Exploratory Analysis Of Impact of Holistic Admission and Pass/Fail Grading On Nursing Students' Progress in the Major

Abstract

The nursing profession lacks diversity. Racial and ethnic concordance between patients and practitioners have positive outcomes for patients. To improve diversity, the Sullivan Commission (2004) wrote that one way to improve diversity is for health professional schools to engage in holistic, individualized admission processes. Since then, many health professional schools have implemented holistic admission (HA) processes that consider students’ life experiences and backgrounds as well as their academic performance. In spring 2020, a large, public university in the Midwest implemented a holistic admission process in its undergraduate nursing program. One month after in-person interviews for HA were conducted, institutions of higher education (HEIs) nationwide transitioned to emergency remote teaching (ERT) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To support students during this time, the pass/fail grading option (PFGO) was offered by the university. The PFGO offered students a choice of traditional letter grading or pass/fail grading for their coursework. The overlapping PFGO and HA implementation at this university made it necessary to consider both processes to examine their impact on student diversity and academic performance. The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of HA and the PFGO on student diversity and academic achievement. This information is useful to nursing educators to determine if these processes are appropriate for their students. This study was a quantitative, exploratory, secondary analysis of students’ academic and demographic data. 1,387 baccalaureate nursing student records from the six semesters before and after HA and PFGO implementation were examined for demographic changes. The results of this study demonstrated a statistically significant increase in racial diversity after HA was implemented. Students’ academic performance did not decline after HA implementation. NCLEX pass rates and on-time graduation were statistically significantly higher post HA. None of demographics included in this study were associated with an increase in PFGO selection, except for admission status. The PFGO was utilized by a statistically significantly higher number of students in the college’s Nursing Scholars Program (NSP), which specifically supports first-generation college students. This study offers insight into the effects of HA and PFGO policies to help educators who may consider these policies for their students.