Early and modifiable predictors of academic achievement of undergraduate nursing students: protocol for a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: Academic failure affects up to 69.4% of nursing students. This phenomenon has significant social costs, increases the nursing shortage in the NHS, increases education costs, and is an indicator of educational inefficiency, affecting the reputation of any university. It is well known that intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, study time, and class attendance influence academic achievement, but it remains to be determined which factors determine (a) how much time students dedicate to study, and (b) lecture attendance. AIM: To identify early and modifiable predictors of student academic performance and to identify factors that can be intervened on to prevent avoidable failure. HYPOTHESIS: Academic achievement can be predicted by (a) lecture attendance, (b) study hours, and (c) tendency to register for and take exams. These factors in turn are influenced by (a) perceived difficulty in coping with educational commitments, (b) the importance attached to becoming a nurse, and the expectation of succeeding. METHODOLOGY: Quantitative multicenter longitudinal study: analyses will test whether perceived difficulty predicts, according to a quadratic trend, (a) lecture attendance and (b) approach to examinations, and whether importance attached to becoming a nurse positively and linearly predicts daily study time. Also, whether attendance to lecture activities, approach to examinations, and daily study time predict academic achievement according to a positive relationship. EXPECTED RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: To create a predictive model to identify students at high risk of failure early and identify modifiable factors to intervene on to reduce the number of repeat or dropout students.