Academic failure and its predictors in Baccalaureate nursing students: A longitudinal study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Student Success
• Academic Performance

Background:

• Prior studies on academic failure in nursing students have focused on single variables with inconsistent results.
• Multiple factors influence academic failure, necessitating a comprehensive approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• Describe sociodemographic and academic characteristics of nursing students experiencing academic failure.
• Identify determinants of on-time degree completion in nursing students.

Main Methods:

• Prospective follow-up study in an Italian Baccalaureate Nursing Degree program.
• Sample: 2,040 students at baseline, 753 for determinant analysis.
• Utilized validated scales for academic self-efficacy, psychomotor skills self-efficacy, and motivation; employed two-stage hierarchical logistic regression.

Main Results:

• 69.4% of nursing students experienced academic failure.
• Key predictors included secondary school certification grade and university pre-admission test score.
• Academic self-efficacy, psychomotor skills self-efficacy, and clinical training grades were also significant predictors.

Conclusions:

• Secondary school grades, pre-admission test scores, low academic self-efficacy, low psychomotor skills self-efficacy, and low clinical grades predict nursing student academic failure.
• Universities should consider pre-admission test cut-offs for identifying at-risk students.
• Nursing faculty should implement strategies to improve student self-efficacy and motivation.