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Kilgore College donation to assist Stephen F. Austin nursing program
Adam j. Holland - Longview News-Journal - March 28, 2008
A Kilgore College official said she believes a $265,970 grant to Stephen F. Austin State University will be a shot in the arm for nursing schools around East Texas.
The money will be used to study the dropout rate among nursing students, said Dayna Davidson, a registered nurse and Kilgore College's associate degree nursing program director.
Kilgore and seven other college nursing programs will partner in the study under the guidance of SFA's school of nursing. Their ultimate goal is to graduate more nurses, Davidson said.
"In Texas, for a while, attrition among students was running 10 to 15 percent - (these are) students who entered nursing programs and did not graduate within 1½ times the length of the program," Davidson said. "Now its approaching 50 percent, with about 25 percent here at Kilgore College. We're struggling with attrition just like everybody else."
Davidson, who served on the committee that wrote the grant, said the consortium of schools is taking a multistep approach to arrive at a solution.
"We are developing a database to determine what makes students at-risk in nursing programs," Davidson said. "Once we've merged our information and identified at-risk students, we are going to determine interventions."
While many students who enter and drop out of nursing programs are academically strong, other issues that can come into play, Davidson said.
"We're looking at a lot of things like family issues, whether they work or stress management," she said. "Almost three of every 10 students who register in a nursing program do not complete it," said Glenda Walker, director of SFA's school of nursing and study director.
"With 1,336 students entering East Texas nursing programs each year, approximately 588 students are currently identified as needing help in successfully completing the program."
Northeast Texas Community College and the University of Texas at Tyler also will participate in the study, the release said.