New Careers In Nursing Program Research Articles

Gender Differences and Similarities in Accelerated Nursing Education Programs: Evidence of Success From the New Careers in Nursing Program.

The aim of the study was to examine the profile of male students in accelerated nursing education programs (ANEPs) focusing on key demographic, educational, and outcome variables and compare male and female students on these variables. Though ANEPs have proliferated over the last two decades, there has been little study of students enrolled in these programs and, consequently, the role ANEPs could play in enhancing nursing workforce diversity. This study is a secondary analysis of data collected from 3,502 students who participated in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing Program from 2008 to 2016. ANEP completion and NCLEX-RN success rates were strong overall. Male and female ANEP students differed on several dimensions often associated with academic success, differences that have relevance for purposes of teaching, research, and program planning. ANEPs could be an effective mechanism for increasing the gender, racial, and ethnic diversity of the nursing workforce.

Differences in Gender-related Profile Characteristics, Perceptions, and Outcomes of Accelerated Second Degree Nursing Students.

The New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) program provided scholarships and other supports to accelerated degree students at 130 nursing schools and collected data from the scholars at three time-points. The NCIN database was analyzed to identify gender-based differences in scholars' profile characteristics, program experiences, and post-graduation outcomes. An adaptation of Jeffreys's Nursing Universal Retention and Success Model guided the analysis. Gender differences were assessed after multiplicity adjustments for false positive rates. Differences based on gender were found for profile characteristics, student affective factors, academic factors, professional integration factors, environmental factors, as well as academic, psychological and NCIN program outcomes. Results suggest that males were influenced by economic factors more than females when choosing nursing as a career. They had fewer concerns about financial aspects associated with being a student again yet secured employment sooner after graduation than female scholars. They did not view support services as important as did female students. They expressed confidence in their leadership competence more than their female counterparts. Efforts are needed to better understand and address the nuanced gender-based perceptions and needs of nursing students who are male.

New Careers in Nursing: An Effective Model for Increasing Nursing Workforce Diversity.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing developed the New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) program to address the nursing shortage, increase workforce diversity, and raise the profession's educational level. The program provided scholarships to second-degree underrepresented or economically disadvantaged (UED) students attending an accelerated nursing program to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. A midwestern university received three academic-year cycles of NCIN funding. The program's model, resources, and functioning are described. The NCIN provided exceptional financial and program support that received high marks from participants. During the three award cycles, 20 UED scholars graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Nineteen of the 20 scholars passed the NCLEX-RN on the first attempt. While the NCIN program has ended, nursing school administrators and faculty wishing to promote UED student success should consider using the program's model and resources as the basis for their own program. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(3):178-183.].

Setting the Stage for Success: Mentoring and Leadership Development.

The New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) Program funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has expanded enrollment in schools of nursing with accelerated nursing programs and increased diversity in the nursing workforce. As the demand for highly educated and skilled nurses continues to grow, accelerated nursing programs are thriving and increasing in number. The growing cadre of nontraditional nursing students has challenged nursing faculty to institute innovative teaching methods to develop accelerated students' leadership skills and to provide mentoring resources for newly licensed nurses to guide the successful and complex transition from the student to professional practice. To support its grantee schools and their scholars, the NCIN National Program office has supported the development and distribution of toolkits and other resources and solicited request for proposals to recognize outstanding contributions. The Program Innovation grants are intended to support nurse faculty educators working to develop and enhance educational projects to implement innovative approaches to accelerated nursing education that can be taken to scale and replicated in a variety of educational settings. The Legacy Award honors a program that describes lasting impact on the school as a result of participation in the NCIN program. Two of these projects are described with emphasis on leadership development and transition to practice.

