The nursing shortage has persisted in the United States in cycles since the late 1800s. The current nursing shortage not only pertains to the number of nurses needed, but also to the specific credentials nurses need to fulfill various roles required within the nursing profession (Jones-Schenk, Leafman, Wallace, & Allen, 2017).
The general problem addressed in this study is the number of students graduating from nursing programs is insufficient to meet the demands of the nursing workforce. The specific problem is attrition in nursing programs leads to a decreased number of students completing their nursing degree and attaining licensure.
The purpose of this correlational study is to determine if there is a relationship between participation in a nursing student success program and progression and completion in a baccalaureate nursing program.
Methods:
Data for review in this study will include progression and completion records for students enrolled in a BSN program who have participated in a student support program entitled the Academic Triumph Program (ATP). The ATP is a student success program initiated in the fall 2016 semester in the program of study.
There are currently 472 students enrolled in the BSN program with 115 student records eligible for analysis. No identifiers will be included in the report of findings. For this study, analysis of data will include the subject group as a whole and by level in the nursing program. The levels in the program of study include the Introductory Level, Novice I Level, Novice II Level, Advanced Beginner I Level, and Advanced Beginner II Level.
According to Creswell (2012), it is appropriate to use correlations to analyze the impact of independent variables on the dependent variable. Course progression and program completion are the dependent variables. The independent variable is participation in a student success program entitled the Academic Triumph Program (ATP). In addition, t-tests are appropriate statistics to use where the independent variable is categorical and the dependent variable is continuous. Analysis of groups will occur for differences using an independent samples t-test.
Results:
This study is in progress. With IRB approval, data collection and analysis will begin in August 2019. The anticipated completion date of the study is December 2019.
Conclusion:
The potential significance of this study is that the results will inform nurse educators about effective strategies to enhance nursing student progression and program completion. Furthermore, findings may reveal gaps in the literature requiring further investigation through nursing education research. The results and conclusions will be compiled, analyzed, and reported via a poster presentation. Further dissemination of study findings will occur through manuscript development.