1
Summary of Major Studies; full reference citation can be seen in article references
Source
Beeman and
Butler, 2001
Study
Design
Descriptive
correlational
Discriminant
analysis
Independent
Dependent
Sample
Results
SAT, biology,
physiology,
pathophysiology
Soph GPA & nursing
course grades
Admission GPA,
previous healthcare
experience, and
others
NCLEX pass
Biology I and II and physiology did not predict NCLEX
success while Pathophysiology did
College GPA, ACT,
high school GPA,
ACT/SAT, unspecified
standardized entrance
exam & others
Admission interviews
NCLEX pass
538 BSN
students,
Convenience,
random
assignment
34 Saudi
Arabian
accelerated
BSN,
convenience
160 BSN
program
deans in 38
states & DC
Interviews reduce attrition that stems from personal
reasons
Retention at
end of Level 1
nursing
courses
Initial and final
nursing grades
and success
on NCLEX
NCLEX pass
or fail
Israli
applicants to
1 university
program
137 BSN
program
students in 1
program
121 ADN
students in 1
program
368 BSN
students in 1
program
Admission GPA not useful predictor of NCLEX
success or failure. Verbal SAT score was statistically
significant predictor
213 students
in 1 ADN
program
A & P grades significantly correlated with graduation
and NCLEX pass. Microbiology grades correleated
with graduation only. Science portion of preadmission
test correlated with NCLEX passing
Carty et al.,
2007
Descriptive
quantitative,
correlational
Crow et al,
2004
Descriptive
correlational
Ehrenfeld &
Tabak, 2000
Mixed
method
Ellis, 2006
Descriptive,
correlational
NET exam & others
Gallagher,
et al., 2001
Descriptive
correlational,
prospective
NET & RNEE exams
Haas, et al.,
2004
Descriptive
correlational,
retrospective
Higgens,
2005
Mixed
method
Admission college
GPA, nursing
cumulative GPA &
others
Prerequisite course
grades (sciences,
math, psychology,
english), unspecified
preadmission test &
others
Graduation
GPA
Attrition rate
Attrition rates,
NCLEX pass
rates
Admission GPA significant predictor of completion
Standardized entrance exam & SAT significantly
related to NCLEX pass rates, however higher SAT
scores associated with lower pass rates so not good
predictor
NET critical thinking portions helped predict early
academic success
RNEE reading comprehension score predicted
success in NUR 101, not of NCLEX success.
However NUR 101 predictive of NCLEX success
2
Horton,
2006
Retrospective
correlational
study
Graduation &
NCLEX pass
351 students
in 1 BSN
program
Admission GPA significant but weak predictor of
graduation & NCLEX pass. Science grades not
significant
Graduation
and NCLEX
pass
112 students
in 1 ADN
program
Prerequisite GPA did not significantly influence
graduation or licensure
Descriptive
Admission college
GPA, Science grades,
nursing course grades
and other
Prerequsite GPA
(Anatomy&
physiology, english,
ethics, psychology) &
nursing grades
Admission interviews
Jeffreys,
2006
Retrospective
correlational
McNelis et
al., 2010
Student/staff
satisfaction
Students and staff reacted positively to
implementation. No other measures of success
McLauglin,
et al., 2007
Longitudinal
correlational
Personality traits per
questionnaire
Attrition, Final
academic
performance
Newton, et
al., 2007
Exploratory
Descriptive
Overall first
semester
nursing GPA
Newton, et
al., 2009
Exploratory
Descriptive
7 Nursing prerequisite
courses (science,
english, psychology),
TEAS test
7 Nursing prerequisite
courses (science,
english, psychology),
TEAS
165 students
and 45
interviews in
1 BSN
program
350 nursing
students in
one
university in
Ireland
164 students
in 1 BSN
program
107 students
in 1 BSN
program
Prerequisite GPA predictive of exit exam score
however, TEAS preadmission scores was not
predictive of exit score
Potolsky et
al., 2003
Descriptive
correlational
Prerequisite grades in
chemistry,
microbiology and
anatomy & physiology
37 students
in 1 BSN
program
Prerequisite science grades are predictive of early
academic performance
Phillips, et
al., 2002
Longitudinal
correlational
Anatomy/physiology
and microbiology,
overall college GPA,
english GPA, number
of repeat biology
courses and many
others
5007
students in
20 ADN
programs in
CA
Core biology courses, overall college GPA, English
GPA and number of repeats of core biology courses
predicted program completion
Attrition late in
program and
score on exit
exam ATI
Predictor
First semester
performance in
pathology,
and/or
pharmacology
Program
completion
Self-efficacy, predicted academic performance.
