| The nursing shortage in Michigan, as well as, in all other states has increased the public interest in the profession of nursing. Therefore, in 2000, a local college in southeastern Michigan instituted a nursing program. The development of the program was based on the demand for nurses and the career opportunities available for the students in related fields. The nursing program has a limited number of seats for students and thus requires an application/selection process. The college's selection process is similar to that of other schools with nursing programs and is based on the student's grade point average as well as other criteria. Its nursing program accepts students who have proven to be above average academically with a grade point average ranging from 3.75--4.0 in their course grades. Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service reported a decrease in graduates from all nursing programs in the United States. Attrition in nursing programs is a major issue causing increased cost of education and the loss of seating capacity in nursing programs which limits enrollment. Like other colleges, this local college has also noted the increase in the attrition rates of nursing students. Therefore, in 2005, this college initiated the requirement for nursing applicants to take the Nurse Entrance Test (NET), hoping to improve the success rate in the nursing program. This research study focused on the results of implementing the NET as part of the selection criteria. In particular the goal of this study was to find a co-relation using statistical tests between the various sections and sub-sections of the NET and the student success rate. When combining all of the data available to this study, a co-relation was found between Composite Scores and in particular Scientific Reading Comprehension and the graduation success rate. |
