Factors that Affect Nursing Students and their Completion of the Nursing Program:

 An Annotated Bibliography

Introduction

            Recently, I found and read three articles online that got me thinking about a question regarding students in the nursing program. As a pre-nursing student and hoping to enroll the in nursing program, I was attracted to the ideas presented in the articles because they were insightful and raised an interesting question: What prevents some students to not completing the nursing program? Nursing isn’t easy, but sometimes the students just don’t seem to be able to handle it. Some students just don’t seem to be able to handle the pressure, but is it them or the outside influences that causes them to leave? I was drawn to explore this further because I was concerned that I might face the same thing later on and hope I would be able to handle them. These questions encouraged me to investigate further and consider how students handle, or don’t handle, the positive and negative aspects of the program.

            The bibliography that follows is based on the idea that educational institutes that teach the students are not the biggest factor affecting the students. Rather, it seems to be the clinical placement and support of the mentors they are given. This is the article which encouraged me to look further and raised question the additional articles tried to answer. The question of why do students leave the program? These articles craft all these experiences and opinions together to form a teaching experience that I will remember when I encounter these obstacles.

Annotated Bibliography

Crombie, Alison, et al. “Factors That Enhance Rates Of Completion: What Makes Students Stay?.” Nurse Education Today 33.11 (2013): 1282-1287. CINAHL with Full Text. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Alison Crombie’s article, “Factors that enhance rates of completion: What makes students stay?” provides understanding of the influences that aid and thwart the attempts of nursing students. It explores the relationship between these factors and the retention rate of the students. The article includes the prediction of a shortage of nurses to fill job openings in the years to come. This problem stems from the departure of the nursing student in the program before it finishes. However, many students blossom in the clinical setting because of personal tutors, good preparation for placement in jobs, and good attitudes of mentors. If these elements are not up to par though, the student will have a much harder time trying to learn and keep up in the area. The article also expresses concern about a student’s personality as a factor in retention.

Crombie’s article was targets a specialized audience focused toward teachers and mentors in the nursing field, although, it could be particularly useful for students in the nursing field. This was possibly done in hopes that the rate would lower and students would achieve their dream. Reading this was informative and a steady warning of what could be coming. When the students gave their statements of what had happened to them, it fashioned a relatable aspect to the article that evokes your feelings on the topic. The article addresses the issue of what the role of students is and why they are often treated so poorly.

In addition to writing articles for The Lanclet, Alison Crombie works at a European General Hospital in the United Kingdom.

Cowin, L.S., and M. Johnson. “Many Paths Lead To Nursing: Factors Influencing Students’ Perceptions Of Nursing.” International Nursing Review 58.4 (2011): 413-419.Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

In “Many Paths Lead To Nursing: Factors Influencing Students’ Perceptions Of Nursing,” Cowin and Johnson express the idea that the qualities of nurses and nursing students are seriously affecting the retention rate. The article investigates the claim that nursing students without certain personality qualities will not succeed in the end. Nursing is a field of work where basically everyone already has a pre-conceived ideal of how the job is going to be and what it is going to take to be good at that job. It intensifies the need for students to be open-minded and not to have expectations about this because of the importance on certain values is ever-changing. It explains that this could be a factor in students not staying with the program because they have these ideal already set in concrete on their mind. This causes many students to go in believing they do not fit the image of the perfect nurse, and so they can’t take the pressure. These ideals cause some males and minority students to question whether or not they belong. There is evidence suggesting that there is a very significant difference in the perceptions of nursing and what being a nurse actually means. The research found that mature students who had realistic expectations and open mind are more likely to succeed in nursing.

This article’s information can be aimed as important career advice for school counselors and nursing teachers, so they can determine who has these ideals and help them through the obstacles. This could be potentially advantageous to students as it would help them see that not all appearances are true, and they need not worry about qualities and ideals that society has formed abut nurses. They do not need to be intimidated by them, and maybe this would help them figure out an answer when they are asked why they want to be a nurse.

Cowin and Johnson were both on the 2011 International Council of Nurses and they write for the International Nursing Review. Johnson, additionally, publishes articles for the US National Library of Medicine. Cowin works with the School of Nursing and Midwifery, and the College of Health Sciences.

