GROWTH: A Strategy for Nursing Student Retention

Faculty focused on student success may look for opportunities to facilitate nursing student retention. Students commonly struggle with study skills, time management, and critical thinking in the nursing curriculum. This article presents the GROWTH (Growth, Readiness, Opportunity, Work, Time management, and Habits) form, an open-ended question form aimed at the identification of affective, environment, and psychosocial variables known to impede nursing student success.

Faculty used the GROWTH form when meeting with students in the beginning of the prelicensure program.

Using the GROWTH form facilitates structured, focused faculty-student meetings and individualized action plans for students who are not achieving their desired level of academic performance. The GROWTH form also encourages students to take ownership of their own learning.

Using the GROWTH form facilitates faculty-student meetings and encourages student self-reflection. Future research should investigate whether use of the GROWTH form has further implications for program progression and retention. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(3):173-177.].