Identifier

etd-11082016-101355

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Human Resource Education and Workforce Development

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

The primary purpose of the study was to determine the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics on success in nursing education among first year baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a private college in the Southern region of the United States. The participants in the study were 102 baccalaureate students admitted to the nursing program in Fall, 2013. For the purpose of the study, success was defined as a grade of C or higher in two clinical nursing courses in the first year of the nursing program. Academic and demographic criteria were examined and compared using means, standard deviations, Independent t tests and a binary logistic regression analysis to determine the criteria which predicted success in the first year clinical nursing courses. Findings indicated that none of the three grade point averages required for admission (Prerequisite GPA, Institutional GPA and Cumulative GPA) entered the binary logistic model as a predictor of success. The means of all three GPAs were higher than the GPA required for admission, yet of the 102 students admitted in Fall, 2013, only 69 students successfully completed the first year of clinical nursing courses. It was also found that grades in non-clinical nursing courses of Nursing Pharmacology, Nursing Assessment and Nursing Pathophysiology were related to the student’s success, however only the Nursing Pharmacology course was found to significantly predict student success. The nature of this relationship was such that students who had completed the Pharmacology course with higher grades were more likely to be successful in the first two clinical nursing courses. Grades in this course significantly increased the researcher’s ability to correctly classify nursing students on their ability to successfully complete the first year clinical nursing courses.

Date

2016

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Burnett, Michael

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.4436

Share

COinS