The relationship between educational preparation and performance on nursing certification examinations.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Health Professions
• Professional Certification

Background:

• The relationship between educational preparation and professional performance is a key area in nursing.
• Existing literature presents a complex picture, particularly regarding licensure exams.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically investigate the relationship between nursing educational preparation and performance on certification examinations.
• To analyze data from 12 different examinations administered by the American Nurses Association (ANA) in 1985.

Main Methods:

• Meta-analytic procedures were used to cumulate, average, and compare standardized effect sizes.
• Comparisons included baccalaureate vs. prebaccalaureate, master's vs. baccalaureate, and master's vs. prebaccalaureate levels.
• Data comprised 12,308 registered nurses (RNs).

Main Results:

• Effect sizes were consistently positive and statistically significant across all comparisons.
• Nurses with higher educational preparation generally achieved higher scores on certification examinations.
• This contrasts with findings on RN licensure examinations where baccalaureate candidates sometimes score lower.

Conclusions:

• Higher nursing education is associated with superior performance on certification exams.
• The observed difference between certification and licensure exam performance is not necessarily anomalous.
• Licensure and certification serve distinct professional functions, potentially explaining performance disparities.