Project title: Factors contributing to the attrition

End-text reference Purpose / research question

Wilson, A., Chur-Hansen, A.,Aim:
Marshall, A.,
This paper
& reports
Air, T. (2011).
on two studies
Should that
nursing-related work experience be a prerequis
examined why students withdrew from a
Bachelor of Nursing degree. Research question:
Should nursing-related work experience be a
prerequisite for acceptance into a nursing
programme?
 Aim: to investigate
Harding, M., Bailey, M., & Stefka, S. factorsinfluencing
(2017). Factors influencing nursing student success after readmission. Teachin
program completion in nursing students
readmitted to an associate degree nursing
program. Research questions: How does one
decide if a student should? What objective criteria
can be used to determine if a student will succeed
or not, or do such criteria exis?

Hinsliff-Smith, K., Gates, P., & Leducq, M.

This study(2012).
aimed Persistence,
to explore thehow
experiences
do they doofit? A case study of Access to Higher Education le
Access to Higher Education entrants to a Bachelor
of Nursing program at 1 British Nursing School to
understand the complexities for learners of
remaining and persisting on the course. Research
questions were not outlined in the paper but was
reflected in the title: Persistence, how do they do
it?
Dante, A., Valoppi, G., Saiani,
L., & Palese, A. (2011). Factors
associated with nursing
students' academic success or
failure: A retrospective Italian
multicenter study. Nurse
Education Today, 31(1), 59-64.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt
.2010.03.016
The aim of this study was to define the factors
associated with academic success or failure in an
Italian cohort of nursing students on a bachelor's
degree course. Research question: It is not stated in
the journal, however it is about factors associated
with nursing students' academic success or failure.
ctors contributing to the attrition rate of nursing students

Context (e.g., Data sources (e.g., Treatment /

country, field, participants / materials, intervention
Research design and method sector, etc.) etc.) (if any)
Qualitative and quantitative Nursing, Undergraduate nursing
methods. Australia students(successful
students and students
left the course)
University of Adelaide,
Retrospective design, USA, Nursing Students readmitted
qualitative research after dismissal between
fall 2009 and spring
2015 on a regional
campus in northeast
Ohio, USA.

Focus group interviews, A local University of

qualitative. univesity in Nottingham,
Woodside, undergraduate nursing
School of students in higher
nursing, education, DipHE/BSc in
United Nursing. 1 male and 6
Kingdom females.
A multiphase study design 2 universities Nursign students
was adopted. The first phase that offers enrolling in the academic
is based on a retrospective bachelor of year 2004–05
multicenter study design. The nursing on two different
second ongoing phase, is science bachelor's courses in the
based on a prospective courses in the north of Italy. 117
multicenter study design. north of Italy students were
Qualitative interviewed (35 males
and 82 females) and a
mean 23 years of age
dents
Data collection tools
Self-report, semi-structured
questionnaires before and after oral
assessment, oral assessment, semi-
structured telephone interview.
Key findings
Students who had previous nursing-related experience and
knowing someone who was a nurse had a higher completion
rates than the students withdew. Participants identified
emotional issues surrounding an aversion to blood, pain,
sickness, illness, and suffering.
A coding sheet for retrieving the archival
data was developed. All existing data were
assigned an identification number for data
collection and evaluation purposes. The
master list of students and identification
numbers was kept locked in a filing cabinet
in the principal investigator's office.
Focus group interviewd.
1. Of the 107 students, 46 (43%) were dismissed a second time,
and 61 (57%) completed the program. 2. The gender ratio mirrored
practicing nurses, with 95 (88.8%) female and 12 (11.2%) male
students. There were no differences in program completion rates
by gender. 3.With advanced standing students being more likely to
complete the program. 100% NCLEX-RN® pass rate for the
advanced standing students. 4. The reason for dismissal and the
semester a student was initially dismissed significantly influenced
attrition upon readmission. All students readmitted after
withdrawing for personal reasons completed the program. No
student readmitted after being dismissed the first semester for
academic reasons in either the fundamentals nursing course or
chemistry completed the program. Every student readmitted the
final semester to repeat the final medical–surgical nursing course
completed the program. 5. While there was a difference, although
not significant, in entry GPA and MC-HESI scores between those
students who completed the program and those who did not,
students who completed the program had significantly higher GPAs
on readmission. 6. number of clinical failures, medication math
test failures, skills test failures, attendance, and conduct, there
were significant relationships between attendance, skills test
failures, and conduct and program completion.
Three main themes were identified which aided the learners to
persist in their pre-registration program: coping strategies, pre-
entry advice and guidance, and pre-entry institutional
interventions. Coping strategies were the dual role of mother, wife,
and student. Mature students learned copy skills in the Access
program before the pre-registration program. Pre-entry advice and
guidance are crucial for students to make an informed decision.
They attended campus open day, visit school, career advisors, and
university staff at the events. These ‘gatekeepers’ assisted in the
journey towards pre-registration programs. Interventions:
Participants completed the Access course and chose universities in
a close geographical location. Guidance was provided on
completing personal statements and application forms, financial
seminars, mock interviews, structured visits to the nursing school,
and academic support. These events were valued highly by
participants.
A semi-structured interview consisting of
20 questions (18 closed and two open-
ended) was prepared in the light of the
factors identified in the literature.
Interestingly, the participants for this study felt that this was not
necessary to visit the healthcare facility for clinical placement. To
increase their success at selection, they had gained voluntary or
paid work in a care setting. Studies conducted in the UK and
Australia confirm that where learners have previous experience of
the nursing profession, they are more likely to persist in the
program.
Conclusions & recommendations
The results of both studies suggest that a primary factor in attrition
is a lack of realistic expectations regarding nursing as a profession.
The study categorised two main factors: cognitive factors-academic,
and non-cognitive factors such as finances, work responsibilities,
family responsibilities and significant relationships.
The findings can be applied to refine admission and readmission policies
and develop and implement appropriate resources and remediation
programs, such as mentoring or tutoring, to support student retention
and improve the completion rate. The results can guide counseling
discussion to help students achieve personal and academic goals.