Extraversion negatively correlated with performance.
Higher score on psychoticism scale associated with
attrition
TEAS and nursing prerequsite GPA significant
predictors of first semester achievement
3
Roncoli,
2000
Descriptive
correlational
Graduation GPA,
nursing course
grades, science
grades, repeat
courses and others
Admission interviews
Passing
NCLEX
38 students
in 1 BSN
program
Achievement in science prerequisites correlated with
passing NCLEX
Rosenberg
et al., 2007
Not formal
(program
evaluation)
Attrition
20-30% attrition in traditional (does not interview) vs.
10-15% accelerated program which does interviews.
Interviews begun at start of accelerated program so
no prior attrition data
Retrospective
mixed
method
Admission essays
Attrition
Accelerated
& traditional
program with
second
degree
students
(number not
given) in 1
university
236 students
in 1 BSN
program
Sadler, 2003
Sayles, et
al, 2003
Correlational,
comparative
NCLEX
success
Seago, et
al., 2008
Instrument
validation
NET, ACT, PreRN
exit exit, overall GPA
and others
Psychometric
constructs
Seldomridge
, et al., 2004
Retrospective
correlational
NCLEX
success and
failure
Simmons et
al., 2004
Exploratory
descriptive
Admission college
GPA, grades in:
Pathophysiology,
Anatomy/physiology,
Statistics, Chemistry,
nursing course grades
and others
NET test
Stuenkel,
2006
Descriptive
Correlational
Admission college
GPA, NLN pre-test,
SAT, nursing grades,
other
NCLEX pass
or fail status
Results of
psychometric
testing
Program
completion
68 students
in 1 ADN
program
796 students
in 4
community
colleges
186 students
in 1 BSN
program
202 students
from diploma,
ADN, BSN
programs
312 students
from 1 BSN
program
Non-completers wrote about nursing as external to
self as opposed to completers who exhibited
internalized view of nursing. Several noncompleters
had worked in paid healthcare positions but no
noncompleters had personal experience with a nurse
Net score useful in predicting NCLEX success
Support for using certain constructs; others need
further refinement and testing
Pathophysiology only preadmission variable to
achieve statistical significance. Predicting NCLEX
failure more difficult than success
NET Composite and reading comprehension scores
significantly predicted
80% of students classified correctly as pass/fail using
GPA, NLN pre-test & SAT
4
Symes et
al., 2005
Descriptive
correlational
Trice et al.,
2008
Not formal
(program
evaluation)
Uyehara et
al., 2007
Descriptive
Correlational
Vandenhout
en, 2008
Retrospective
correlational
Wharrad et
al., 2003
Longitudinal
correlational
Yin, et al.,
2003
Retrospective
correlational
Admission college
GPA, science GPA,
NET
Admission Interview
Graduation
Pre-requisite GPA,
Admission college
GPA, NLN prenursing, nursing
course grades, exit
exam, other
ACT scores, nursing
course grades, exit
exam, other
A grades in GCSE
courses and number
of A level points on
entry to program
NCLEX pass &
program
graduation
within 1
semester of
expected date
NCLEX
success and
failure
Course marks
in nursing
program
High school GPA,
class rank, ACT,
admission college
GPA, others
NCLEX pass
NCLEX pass
rate, attrition,
diversity
582 students
from 2 BSN
programs
86 students
interviewed in
1 BSN
program
280 students
in 1 BSN
program
Admission GPA, science GPA & net reading & math
significantly correlated
296 students
in 1 BSN
program
181 students
in 1
baccalaureat
e program in
England
325
graduates of
ADN program
ACT and age only preadmission variable to
significantly predict success on NCLEX
Adding an interview allowed increased minority
admissions without affecting attrition or NCLEX pass
No preadmission variables were significantly
correlated with either NCLEX pass or graduation
Number of GCSE A grades significantly predicted
success
College GPA on admission, psychology natural
science grades correlated with pass