Duckworth, Paula. “What Sort Of Future Do The Best And Brightest Have In Nursing?.” Nursing Standard 28.7 (2013): 34. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

                        In Paula Duckworth’s article “What Sort Of Future Do the Best and Brightest Have In Nursing?” she reports that it’s getting harder for students to continue the program because of all the payroll cuts. Financial aid is becoming harder and harder to find for nursing students, and it’s harder to stick to a profession when its pay is cut into smaller and smaller pieces. Paula expresses her great dislike of the government’s handling nurse salaries and she believes that this will affect the new nursing students. She worries that we are in danger of losing the best and smartest nurses we will ever have because of financial issues. She considers nursing morale to be at its lowest point yet.

                        Paula’s opinions offer a startling idea that can impact many students hopes for a job. The article seems to be aimed for nursing students to warn and, hopefully, cause some change in their future. It’s unfortunate, but without decent pay nursing student might try to find work in another area of expertise. While this isn’t as big a factor as others, this does cause some to reconsider their decision.

            Paula Duckworth publishes articles and writes scholarly letter on the different aspects of nursing for The Nursing Standard.

 

Advertisement

Bridgett Wells

ENG 131.04

Jane Lucas

17 November 2013

 

Blog Post #3: Summary and Response

                In Robin Wasserman’s article, “Stephen King saved my life,” she analyzes and gives her response to Stephen King and a select few of his books. She announces that Stephen King saved her life by giving her the salvation she needed to hear: You are powerful. She believes that the reason King is so easily adored by teens and tweens is because he doesn’t believe in them. He often skips over those sweet sixteen years reserved for learning and gaining experience. Robin says that the best of King’s characters are either on the verge of innocent or submerged in adult lust, for King, there is no in between. She thinks this is why teen love his work, because without him, they wouldn’t have be able to grow up.

                I do agree with some of Robin Wasserman’s opinions, however, I don’t think he doesn’t believe in teenagers. I think that he just doesn’t have any interest in the young adult genre. His novels were written for adults. You wouldn’t go into a book store and find Carrie next to Harry Potter. I think that Robin makes a fair point on how Stephen King’s books often do empower teenagers to overcome their problems. I’m not sure that it was healthy to use his books as a salvation because, well, his books are filled with gore. Many of his books are filled with blood-splattered, cringe-worthy moments. But Stephen King is a remarkably strange and wise author. 

Bridgett Wells

ENG 131.04

October 14, 2013

Summary and Response

“Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison was banned from Randolph County School because of a high school parent’s complaint about the book. The parent stated that she thought the book was filthy and too much for teenagers. She furthermore adds that the school must respect all religions, points of views of the parents, and what they deem age appropriate for their children. “Invisible Man” was one of three books that the rising high school juniors could choose for summer reading. The high school and district level committees recommended that the book not be removed because it addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans in the first half of the 20^th century. Despite the committee’s opinions, the county board voted in favor of banning the book. One board member stated that he voted to ban the book because he he didn’t find any literary value in it. Eventually the school-based media advisory and district media advisory committees agreed that the book should be kept in school libraries as an instructional literature piece.

I really disagreed with the parent’s complaint and the county board’s decision to ban “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison. The book provides a personal look into the life of a young African-American boy during the early 20^th century. It was that parent’s choice to allow her teenager to read the book, other parents may not have found the book to be inappropriate. The high school junior had two other books to choose from. I certainly don’t think it’s unsuitable for teenagers. Teenagers will undoubtedly hear, see, and say worse than is in the content of this book.

Bridgett Wells

ENG 131 Session 4

September 15, 2013

Thinking and Writing Question Three

3. The author’s in Chapter Two speak about the practice of writing as a process of making many choices as one decides what and how to compose. What happens to a writer’s ability to make decisions and choices when the writer is told to write one hundred times, “I will not talk in class”? (Clark 11)

Writing is used as a punishment and often a young writer is forced to write the same sentence over and over until it is believed they have learned from their mistake. When an act such as this is made it causes the writer to abandon their own ideas and creativity. They stop trying to come up with new thoughts and stop making decisions, as the decisions have already been made for them. This most often occurs between a teacher and a student. Not allowing a writer to make his or her own decisions and choices about their work causes them to avoid writing. The writer starts to dislike writing and go to great lengths to avoid it because, even if it isn’t being used as one, writing starts to feel like a punishment. Writing begins to feel tedious and uninspiring. The ability to make your own choices and introduce your own creative ideas into your work begins to diminish. It’s hard to make choices about your work when you are being forced to abide by strict guidelines in your writing. Once the writer’s creativity is greatly weakened or completely gone, it is hard to regain it because they will always have the thought in the back of their mind that they are doing something wrong. It’s unfortunate that this is the way many young writers are taught and punished.

Clark’s website:

http://www.roypeterclark.com/