A method to improve the selection of nursing students

Abstract

Background: Current baseline measures–primarily cognitive–do not select the best nurses. We hypothesized that a validated test of thinking skills, Strategic Management Simulations (SMS), will predict the nurses the faculty deemed the best at graduation.

Methods: A total of 37 RNs in the last semester of an Associate Degree program voluntarily took the SMS. At graduation, faculty ranked them on “who would best take care of your loved one?” Faculty rank was correlated with SMS scores, admission rank and graduation end points.

Results: Faculty rank did not correlate with admission rank or cumulative grade but did with the final nursing module rank and with three SMS measures: crisis response, breadth of approach, and focused activity.

Conclusions: Traditional selection methods e.g., admission rank, do not predict outcomes of nursing graduates, e.g., final nursing module rank. Measures of thinking, e.g., SMS crisis response, correlate with desired outcomes and could be used during the selection process to improve outcomes.