Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether a combination of grade point averages from high school and one year of prescribed courses in a liberal arts college could be used as a tool in the prediction of scholastic success in two selected schools of nursing.

A descriptive survey of grades and test results was done on 121 students from these schools. The nursing school CPA and results from the state board test pool were used as criteria of success. Total GPA's from secondary school and college, and grades in English, science and non-science subjects were the predictors.

The correlations between the criteria and the predictors for the total group ranged from 0.38 to 0.71. In order of Importance, the best predictors were total GPA, non-science and science grades. English grades yielded the lowest correlations.

The correlations between the criteria varied, being high in one school and low in the other. Reason for this may have been due to:

1. Entrance grades were too high or too low compared with what was expected on state board.

2. The grading system used in the school of nursing differed from that of the state board.

3. Students were not taught the content given on state board examination.

4. The state board test pool was not a good measure of what a professional nurse should know.

The conclusions were that the GPA's of prescribed courses in a liberal arts college alone or combined with secondary school were the best predictors of scholastic success. Science and non-science grades were also good predictors of success. The combination of the secondary school and college GPA's and grades yielded slightly higher correlations. The secondary school grades, therefore, were valuable as predictors.

It was recommended that:

1. A similar study be done on all Seventh-day Adventist Schools of Nursing requiring college entrance courses.

2. Since communication skills are important to nurses, study should be given to ascertain the reasons English did not appear to be a good predictor of success.

3. A study to determine the correlation between nursing school GPA's and results of the state board test pool in a local area or nationally would be of interest.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Maxine Atteberry

Second Advisor

R. Maureen Maxwell

Third Advisor

Robert Woods

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1963

Date (Title Page)

6-1963

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Education; Nursing

Type

Thesis

Page Count

vi; 65

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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