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The relationship between baccalaureate nursing admissions criteria and student outcomes

University of British Columbia

A longitudinal correlational study was conducted to examine the relationship between admissions criteria for direct entry with advanced standing into the third year of the University of British Columbia's Baccalaureate Nursing Program and student outcomes, operationalized as students' academic achievement and perceived ability in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to determine whether the current admissions process identifies applicants who succeed in their academic studies and clinical practice. A further aim was to determine whether the resource intensive procedure of reviewing and rating supplemental application and interview materials has greater predictive power than that of admission grade point average (GPA) alone. The findings indicate several correlations between the admissions criteria and the dependent variable of first-term GPA. A significant positive relationship was found between the students' admission GPA and their first-term GPA (r = .55). Interestingly, a significant negative relationship was found between the students' supplemental scores and their first-term GPA (r = -.44). The relationship between the students' interview ratings and their academic achievement (first-term GPA) was not statistically significant. The findings indicate one significant correlation between the admissions criteria and the dependent variable of Clinical Skills Self-efficacy Scale scores (CSSE Scale). A significant negative relationship was found between the students' interview scores and their scores on the CSSE Scale 'later' measure (r = -.40). None of the other relationships between the admissions criteria variables and perceived ability in clinical practice (CSSE Scale) was significant. The findings suggest that admission GPA is the strongest predictor of a student's first-term G PA and that the interview and supplemental data added little to the prediction equation. There is little evidence to recommend valid, non-academic predictors of nursing students' academic achievement. Consequently, admissions committees bent on considering qualities beyond pre-admission GPA remain in uncharted waters.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-11-17

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/15092

Nursing

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace