NURSING STUDENT DROPOUTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME BACCALAUREATE STUDENTS.

Description

The purpose of this study was to identify differences, if any, between full-time and part-time upper division, generic, baccalaureate nursing students. The sample was drawn from one large school of nursing, and included 778 former nursing students and 311 current nursing students. Data were collected from student records. Current students also completed a personal data sheet and an instrument designed to measure institutional integration. The study compared admission characteristics and institutional integration in relation to persistence of full-time and part-time students. Using Chi square tests, t-tests, and analysis of variance, full-time and part-time students were found to have significantly different personal and academic characteristics on admission. They also differed in academic achievement in the school of nursing with full-time students scoring higher on all measures tested. The proportion of students who persisted in the school until graduation was significantly greater for full-time than part-time students. Comparisons of students who voluntarily selected part-time study and those who were forced into the option in order to repeat courses revealed some differences between the subgroups. Institutional integration was measured by a 34-item set of scales. The only scale on which full-time and part-time students differed was designed to measure Peer Group Interaction. Part-time students scored significantly lower on that scale. Scores of persisters and nonpersisters were not significantly different on any of the scales. Institutional Integration, as measured by the scales, did not contribute to an explanation of persistence in this sample. It was concluded that part-time students are different from full-time students, on admission in their nursing school academic achievement, and in persistence until graduation. Since part-time enrollments are predicted to increase, additional study is warranted to explain factors which influence their success.

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