This study's findings confirm existing literature on coping strategies

developed by mature entrants to pre-registration programs. In the UK,
the age profile of pre-registration entrants has changed from 21 in the
1960s and up to 29 now. As a result, these entrants are more likely to
juggle childcare responsibilities, other domestic arrangements, and
balancing employment commitments. The challenge for Schools of
Nursing, which attract mature applicants, harness their experiences
while maintaining lower levels of attrition and supporting student
persistence and success. Activities included developing active links with
FECs, understanding the importance of 'gatekeepers' within HEIs. We
need to recognise the importance of pre-entry advice and guidance. So
we can attract and retain our student nurses, particularly mature
students and those identified in our study, which we believe offer much
to the nursing profession.
This study focused on the students. Understanding the factors on a local,
national and international scale may facilitate the development of
strategies to improve the academic success rate and evaluate any
action's effectiveness. The priority of the universities is to prevent
avoidable academic failure and contain physiological academic failure
rates. The former demands a strongly proactive approach because it is
associated with factors that prevent motivated students from
completing their degree courses successfully; the latter concerns
students enrolling for the BNS course without the necessary motivation
and conviction and different aptitudes and talents. Recommendations:
the universities can offer part-time BNS degree courses to help mature
nursing students, who are more likely to have family commitments.
Improving the social image of nurses and circulating information on how
much they contribute to patient outcomes, with the help of the National
Nursing Board, might attract the best candidates to the BNS course and
the nursing profession.
Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses; contribution to your review (This example does
not include contributions to the student's project).
This is a well-structured study published this year. It flowed well from the
introduction, background to the literature review, the analysis, findings, limitations
and conclusion. The authors used a mix of qualitative and quantitative research
methods for the two studies. Most of the studies only examed the students who left
the course, but this paper examed both sucessful students and withdrawn students.
They explained the ethical aspect of this research really well such as approval,
explanation to participants and de-identify the participants. As a nurse educator and
a registered nurse myself, the findings are helpful. The study categorised two main
factors: cognitive factors-academic, and non-cognitive factors such as finances,
work responsibilities, family responsibilities and significant relationships. The
authors also outlined the limitations which is practical and realistic. In conclusion,
they have recommended a requirement for applicants to demonstrate nursing-
related or caring profession relevant work experience may be one way in which to
increase retention in nursing programs. Because the successful students seemed to
have previous experience or knew a nurse. The authors used peer-reviewed journal
articles from Nurse Education Today, Nursing Education, and the Australian
Journal of Advanced Nursing. These were credit sources. The authors also used
grey literature to support their study such as the Australia National Review of
Nursing Education 2002.
I believe this is a promising study that focused on students who re-admitted the course
after withdrawing. It analysed the factors and a few variables such as gender, age, and
year of study. This study used a qualitative design, and it also corresponded with my
professional experience as a nurse educator. For example, one of the findings was
significant relationships between attendance, skills test and conduct, and program
completion. This finding mirrors nursing education at my workplace.

I'm not too fond of the summary at the beginning of the journal. The aims are not clearly
written, comparing to other abstracts from different journals. This study aims to focus on
learners' persistence rather than retention or attrition. It exams the problem from a
different angle or a positive perspective. I cannot identify any research questions. The
title: Persistence, how do they do it? is relevant to the research topic. The findings are
outstanding and can contribute the retention. The participants were mature students
(above 21 years). Interestingly, the participants in this study felt that this was not
necessary to visit the healthcare facility for clinical placement. Because to increase their
success at selection, they had gained voluntary or paid work in a care setting. Studies
conducted in the UK and Australia confirm that where learners have previous experience
of the nursing profession, they are more likely to persist in the program. This finding is
similar to other articles. It is a small-scale study. It would be great to have more
participants to collect more data to robust the results.
The summary is well structured and very clean. This inclusive study covered current
students and withdrawn students in 3 years. In the discussion section, the authors also
mentioned student bias and students who refused to participate probably because of the
worst experience. They also noted that 69.2% graduation rate was higher than the
national and international date, partly because the degree courses differ in different
countries. Therefore caution was needed in drawing comparisons. Nursing course designs
are different from country to country. Again family commitment was a factor related to
academic failure, and similar studies identified this. In the sample, most of the students
with family commitments were women. Having no family commitments and good marks
on entry tests were significantly associated with positive academic outcomes. This finding
was something new as other papers were focused on failure rather than success.