Paper
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Focus Groups With Diverse High School Students Used for Program Evaluation
Astrid H. Wilson, RN, DSN, WellStar School of Nursing, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA, Susan Sanner, RN, PhD, Department of Nursing, Clayton College & State University, Morrow, GA, USA, and Lydia E. McAllister, RN, PhD, College of Nursing, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Describe an academic enhancement program designed for high school students who have disadvantaged backgrounds |
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss the use of the focus group methodology in program evaluation
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Two major challenges facing the nursing profession are the current nursing shortage and increasing the diversity of the nursing workforce. The purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview of the NGN project, the focus group methodology, and share how the findings were used to evaluate the program. The Next Generation of Nurses (NGN) Academic Enhancement project was designed to attract high school students to nursing as a career and to prepare students with disadvantaged backgrounds from underrepresented populations in the nursing work force for a career in nursing. The overall purpose of the NGN project is to increase the number of minority and disadvantaged students able to enroll in and complete a baccalaureate nursing program. The program activities were varied and a counselor was hired to be a liaison between the university and four Clayton County high schools. Three focus group sessions consisting of 10 students each were held to determine participants' perceptions of the program. Grant team members facilitated the focus groups. All facilitators used the same questions and then allowed the students to elaborate on their responses. All focus groups were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was used to develop themes. These themes were then integrated into the NGN program where appropriate. This project was supported by funds from the Division of Nursing (DN), Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under grant number 5D19HP40434-02, and title, Preparing the Next Generation of Nurses for $890,000. over three years. The information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any official endorsement be inferred by, the DN, BHPr, HRSA, DHHS, or the US Government.