EXPLORING STUDENTS’ VIEWS ON PERSISTENCE ON NURSING PROGRAMMES: AN INTERACTIVE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
In a context of national nursing shortages, reducing attrition on undergraduate nursing programmes is a high priority. Existing models of retention and attrition derive largely from the USA with limited applicability to the UK context. In this study a new model is developed which seeks to map the interrelationships between student-identified factors associated with ‘staying the course’ on nursing programmes. Using Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) – a methodology not previously applied to persistence in the UK or indeed to pre-registration nursing anywhere in the world – the study seeks an understanding of the experience of persisting on an undergraduate nursing degree from the start to finish, from the perspective of the students themselves. A multi-site IQA study was designed involving four UK HEIs. Following a pilot phase, four workshops were conducted across the HEIs with a total of 25 students. Semistructured follow-up interviews were conducted with three workshop participants at each site in order to further elucidate issues raised, and themes discussed, during the workshops. The researcher was able to identify five participant-generated themes which the students themselves perceived to be the most important and exert the greatest influence of their desire to remain on-programme: Political Context, Support, Motivation, Placement/ Caring for Patients and Personal Goal Achievement. These superordinate factors were commonly identified by all study participants. The study finds that a single ‘one-size-fits-all’ model explaining the phenomenon of undergraduate student nurse persistence is neither possible nor desirable. Instead, it shows how elucidating commonalities in the experience of persistence can indicate interventions and strategies to enhance the student journey. Such an approach stands to provide universities with detailed insight on the nursing student experience, allowing the tailoring of provision, and improving the experience of ‘staying the course’ – an outcome which in turn has the potential to positively impact retention rates.
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