Attrition rate

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I'm curious what the attrition rate is in various nursing programs. For my class (with 19 days 'til graduation) it is roughly 80%. We started with 32 students and will hopefully graduate the remaining 7. What are your numbers?

Specializes in NeuroICU/SICU/MICU.

We started with 20, and have lost 2 (3 if you count the guy who replaced our first dropout..he got a second chance and wound up failing again). One we lost due to a pregnancy (she's back in the program behind us and doing great) and the other we lost due to academics. She had some serious personal issues going on that semester, so it's not really surprising. She was smart enough, she just didn't apply herself at that time.

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Great thread!

Glad to see that my program is not the only one with folks dropping like flies....

I think that stress management is vital. You don't really get how tough it is until you are in the middle of it. There is a reason why we chose the slogan - "take a break from life - attend nursing school" for our t-shirts. It is so true. I have barely seen my husband and kids in months! But what do you do? New nursing students think "it can't be that bad!" (I know b/c I thought that... and they were right - it REALLY is!)

Best of luck to everyone... hopefully we'll live to clinical another day!

:dancgrp:

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Specializes in ED.

I have no clue what our rate is but I know that we started with 150 and we are down to about 135. One of my very bright friends semi-dropped this past semester because her father died suddenly. She was able to stay in our non-clinical class but will have to pick up the other classes behind us.

I am totally shocked at the programs that only have 10 or so people in them. How does a university justify keeping a program that has only 10 students?

m

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Specializes in ICU.

For those who are in programs with 50%+ attrition rates, would they care to share any info on the schools themselves? Such as requirements for acceptance, how competitive it is, community college vs. university vs. for-profit private school, ect....I would think that there may be some trend out there that might futher explain why this is such a big problem in some programs and not others.

I think attrition rate is just as important as the NCLEX pass rate and am not sure why BONs would not pay more attention to that when evaluating the nursing programs in their state.

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My school LPN program is at community college. There is no exam to take, just a Math proficiency test and the GPA of 6 core classes to consider. (that not including the obvious high school Algebra, Chem, and Bio)

I too wonder what is going on. If these classes are not enough to prepare people for the program then they should add more. I know that next year they are stepping up the pre-req process a little making sure that people have a better BIO background.

Since GPA is the only big factor here, it means that people who make it in the program usually have A in the science classes.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Community college, accepts 48 students each semester with about 250 -300ish applicants each round. Acceptance is based on grades and the PSB test. Tie-breakers are determined by who already has a degree (with those who already have degrees getting preference) and who lives in the county vs. out of the county. It is very competitive to get in. They will start accepting 58 students rather than 48 next go-round I am hearing.

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Specializes in ICU.

I'm finishing up my first semester. My school accepts 60 per semester. We had 80 in our class, 60 new students and 20 repeaters who didn't make a C or better the first go round. Looks like out of that 80, about 45-50 will progress to the next semester.

I know quite a few dropped at the first of the semester after a few weeks of class. They realized they weren't ready to commit to it. I know one girl who dropped b/c she was frustrated at not being able to take a BP correctly. The ones not progressing now are the ones who can't seem to master the NCLEX style testing or do not have a strong math foundation. The Dosages class is getting quite a few people who are passing the Foundations. But at our school you have to pass Foundations and Dosages to progress to the next semester.

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The graduating class for last year of the program im starting in the fall started with 120 and only graduated 47. It makes me nervous but they're nclex first time passage rate is a 95 so they must be doing something right :)

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Many of the people that have dropped out of the program from my former CC were students that did exceptionally well in science pre-reqs and then there are some that did not do so well on pre-reqs but made it through nursing school.

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I think we started with around 140 and we "lost" 5 or 6 after the first semester... 2nd semester just ended so I'm not sure if anyone will be gone when we return for summer.

I think only a couple of those who left were having true academic problems and just couldn't cut it. One was a woman who, frankly, was not very committed and I wondered during orientation week why she was there! One or two were having personal problems.

I have to wonder about the selection process at those schools with HUGE drop-out rates. It seems to me that a really great school would have a selection process that eliminates the majority of those who can't make it academically, those who are unable to manage the daily stresses of life, and those who are not really committed in their choice of profession or who don't really want to make the sacrifices necessary. If all they're looking at is an applicant's GPA, they are seeing just a tiny piece of the person. GPA is an important part of succcess, but certainly not the MOST important part.

This is especially poignant since there are wait lists for so many nursing schools. Those precious slots should have very carefully chosen students who have a high likelihood of completing the program -- they are taking away a seat for another applicant who was not able to get it!

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I am with the OP I am concerned with the backlog of the newly graduated RN's that do not have jobs but are continuously being released into the market. I even talked to a DON of a LTC and even she said she is not hiring any New Grads only those with 1 yr experience. I am applying this fall but it constantly stays on my mind whether I will find a job or not when I am done nursing school.

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