Methods: To capture student participation, time demands, and skills practiced, a six-question online survey was created. Students could access the survey via their personal devices or the lab computers.
Results: Analysis of the survey results provided valuable information related to open lab session timing, skills practiced and student participation. Ninety-five percent of the students who attended the open lab completed the survey. Data captured in the initial semester guided planning for the second semester resulting in altered times and increased staffing of the open lab. Additional qualitative data obtained from student course evaluations corroborated that the changes made in the second semester accommodated student access and supported student success. Specifically, 4/62 students utilized the lab during the first semester, with 1 student attending multiple labs. However, 37/84 students attended open lab sessions and 16 students attended multiple lab sessions during the second semester. This demonstrated a 9-fold increase in student attendance and a 16-fold increase in repeat use from Fall 2018 to Spring 2019. Additionally, the use of the open lab sessions by students translated to a decrease need for retesting.
Conclusion: Data generated from the online participation survey and student comments guided continued improvement in student access to embedded academic support efforts. Continued use of the survey in future semesters will provide ongoing meaningful data that will be used to guide lab room and nurse educator scheduling as well as denote what other academic support measures may be needed to translate open lab use into continued student success.