A Study of the Influence of the New Careers in Nursing Program on the Culture of Participating Schools of Nursing

In 2014, ETS conducted a study investigating how the New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) program may have influenced the culture of participating schools of nursing. Select schools of nursing received grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to provide scholarships and support services for students in accelerated nursing programs. Case studies involving multiple interviews and focus groups were conducted in 8 NCIN schools of nursing chosen to represent public and private schools from all US regions. Results suggested that, in addition to benefiting accelerated nursing program students through the financial support of scholarships, the NCIN program may have increased the enrollment of male and minority students in accelerated nursing programs. Furthermore, the orientation, mentoring, and leadership supports provided with NCIN resources may have contributed to positive program and career outcomes for participating students, and in many cases the supports will be extended to all nursing students after the NCIN program ends. Lessons learned for the field include the potential for schools of nursing to employ strategies used by NCIN grantees to increase the diversity of their incoming cohorts and the ongoing need for financial supports for accelerated nursing students.

Accelerated Nursing Degree Programs: Insights Into Teaching and Learning Experiences

The Study of Teaching and Learning in Accelerated Nursing Degree Programs explores how nurse educators are adapting their teaching practices for accelerated, second‐degree nursing program students. To provide findings on topics including instructional practices and the roles and attitudes of faculty, a web survey was administered to almost 100 staff members from schools of nursing that received grant and scholarship funds through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's New Careers in Nursing program for accelerated nursing students. The study revealed that nursing school faculty have positive perceptions of working with accelerated nursing students and that instructional approaches do not differ much between traditional and nursing students. At the same time, the factors described as most predictive of accelerated nursing student success were noncognitive attributes such as motivation and commitment to the nursing profession; prior degrees in the science or health fields were not necessarily seen as predictive of the success of second‐degree students working toward an accelerated bachelor's or master's degree in nursing.

Motivating Underrepresented Students to Pursue Faculty Roles

Increasing the number of underrepresented nurses in healthcare has the potential to facilitate the provision of culturally competent care, which, in turn, increases healthcare access for diverse patients. To increase diversity in the nursing workforce, educational programs need to recruit and retain underrepresented students. Underrepresented students will more likely be attracted to a program where there are underrepresented faculty. However, there are not enough diverse graduate students in the pipeline to increase faculty diversity. In response to this need, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and American Academy of Colleges of Nursing developed the New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) program to increase underrepresented students in accelerated bachelor’s and master’s programs with the longterm goal of NCIN students choosing faculty roles and increasing faculty diversity. Through the NCIN program, my university was able to provide scholarships, a mentoring initiative, and leadership development for second bachelordegree students. As a result, our underrepresented student enrollment quadrupled, with zero attrition and a 100% graduation rate. These outcomes indicated that we successfully achieved the majority of the goals of the NCIN program. The question that remained was: Did our successful underrepresented students see themselves as future faculty? The processes of recruiting and retaining underrepresented students into graduate programs, transitioning from graduate school into academia, and mentoring novice minority faculty have been recommended as steps to increasing underrepresented faculty. The absence of minority faculty role models decreases student aspirations and can affect opportunities for student-faculty connections, which may impede student engagement, professional socialization, and program progression. The lack of minority faculty may indicate to students that nursing does not value diversity, which may deter further education and limit the pipeline of nurses with advanced degrees. To assess what would encourage our underrepresented second bachelor-degree students to pursue the faculty role, a qualitative study was undertaken. Using a qualitative descriptive design, a convenience sample of 7 of 10 students of African American descent from a cohort of 60 second bachelor-degree students was selected. While underrepresented students were defined as individuals from minority backgrounds, study participants were all of African descent. After institutional review board approval was obtained, students were contacted by phone and signed an informed consent, acknowledging that their participation in the study was voluntary. After training a peer honor student, she conducted individual 30to 45-minute semistructured interviews guided by 3 questions designed to elicit participant perceptions of the (1) benefits, (2) barriers, and (3) motivators to pursuing a faculty role. Privacy was protected by securing data in a locked drawer in a locked office. Anonymity was maintained by referring to alphanumeric codes on the interview data and field notes. Data were analyzed by inductive content analysis. Trustworthiness of the findings was established by several readings as well as 2 participants validating data and reviewing results with a research expert.