- 作者：Kay Currie ; k.currie@gcu.ac.uk" class="auth_mail ; Jacqueline McCallum ; John Murray ; Janine Scott ; Evelyn Strachan ; Lynda Yates ; Marty Wright
- 关键词：Student retention ; Attrition ; Absence management ; Survey
- 刊名：Nurse Education Today
- 出版年：May, 2014
- 年：2014
- 卷：34
- 期：5
- 页码：738-743
- 全文大小：241 K
Summary
Background
Reducing avoidable nursing student attrition is an international challenge. A pattern of falling attendance is recognised as a frequent precursor to withdrawal from nursing programmes. To address concerns regarding nursing student attrition, the Scottish Government implemented a pilot project for a centralised Computerised Absence Management and Monitoring System (CAMMS). The CAMMS adopted an 鈥榓ssertive outreach鈥?approach, contacting students every two weeks via colour coded letters to tell them whether their attendance was 鈥榚xcellent鈥? 鈥榞ood, but potentially causing concern鈥? or 鈥榳arning; attendance concerns/contact academic staff for support鈥? This article reports key findings from an evaluation of CAMMS.Objectives
To explore the perceived impact of CAMMS on student support and attrition, from the perspectives of academic and administrative staff and students.
Design
Mixed methods evaluation design.
Settings
Three large geographically dispersed Schools of Nursing in Scotland.
Participants
83 students; 20 academic staff; and 3 lead administrators.
Methods
On-line cohort survey of academic staff and students; structured interviews with lead administrators.
Results
Findings reflected a spectrum of negative and positive views of CAMMS. Students who are attending regularly seem pleased that their commitment is recognised. Lecturers who teach larger groups report greater difficulty getting to know students individually and acknowledge the benefit of identifying potential attendance concerns at an early stage. Conversely, some students who received a 鈥榳arning鈥?letter were frequently annoyed or irritated, rather than feeling supported. Increased staff workload resulted in negative perceptions and a consequent reluctance to use CAMMS. However, students who were causing concern reported subsequent improvement in attendance.
Conclusions
CAMMS has the potential to identify 鈥榓t-risk鈥?students at an early stage; however, the system should have flexibility to tailor automatically generated letters in response to individual circumstances, to avoid student frustration. Further research on the longer term impact of CAMMS on attrition rates is warranted.