GROWTH: A Strategy for Nursing Student Retention

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Student Retention Strategies

Background:

• Nursing students frequently encounter challenges with study skills, time management, and critical thinking.
• Identifying affective, environmental, and psychosocial factors is crucial for nursing student success.
• The GROWTH (Growth, Readiness, Opportunity, Work, Time management, and Habits) form is introduced to address these barriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the GROWTH form as a tool for faculty to identify factors impeding nursing student success.
• To facilitate structured faculty-student interactions focused on academic performance.

Main Methods:

• Faculty utilized the GROWTH form during initial meetings with prelicensure nursing students.
• The form employs open-ended questions to explore student variables.

Main Results:

• The GROWTH form promotes structured, focused faculty-student meetings.
• It enables the creation of individualized action plans for underperforming students.
• The form fosters student accountability and ownership of their learning process.

Conclusions:

• The GROWTH form enhances faculty-student communication and encourages self-reflection.
• Further research is recommended to evaluate the form's impact on program progression and retention.