Prediction of Nursing Student Performance in First Year Coursework

Abstract

The nursing shortage affects nurses in clinical practice and those who educate students in nursing education programs. An influx of students seeking admission into nursing programs in combination with the shortage of nursing faculty has led to the need to determine early in the admission process which nursing students will be successful in the nursing program and which students will not. This study investigated the relationship between the score on a nursing pre-admission examination, HESI A2, and cumulative grades from prerequisite academic support courses as predictors of success in the junior year of a baccalaureate nursing education program. Demographic characteristics, nursing theory course grades, and learning style, personality profile, and behavioral factors from the preadmission examination were analyzed as predictors. This study was designed using a retrospective correlational approach to determine predictors of success in the junior year of a baccalaureate nursing education program. Data from one hundred twenty eight students seeking admission into the program were analyzed. There was a statistically significant correlation between the grade point average of the prerequisite academic support courses and the HESI A2 cumulative score for the sample. There was a statistically significant relationship with both the admission GPA and the HESI A2 cumulative score with success in the junior year of the nursing education program. Use of the cumulative GPA of the pre-nursing academic support courses and the HESI A2 as admission criteria was supported in this study. Demographic data showed too few participants in the sample to provide an analysis or an absence of a statistically significant difference between those who were successful in the junior year and those who were not. A statistically significant difference was noted between analytical and global learning styles in the group that was not successful in the junior year.