Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to develop and implement study sessions to reduce attrition and increase first semester nursing student success.

Background: Each semester, 80-100 students begin the nursing program at Lewis University. The attrition rate for first semester nursing students at a traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program has been running between 20-40% over the past few years.

Method: Bi-weekly moderated study sessions were developed and implemented for first semester nursing students, and a total of 78 students participated in these study sessions. These sessions included study and test taking strategies, National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) practice questions, and content review.

Findings: The study sessions were found to have a positive impact on student grades and there was a statistically significant impact on student progression (p= < .05) when the student participated in the moderated study session within the first weeks of the semester. Participants identified the study sessions as very helpful.

Conclusion: It is recommended that the study sessions be continued with each cohort of first semester nursing students.

Author Details

Donna L. Martin, MSN, RN-BC, CDE, Assistant Professor

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Lead Author Affiliation

Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois, USA

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Other

Keywords:

Nursing Students, Attrition, Retention, Success

Advisor

Linda Matheson

Second Advisor

Jill Schramm

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Capella University

Degree Year

2015

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Date of Issue

2015-03-16

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