Implementation of the Nursing Success Program (NSP) has resulted in retention of diverse students at approximately the same rate as majority students. Although retention figures for NSP students are not final, because they are just starting to graduate, they are reasonably accurate predictors of graduation rates, based on past experiences that attrition is most likely to occur early in the nursing program.
These excellent results arise from several innovative strategies. NSP participation is mandatory for identified students. NSP includes: two 3-hour courses designed to develop expert learner skills; completing pathophysiology and nursing assessment courses and participating in clinical observations with an experienced mentor before beginning clinical courses; instruction by a speech and language pathologist for all students and 15 hours of accent modification for students with ESL; extensive instruction in medication calculations; development of critical thinking skills using case studies; and very active (intrusive) student advisement.
Important to the NSP success is administrative support and financial sustainability. Administrative support includes providing a total testing program, allocating special monies for the program, establishing well-defined policies related to the program and following them consistently, and allocating adequate time to the program faculty to provide students with active advisement. If, in each admission group, 3 students who would have been lost to attrition without the NSP are retained to graduation, then the program has paid for itself. Our data suggests that we are retaining significantly more than 3 students from each admission group. Of 74 NSP students admitted from fall 2000 to spring 2002, 64 (86%) have been retained to date. Projecting from pre-NSP data we think that without NSP only 37 would have been retained. Therefore in 4 semesters NSP retained an additional 27 students, or 6 to 7 students per semester.
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