First Advisor

Cullen, Patricia

College

Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

School

Loretto Heights School of Nursing

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

102 pages

Abstract

Executive Summary
In Latino nursing students, the implementation of the Twenty-Four-Three Study plan demonstrated at least one letter grade increase in their overall grades within a midterm time frame. As our nation’s Latino populations are exploding, this has given rise to challenges that the profession of nursing faces. Latino populations are experiencing high levels of health care disparities which are compounded by a low national Latino RN representation of 3.9%. This is further compounded by an unusually high Latino student nurse attrition rates which can reach up to 80% by some estimates.

The purpose of this study was to provide Latino nursing students with a study method with a goal designed to increase their overall grades in order to decrease early attrition and increase student retention. The literature has shown little evidence supporting this important area of nursing education. The Twenty-Four-Three Study Plan is a one of a kind strategy which has shown great promise in the area of addressing this vital issue.

The Capstone

Project Problem-Intervention-Comparison-Outcome (PICO) for this project was: Will Latino vocational and associate degree nursing students using the Twenty-Four Three Study plan achieve higher course grades than students with no exposure to the study plan?

This pilot study was conducted by a sole investigator with practice site locations consisting of a community college Latino associate degree (ADN) cohort and a vocational nursing (VN) cohort, the study period consisted of a midterm period for both research samples. Grades were collected with student follow up every two weeks until completion of the study. The independent samples t-test, with the purpose of testing the difference between two independent groups provided a strong statistical analysis for this study.

Vocational nurse cohorts: Reject the null (t=3.807, p=.003). There is a difference in means between the experimental group and the comparison groups with the experimental vocational nursing group posting overall higher grades than did the comparison group (CI: .0676835 to .2533365). Associate degree nursing cohort: Reject the null (t=3.604, p=.001). There is a difference in means between the experimental group and the comparison groups (a negative direction), with a mean difference of: -.06932070, (CI: -.1085514 to -.0300900).

Conclusion: The mean differences between the vocational nurse experimental and comparison cohorts were statistically significant at p=.003, with an effect size of .63. The associate degree nursing cohort demonstrated no statistical significance (p=.001) with an effect size of .53. Due to a negative direction in means which is explained by the presence of confounding variables in the associate degree experimental cohort.

Recommendations: Small pilot study significant findings indicates need for further research in the area of study strategies for Latino nursing students.

Date of Award

Winter 2015

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

Download

Share

COinS