Date of Award
1992
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Sebastian V. Martorana
Keywords
Achievement Test, Admissions and Records, Aging Student Population, Associate Degree Nursing Program, At-Risk Students, Attrition, Bridge Programs, Chabot College, Comprehensive Examination, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Revision, Data Collection, Descriptive Statistics, Faculty Development, Graduate Survey, Health Care Agencies, Interviews, Licensed Vocational Nurses, National League for Nursing, Nursing Education, Nursing Faculty, Nursing Licensing Examination, Nursing Service Representatives, Postsecondary Preparation, Predictors of Success, Psychiatric Nursing Achievement Test, Retention, Single Parents, Student Characteristics, Student Records, Student Support Services, Survey Questionnaire
Abstract
In 1990, the nursing faculty at Chabot College in Hayward California, discussed concerns about increases in nursing student attrition and a decline in success of program graduates in passing the nursing licensing examination. It was postulated that the characteristics of the current nursing student population had changed and the existing curriculum might not be relevant to student needs.
Before proceeding with curriculum changes, it seemed advisable to explore more precisely what changes had taken place in the characteristics of students enrolled in the nursing program. The purpose of this project was to Investigate and analyze selected characteristics of students who graduated from Chabot College's associate degree nursing program from 1987 through 1991. Findings were then used to determine implications for curriculum revision.
Using guidelines generated from a review of the literature, procedures for conducting this study were developed and implemented. Data were collected from five sources: student records from the college's Department of Admissions and Records, files in the nursing program office, survey responses of program graduates from the years of 1987 through 1991, data from interviews of four tenured faculty from the nursing program at the college and three nursing educators from nearby nursing programs, and interviews with five representatives from nursing service departments in area hospitals.
A questionnaire was constructed and mailed to all one hundred eighty graduates of the nursing program from 1987 through 1991. Ten of the questionnaires were returned by the post office marked "moved, no forwarding address” Of the remaining one hundred seventy questionnaires, one hundred ten (over sixty-five percent) were completed and returned. Data from this survey, students' records, and interviews with nursing educators and nursing service representatives, were summarized and analyzed. Descriptive statistical procedures used included means, ranges, standard deviations, frequency distributions and percentages.
Analysis of the information from the survey and student records and files indicated that several characteristics of at-risk students were evident in this population including an increase in percentage of single parents, decrease in postsecondary preparation, and an increase in age. In addition, many students reported experiencing a number of stressful life events while enrolled. In spite of this, support services offered by the college were not being used.
Analysis of nursing program records indicated three early predictors of success on the nursing licensing examination: admission merit point scores, scores received in the Psychiatric Nursing Achievement test developed by the National League for Nursing, and performance on the Comprehensive Examination.
Interviews with nursing faculty at Chabot College indicated very little consensus about the characteristics of the nursing student population in this geographic area, except that the population was aging and less well prepared. Educators from other programs had virtually no consensus with each other about student characteristics in their programs.
Nursing service representatives from health care agencies indicated satisfaction with the number and preparation of the nurses graduating from Chabot College. This group did request that the college provide more opportunity for admitting Licensed Vocational Nurses to the upgrade program, and to develop courses for nurses who wished to bridge technology gaps in the work place.
Several conclusions were generated as a result of this study. They were: the nursing student population at Chabot College had begun to assume the characteristics of the at-risk student, the nursing student population infrequently used the college support services, there were sone factors that seemed to be related to retention, there were some predictors of success in the licensing examination and that dialogue with nursing educators and nursing service representatives could be extremely useful in the development of a relevant nursing curriculum.
Four recommendations were made as a result of the project. They included the need to: develop a method to improve data collection for future research purposes, improve the method for strategies to plan, evaluate, and revise the curriculum, develop a method to more effectively use the existing college services for students with identified needs, and inaugurate an ongoing nursing faculty development program to assist faculty in working with students who are at risk.