Antecedents of nursing school attrition: attitudinal dimensions

In an attempt to identify attitudinal orientations that might be used as indicators of attrition, demographic, academic performance, and attitudinal data on 261 students enrolled in the Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, Atlanta, between 1968 and 1972, were studied. Traditional measures of scholastic aptitude were not found to be good indicators. The higher the father's educational attainment, the more likely attrition was to occur. The higher the mother's occupational status, the less likely attrition was to occur. Attitudinal measures used in the study seemed to have little direct impact on attrition.