Eradicating Barriers to Advancement From RN to BSN: An Exploratory Study.

BACKGROUND

To improve the quality of patient care, the Institute of Medicine has called for eliminating barriers to academic progression for nurses. Despite this call, nurses who matriculate from institutions that lack national nursing-specific accreditation are denied admission to advanced degree programs.

METHOD

Within an online RN-to-baccalaureate nursing (BSN) program, the performance of students who matriculated from institutions lacking discipline-specific accreditation was compared with student performance representative of programs holding discipline-specific accreditation. The bases for comparison were grade point average (GPA), on-time completion rate, and academic withdrawal.

RESULTS

Students admitted from institutions lacking national nursing accreditation had a higher on-time completion rate and a lower GPA than comparison groups. Differences in GPA were statistically insignificant (p > .05). Evidence regarding withdrawals was insufficient for adequate comparisons.

CONCLUSION

Admission policies that deny education opportunities to candidates from institutions lacking national nursing accreditation may create unwarranted barriers to educational advancement. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2019;50(1):15-19.].