Paper
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Predictor Variables on National League of Nursing (NLN) Readiness Exam Performance: A Comparative Analysis of Baccalaureate (BSN) and Associate (ADN) Degree Nursing Students
Elizabeth B. Simon, PhD, RN, CCRN, CEN, Scool of Nursing, Hunter College, City Univeristy of New York, New York, NY, USA and Lois Augustus, RN, MA, Bronx Community College, CUNY, New York, NY, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: discuss nursing course variables influencing NCLEX-RN readiness exam performance |
| Learning Objective #2: compare NCLEX-RN readiness exam performance of BSN and ADN nursing graduates |
Nurse educators are committed to improving the NCLEX-RN passing rate and therefore use the NLN Readiness exam to predict outcomes and evaluate effectiveness of both BSN and ADN programs. In the past, ADN students have had a higher passing rate than BSN students. Therefore it is appropriate to explore the courses and their influence on exam performance of the two groups. A retrospective correlational study was conducted with a purpose of identifying clinical courses that have significant correlation with NLN readiness exam score in both groups. Data were collected from the transcripts of 166 BSN and 140 ADN students who took NLN readiness exam in two colleges of a northeastern University. Course grades from the clinical courses were correlated with NLN Readiness scores. Factor analysis, t test, and Pearson correlation for BSN data revealed that there is a correlation between GPA, nursing courses, and foundational science courses and NLN score. Pearson correlation for the ADN data showed that three nursing courses (foundations in Nursing, maternal and child health nursing and senior level adult health nursing) influenced NLN score. On further analysis with R2 it was found that foundations in nursing has the highest correlation or predictive ability with NLN score. Further statistical testing (regression analysis) is being done to explore the data in depth.. It was concluded that factors common to all courses, such as students' ability to apply nursing knowledge of foundations in nursing, influence success for the BSN students. On the other hand foundations of nursing has the highest predictive ability among all the clinical courses for ADN students. However, all clinical courses in BSN and ADN programs are related to each other and to the NLN score. The study was approved by internal review boards of both colleges.