Does Prior RN Clinical Experience Predict Academic Success in Graduate Nurse Practitioner Programs?

Abstract

These findings serve as a building block of empirical evidence for admissions committees as they consider entry requirements for NP programs.

Predicting student success in nurse practitioner programs

“…The results showed that there was no relationship between the outcome variables for academic success: cumulative GPA, clinical course GPA, and course failures or academic probation. When compared to students with less academic experience, those with more academic experience were less likely to graduate in 4 years (El‐Banna et al., ).…”

Prior Work and Educational Experience Are Not Associated With Successful Completion of a Master's‐Level, Distance Education Midwifery Program

“…An evaluation of the first 2 years of the certified midwife program at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn found that no student midwives withdrew or were dismissed from the program . Studies that have evaluated nurse practitioner students similarly found that type of nursing preparation and whether or not a student had a previous advanced degree were not related to student success …”

“…Completion was chosen as the most relevant measure, but noncompletion is higher than the more frequently cited attrition, making comparison difficult . A study of factors related to completion of one institution's on‐site nurse practitioner programs found that while 77% of students overall graduated within 4 years, only 44% of African American students did, suggesting that subgroups of students are more likely not to complete graduate health programs …”

“…Research has largely centered on the predictive abilities of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and undergraduate grade point average (GPA) . Consistently, undergraduate GPA has been found to be associated with academic success in nurse practitioner programs . Results differ on whether GRE scores are associated with success, but in studies that showed that they were, the correlation was weak, and GPA was more strongly associated .…”

“…The research does suggest that emphasis on GRE scores and GPA is detrimental to increasing minority representation in graduate programs . The only study to explore the relationship between other factors and success in nurse practitioner programs found that nurses with 6 or more years of experience were significantly less likely than others to graduate within 4 years of entry; type of nursing degree was unrelated to success; and compared to white students, black and Asian students were significantly less likely to graduate within 4 years and had lower GPAs . No literature has explored the relationship between factors such as working during school and the presence of children in the home with academic success in nurse practitioner or midwifery programs in the United States.…”