habits, and faculty involvement. Recommendations for practice and research are discussed in this article.

The impact of community college transfer on entry-level baccalaureate nursing student retention

Student attrition is a major issue for entry-level baccalaureate science in nursing (BSN) programs. Where BSN students complete the prerequisite nursing courses may contribute to attrition. Because many BSN students satisfy prerequisite courses at community colleges (CCs), a better understanding regarding how a CC education impacts BSN student retention is needed. The author reviews the literature regarding factors that potentially impact entry-level BSN student retention after CC transfer.

Predicting Early Academic Achievement in a Baccalaureate Nursing Program

Baccalaureate nursing programs are under increased pressure to graduate greater numbers of students to meet the demands of the nurse workforce of the future. Schools of nursing are admitting larger cohorts of students, but early academic achievement in the nursing major and retention are problematic. Historical predictors of early academic achievement, such as scholastic aptitude, may not be the best for identifying students at risk of early academic failure. Increasingly, baccalaureate nursing programs are relying on standardized nursing aptitude tests to evaluate the readiness of applicants for the nursing major. However, reliable predictors of early academic achievement have yet to be identified. The purpose of this study was to explore whether scholastic aptitude and nursing aptitude are predictive of early academic achievement in a baccalaureate nursing program. Using an exploratory descriptive design, data from 164 sophomore nursing students were examined. The data indicated that scholastic aptitude and nursing aptitude together predicted 20.2% of the variance in early academic achievement, with scholastic aptitude accounting for 15.4% of the variance.

Nurse Entrance Test Scores

A program evaluation was conducted to determine if requiring higher scores on critical thinking components of the Nurse Entrance Test would have a positive effect on the percentage of students that could be retained in a diploma nursing program. The program evaluation revealed that using the Nurse Entrance Test as a tool for admissions screening, specifically portions of the examination that predict critical thinking, was effective in helping to predict success through level I nursing courses.