Becoming a successful student in pre-registration nurse education: A qualitative multiple case study

Student success in pre-registration nurse education is becoming increasingly important in order to reduce student attrition and meet workforce needs in the United Kingdom (UK). Extensive quantitative research exists on student attrition and the predictive power of factors such as entry qualifications, age and gender, however there are few studies that have explored students’ accounts of their own success. The aim of this study was to identify and explain the significance of factors that enable high-achieving student nurses to become successful on their programme and to develop a model of student success in pre-registration nurse education. Traditionally, success has been defined as programme completion however this study has considered success in terms of high academic achievement i.e. those students attaining the highest average academic marks in the 2nd year of a pre-registration nursing programme. A qualitative multiple case study was designed involving three cases of high-achieving students located in two UK universities. Transcripts from in-depth interviews with 37 third-year student nurses (adult field) and 23 lecturers were analysed using thematic analysis. Key educational documents were analysed to explore contextual factors influencing the learning environment. Adult learning and social learning theories were used as a theoretical framework for this study. High-achieving nursing students identified that the most significant factors contributing to their success were: being highly motivated to become a good nurse, being actively engaged in learning and having effective support systems. High-achieving students have the attributes of adult learners: they are self-directed, independent and actively engaged in learning. Lecturers identified motivation and attitudes to learning as important factors in success but also considered high entry qualifications to be significant although this was not supported by the data in this study. Adult learning attributes contribute positively to success but experiences in the learning environment also influence student achievement. A model of student success in pre-registration nurse education has been developed that can be utilised by students, education providers and clinical mentors to understand and promote student success