Strategies for retention of nursing students: A scoping review. (January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mitchell, Kim M.; Baxter, Catherine E.; Gural, Deborah M.; Chorney, Meagen A.; Simmons-Swinden, Joanna M.; Queau, Michelle L.; Nayak, Nichole
• Is Part Of: Nurse education in practice. Volume 50(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-01
• Subjects: Student retention -- Academic integration -- Social integration -- Program evaluation -- Nursing education -- Scoping review; Nursing -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Education, Nursing -- Periodicals; Nursing -- Study and teaching; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 610.73071
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102956
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1471-5953

Abstract

Abstract: Retention of students in nursing programs is a costly concern that affects the supply and demand of nurses to the healthcare system. Successful retention strategies require consideration of social and academic institutional systems with attention to student integration in a program. This systematic review explores implemented retention strategies in nursing programs worldwide and provides guidance for nursing programs and researchers considering the retention question. Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methods informed this review. CINAHL, ERIC, PsychINFO, and MEDLINE, databases were searched from January 1998 to December 2019. Data was extracted from 112 full text papers and dissertations. Papers were of varying quality and inconsistently evaluated, usually lacking theoretical grounding. Student participants in strategies were preselected by racial minority status or through various markers of academic performance. Retention strategies described in the literature are single program and multifactorial, with mentorship, study skills, literacy and language approaches, and tutoring the most common components. Reports of graduation rates or attrition rates through comparison with a pre-strategy time period or a comparison group were the most informative evaluations. Whole-program strategies that provided pathway options to students based on reading assessments or other academic criteria were the most comprehensive and effective strategies presented in the literature. Highlights: Programs to retain nursing students focus on at-risk and minority populations. Successful retention strategies attend to social and academic integration. Better attention to strategy evaluation is needed in future retention research. Issues of retention are intersectional and multifactorial. Whole program retention strategies were most successful at engaging nursing students.