| Although there are a number of anecdotal reports on demographic characteristics and academic success of accelerated nursing students, few empirical studies have been undertaken to examine these students' success, despite this type of programs' existence for more than a decade, and only three studies have sought to examine the perspective of the accelerated nursing student. Using Knowles' adult learning theory as a guiding framework, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore, from the accelerated nursing students' perspective, the factors they reported as contributing to their success on the NCLEX-RN. This study also examined demographic characteristics of these accelerated students. The data were drawn from interviews with 12 accelerated nursing program graduates in a mid-Atlantic university. The research questions aimed to elicit participants' descriptions of their experiences and factors contributing to their success from individual interviews. An important finding for accelerated nursing curriculum development was the practicing of NCLEX-RN questions as the participants reported this was the factor that contributed most to their NCLEX-RN success. In addition, the participants indicated clinical experiences, their cohort study group, an array of supports, and participation in a review course all contributed to their success. The findings of this study have several implications for educational policy and practice, universities, and schools of nursing as the information gleaned from this study applies to recruitment and retention as well as curriculum strategies in an accelerated nursing program. |
