Effects of an intervention plan on nursing student success.

Student attrition from nursing programs due to academic failure negatively affects students, nursing programs, and the health care industry. The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the success of an intervention plan for practical nursing (PN) and associate degree nursing (ADN) students who were at risk for failure in coursework compared with outcomes from years without the plan. Records of 384 students were accessed. A 6% decrease in involuntary withdrawal due to academic failure with the intervention plans was noted. Sixty-four percent of the PN students and 86% of the ADN students with a plan completed the program. Ninety-six percent of the PN students and 84% of ADN students in intervention plans were successful on the NCLEX(®) on the first attempt. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) between traditional and nontraditional students in program completion existed prior to the intervention, which was eliminated with implementation of the intervention plans.