SELECTED CORRELATES OF STUDENT OUTCOMES OF INTEGRATED AND NON-INTEGRATED CONTENT BACCALAUREATE NURSING PROGRAMS IN PUBLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES (CURRICULUMS, NCLEX-RN PREDICTORS, ATTRITION RATES, LICENSURE EXAM PERFORMANCE).
Contributors: University of Connecticut.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 134
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to examine differences between integrated and non-integrated content baccalaureate nursing programs in relation to student attrition and students' performance (total score) on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The study also sought to identify significant predictors of student performance on the NCLEX-RN for students in both types of programs.

The study population was comprised of 597 generic students who completed a nursing program and 73 generic students who dropped out of a nursing program, from the classes of 1979 through 1984, from two similar public research II universities. Data were collected from students' records on high school rank, high school GPA, total SAT or total ACT score, and GPA's for end of sophomore year, nursing theory courses, nursing process courses, and completion of the program.

Students who dropped out of the non-integrated program had significantly lower total ACT scores (.05 level, t test) than those who completed the program. Total SAT scores of students who dropped out of the integrated content program were not significantly different from those who completed the program. Student attrition from the integrated program was significantly higher (.001 level, chi square) than from the non-integrated program.

Students who completed the non-integrated program scored significantly higher than students who completed the integrated program on all licensure examinations (.004-.0001, ANCOVA). Also, the two groups of students were significantly different from each other on their covariate scores (.0001, ANCOVA).

Students within the integrated and non-integrated programs did not score significantly different (ANCOVA) from their peers on the State Board Test Pool Examination (SBTPE) and NCLEX-RN.

The strongest predictor of student performance on the NCLEX-RN for students in both programs was nursing theory GPA (.0001, step wise multiple regression), and it explained 48% of the variance.

Suggestions for further study include replication of this research study with generic nursing students in other baccalaureate nursing programs across the country. Longitudinal studies on students attrition, expansion of possible predictor variables, longitudinal studies on students with low nursing theory GPA's and NCLEX-RN scores and longitudinal studies on the relationship of NCLEX-RN scores to successful nursing practice are also recommended as areas for further study.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-01, Section: B, page: 0133.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT, 1985.

School code: 0056.