Wendy906

[TABLE=align: center] [TR] [TD=align: left]Hello Whispera, CNS!!! Yes many of our nursing students attend the APA workshop (specially our first semester students). We usually scheduled intimately following lecture to improve attendance. We put it on the schedule at the beginning of the semester and we emphasize that attendance is expected. We also have a resource nurse/tutor that helps our students and it is vey well attended. She usually has a review session every Friday. She also puts a blank schedule on her door for one-to-one review sessions and students often fill up the blank schedule right away. I think that part of that is that our students are only allowed to fail a nursing course once and then they are dismissed from the program. For that reason, most of our students take advantage of resources provided. Thanks for your post,[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Wendy

Hello SHGR, MSN, RN! Thank you for sharing your experiences at your institution. My institution is an open-access institution and so many of our students require many remedial/developmental courses. Even though our the admission to the nursing program is selective (based on GPA and admission test scores), our attrition rate remains at (or above) 50%. I think that all of the support your program provides for your students are likely to be effective in achieving student success. Do you know what the nursing student attrition or graduation rate is at your institution? Thank you for your reply to my post, Wendy

Hello again! Thank you for the additional information. The full-time faculty members where I work attend a monthly meeting with the dean and other support staff. There we usually discuss retention and attrition issues as well as NCLEX scores of our students. I have worked as Adjunt faculty in a RN-BSN program and an Accelerated BSN program and I got the sense that these programs did not experience the same attrition rates (that's just based on my perceptions). Thanks Wendy

[TABLE=align: center] [TR] [TD=align: left]Hello Whispera, I hope you are well! It is interesting that many of the factors you perceive to be associate with student attrition are the same for the faculty at my institution. However, our students are ranked according to GPA and scores on the TEAS-V exam (for admission purposes). I have suggested including student interviews but I was informed that this might constitute discriminatory practices, as our college is an open-access institution. I have also suggested to require students to submit essays but have been told that this would not be feasible because our admissions committee is too small (lacks the man power to review the essays). We have a faculty resource nurse devoted to exams reviews and tutoring for our students. In my campus, I am considered the technology support person (a scary thought :). Additionally, I have been placing increased emphasis on APA style for our students. A colleague and I have implemented a writing and APA workshop for the past couple of years. Despite all of that, our attrition rates remains at 50% (or above). Since some of the strategies are different between your institution and my institution, I am curios to learn what the attrition rate at your institution is. Do you teach in an ADN or BSN program? Thank you for sharing your experiences and perspectives on the issue, Wendy [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

[TABLE=align: center] [TR] [TD=align: left]As a fulltime nursing faculty for the past several years, I have noticed low success rates at my institution first hand. Usually, in the first nursing course (Fundamentals of Nursing), the program admits a nursing cohort of 65 to 70 incoming students. By the time the students graduate, the cohort is reduced to about 30 to 35 nursing students. The institution where I teach is designated as a Hispanic and minority student-serving institution. Some of the literature suggested that these groups tend to have higher attrition rates. Graduation rates from these groups ranged about 8% for associate degree programs and 7% for baccalaureate degree programs. If you have had similar issues, I would love to hear your experiences If you teach in a nursing program, do you have similar issues with attrition? What do you think might be some factors related to the high attrition levels at your institution? Have you implemented any strategies to address attrition at your institution? Have these strategies being successful? If so, how? Thank you for sharing your experiences, Wendy [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Hello AJJKRN! Thanks for your reply. I agree with your statements on the issue. I think that the BSN-in-10 proposition that was made years ago is fair and feasible. Even obtaining a BSN in 5 years after graduation from an ADN program is realistic. A few years ago many of the hospitals in my area obtained Magnet status and stop hiring ADN graduates for the most part. Many of our graduates are limited to working in the sub-acute/long-term environment. You make a very good point about the cost of tuition and the burden that demanding the BSN as the minimal entry level would pose on many students. Many ADN programs serve minority and non-traditional students who might not otherwise be able to access the adult educational systems. I also think that an ADN education could be the start, but definitely not the end of nursing education. Thanks, Wendy

Thanks for your reply Keylimesqueez! That is interesting. In my area, many of my ADN graduates are having a difficult time finding employment in the acute care setting. Most hospitals in this area have shifted their preferences towards BSN graduates. Aside from the ability to find employment, which do you think should be the minimum entry level for nurses, ADN or BSN? Why? Thanks, Wendy

My apologies

I would love to hear your perspective on this debate! I teach in an associate degree (AD) nursing program and I agree that these programs serve a very specific segment of the population that might not otherwise have access the adult educational system. AD programs provide nursing graduates at a faster rate, which helps address the expected and worsening nursing shortage. I also think that an AD provides an adequate entry level for nursing practice but should not be considered the final educational destination for nurses. I think that nurses should absolutely continue to further their education. The BSN-in-10 proposal is feasible and very reasonable. New information continues to change rapidly and therefore nurses should take steps to keep abreast with the fast knowledge production. Would you agree? Thanks, Wendy