Predicting National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses Performance

The Baccalaureate Nursing program in San Antonio, Texas experienced a decrease in National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) on the first attempt for students graduating between 2009 and 2014 without a clear explanation for the decline. The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental correlational study was to analyze retrospective data from the school of nursing in San Antonio to determine the extent to which multiple variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity, cumulative pre-nursing GPA, cumulative GPA of nursing courses, remediation, and the Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) examination predicted NCLEX-RN performance. The research question was: Is the ATI comprehensive examination a significant predictor of the NCLEX-RN performance of graduating nursing students in the San Antonio, Texas nursing program, either (a) on its own; or (b) in combination with other independent variables. The statistical problem was directed toward identifying the significant variables that predicted the NCLEX-RN performance of graduating nursing students between 2009 and 2014 using binary logistic regression analysis. The proportion of N = 334, nurses who passed the NCLEX-RN was n = 232, 69.5%. The answer to the research question, based on odds ratios (OR) was that NCLEX-RN performance could not be predicted solely by using the ATI predictor examinations. The ATI examination score was the strongest predictor of passing the NCLEX-RN (OR = 1.59) Ethnicity (OR = 1.38) and the combined pre-nursing and nursing GPA (OR = 1.28) were also found to be predictors of NCLEX-RN performance. The proportions of NCLEX-RN failures and need for remediation were highest among the African-American students. The gender and age of the students were not significant predictors of NCLEX-RN performance. The results of this research can be utilized by the San Antonio nursing program, as well as other nursing programs, to identify and address the factors identity of those graduating nursing students who are at risk of failing the NCLEX-RN. The researcher has shown that the predictor variables of the ATI predictor examination, cumulative college and nursing GPA's, and ethnicity have a statistically significant correlation and therefore have impact on first time NCLEX-RN test takers passing the exam. It is recommended that Bachelor Degree Programs in Nursing focus on specific strategies within their institutions that would have a direct impact on these variables.