Growth and access increase for nursing students: a retention and progression project.

Abstract: The Growth and Access Increase for Nursing Students (GAINS) Project was the first federally-funded initiative for the baccalaureate program. A project goal was to provide a program of support and resources for students successful completion of the program. The strategies included peer-tutoring, mentoring, advisement, prenursing experience seminars, and faculty development. Although the target of 70% program completion was not achieved, many other rewards were experienced. A follow-up survey indicated that only one graduate had to sit twice for the licensing examination. Further, over 70% are currently employed in medically-underserved areas and all have plans to pursue advanced degrees. Current school initiatives are based on the successes from the project. Key Words: Retention, Nursing Students, Retention and Progression, Access. The College of New Rochelle School of Nursing received a three-year grant funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for an initiative called Growth and Access Increase for Nursing Students (GAINS). It was anticipated that this project would increase retention/ success rate in the baccalaureate nursing program from approximately 50% to 70%. The College of New Rochelle and its School of Nursing share a history of concern for and commitment to economically and educationally disadvantaged students. Often, such disadvantaged persons represent a large minority cohort. There is a significant need to encourage these minorities to (a) enter professional nursing, (b) support their persistence for and completion of professional studies, and (c) foster a commitment to return to their communities of origin (often in medically underserved areas) to provide comprehensive and quality health care services (Valencia-Go, 1996, p. 3). At the time of the grant proposal, the School of Nursing (SON) had an enrollment of 68% minority students and the College had 70.7%. Table 1 shows the comparison of the SON enrollment and GAINS participants by ethnicity. While an established program of support services exists at the College, there is a serious need to broaden the scope of these services and to tailor them to serve the unique needs of ethnically and racially diverse disadvantaged students. Moreover, the SON faculty must increase competencies and improve strategies by adding to a complement of teaching approaches that will support students who enter the college environment "at risk" due to factors such as limited academic preparation, low self-esteem, and discriminatory life experiences (Valencia-Go, 1996, p. 3). The Pew Health Professions Commission (1993) in its report, Health Professions Education for the Future Schools in Service to the Nation, recommended that schools of nursing redirect a significant portion of the nursing curriculum to community-based practice and the healthcare needs of clients in the community. The communities served by the SON consist of the Bronx, Queens, and medically-underserved areas of Westchester County. These communities are becoming increasingly diverse. Therefore, there is a compelling need to educate healthcare professionals who could relate to such diversity and provide caring, competent, humanistic, and sensitive care. The priority goal of the GAINS Project was to contribute significantly to this need by increasing the number of students who successfully complete the nursing program, pass the licensing examination, and return to their communities of origin to join the healthcare workforce. OVERVIEW OF GAINS GAINS is the first federally-funded initiative of the baccalaureate program. The goals of this project were: 1. To provide a program of support and resources to facilitate students' successful completion of the pre-nursing sequence 2. To provide a program of support and resources for students' 3. To implement a faculty development program designed to prepare faculty to meet the unique learning needs of students from diverse, disadvantaged backgrounds (Valencia-Go, 1996, p. …