A model of nursing student retention.

A model of nursing student retention was studied in nontraditional, associate degree nursing students. Student retention was defined as persistence, or choosing to continue in a nursing program, and successful academic performance, or meeting the necessary academic standards to continue in a nursing program. The model shows the interaction of background variables, internal psychological processes, and external supports, and their relationships to persistence and academic performance. Participants were 458 nontraditional associate degree nursing students. There were significant differences in background variables between students who persisted and those who withdrew voluntarily or failed academically. Perceived faculty support was related to both persistence and academic performance, such that students with higher perceived faculty support were more likely to continue in a nursing program until graduation and were more likely to be successful academically. Students with higher perceived faculty support also had higher outcome expectations of earning an associate degree in nursing.

Training nursing students in evidence-based techniques for cognitive-behavioral pediatric pain management.

This study evaluates the effects of a didactic training program for nursing students involving developmentally appropriate strategies for cognitive-behavioral pain management in children. Junior-level nursing students were assigned to one of two groups: training or control. Pretraining and posttraining knowledge and attitudes toward pain management were assessed. Implementation of cognitive-behavioral strategies was assessed via clinical role-play. Training participants had significantly more knowledge of cognitive-behavioral strategies after the training program versus before it, and they had more knowledge after the training program than did control participants. The training had no effect on attitude. In the role-play, training participants used a higher ratio of cognitive-behavioral strategies and implemented them in a higher quality manner than did control participants. These results suggest that a brief training program in cognitive-behavioral pain management can improve nursing students' knowledge of cognitive-behavioral pain management strategies and ability to implement them.

Faculty support and student retention.

A study was conducted to explore the relationship between nursing students' perceived faculty support and nursing student retention. The 458 associate degree nursing students who participated were categorized according to their persistence-those who had persisted continuously throughout a nursing program, those who had withdrawn voluntarily at some time during a program, and those who had been required to withdraw because of academic failure. Perceived faculty support was measured by scores on the Perceived Faculty Support Scale, an instrument developed by the researcher for this study. A factor analysis of the instrument revealed two factors-psychological support, directed at promoting a sense of competency and self-worth, and functional support, directed at the achievement of tasks to reach the goals of persistence and academic success. Analysis of variance revealed persistence group differences in perceived faculty support. Students who reported greater perceived faculty support were more likely to persist throughout a nursing program than students who withdrew either voluntarily or because of academic failure. To promote retention of nursing students, faculty need to provide the caring atmosphere of a mentoring relationship and direct assistance to facilitate student learning.