Predicting success in the associate degree nursing program

Admission criteria for the selection of students are determined by educational institutions. Presently, no objective instrument is used consistently as a predictor of successful nursing program completion (Haglund, 1978). The nursing department in the community college in this study utilizes the prerequisite college grade point average and the National League for Nursing pre-admission test for admission into the school of nursing. Admission into the associate degree nursing program is based solely on these two criteria. The purpose of this study was to assess the merit of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal as a pre-admission criterion in conjunction with the currently utilized admission criteria of the college prerequisite grade point average and the National League of Nursing pre-admission test. The research question of this study was: Can the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal be utilized along with the college prerequisite grade point average and the National League for Nursing pre-admission test in a prediction formula for success in the Associate Degree Nursing Program? Data were collected from 192 associate degree nursing students. The setting was a community college in southeastern Florida that is currently accredited by the National League for Nursing. The subjects completed the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal at the beginning of the associate degree program. Data from students' records revealed the college prerequisite grade point average and the National League for Nursing pre-admission test scores. A discriminant analysis was computed to determine the significance of the prediction formula of Y1 = c + b1 X + b2 X2+ b3 X3. The dependent variable was the nursing grade point average. The independent variables were the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal; the college prerequisite grade point average; and the National League for Nursing pre-admission test score (F = 14.847; df = 191; p < .001). The predictor variables of college prerequisite grade point average, National League for Nursing pre-admission test score, and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal score were significant in predicting success in the associate degree nursing program as measured by the dependent variable nursing grade point average. The prediction formula as a whole had a significance level p < .001, thereby rejecting the null hypothesis.