The role of faculty and clinical practice in predicting why nurses graduate in Hungary

AIMS

to estimate the proportion of nursing students in Hungary who intend to graduate from a nursing program and intend to work as a nurse after graduation.

METHODS

a cross-sectional, mail survey was implemented. A total of 381, purposively selected, final year students returned the survey instrument developed by the researchers. The survey was conducted in 3 of the total 7 nationwide nursing schools.

RESULTS

the rate of estimated student attrition ranged between 7 and 20%. Students were most satisfied with the mentoring and support received from faculty, and were least satisfied with their future career as a nurse. The most important factors that predicted intent to graduate and work after graduation were satisfaction with faculty support and clinical experiences, influence from family/peers to leave nursing, and intent to work abroad.

CONCLUSIONS

self-reported student attrition was prevalent in the sample studied. Students ranked faculty support as the top influence to graduate and work as a nurse after graduation. The finding that family/peers had negative influence on students' intent to graduate requires further exploration. Provision of strong, continuous support to faculty members by the school administration seems the best, but not the only counter attack against student attrition.

Training nurses for CPR: support for the problem-based approach

AIM

To assess whether problem-based learning (PBL) is more effective over conventional teaching methods by comparing final resuscitation exam results of nursing students who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training either by traditional or by a PBL approach.

METHODS

A retrospective and comparative research design was implemented. Data on final CPR exam grades, collected both from PBL and traditionally trained students, were obtained for a total of 1775 students between 2000 and 2007 in three major schools of health sciences in Hungary. Comparison between PBL and traditional teaching methods as well as across schools was made.

RESULTS

t-tests on means yielded significant differences (t=3.569; p<0.001) between PBL and conventional training favoring PBL instructed students. Students who received PBL training had better final CPR exam grades than traditionally trained peers. The only significant difference among schools was found for PBL training. There was no difference across schools in final CPR grades when traditional training was concerned.

CONCLUSION

PBL was a superior instruction method for CPR training. Students who attended PBL classes achieved greater theoretical knowledge and demonstrated better resuscitation skills when tested. Whether or not PBL is superior in real-life application of CPR practice is yet to be confirmed.