Paper
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Identity Maps: A Strategy to Enhance the Success of Second-degree Students
Dorothy Brockopp, RN, MS, PhD, Krista Moe, BS, MS, Lee Anne Walmsley, RN, MSN, EdS, Alexandra G. Dampier, and Vicki Hensley, ARNP, MSN. College of Nursing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| Learning Objective #1: analyze the challenges that second-degree students face and how they effect academic success in nursing. |
| Learning Objective #2: plan educational means for which second-degree students and faculty can get to know each other thereby fostering better relationships and greater success in nursing. |
In response to the nursing shortage, approximately 200 second-degree BSN tracks have been implemented nationwide. The majority of these tracks are “accelerated” while some are “integrated.” Both tracks enable second-degree students (SDS) to graduate in less time than students attending traditional nursing programs. While available literature describes SDS as academically outstanding and socially mature, experiences with SDS at a large southeastern university have not supported these findings. These students struggled academically and had concerns regarding their socialization into the profession. In an effort to assist these students to be successful in nursing an “Identity Map” was designed and evaluated (the focus being, “Getting to Know You”). This map enables students to share their challenges regarding: family responsibilities, work obligations and any developmental tasks with each other and their faculty. The second-degree evaluation group (SEG) designed a brochure inviting students to describe their home, school, and work life. They are also asked to identify any unique situations that might hinder academic success. The SEG and a graphic designer developed a draft and modified it after review by faculty and student services personnel. Twenty-four SDS were asked to evaluate the map. Nine agreed and spent 3.0 hours with a graduate student in counseling psychology to discuss the design. Changes were made and a final draft was reviewed by the SEG. Eleven students completed the map at orientation, 37 at the request of the coordinator of the track. Students give/withhold their permission to give the maps to faculty who teach them. All gave permission. Questionnaires evaluating students and faculty members’ perceptions of the map’s effectiveness were distributed three months after students’ completion of the maps. Both groups concluded that the maps were a positive means of developing a better understanding of students’ challenges thereby fostering better relationships and greater success in nursing.