1. Retention in Nursing Programs: Factors Contributing to the Success of ESL Students
Culture is so much an integral part of our life that it is often difficult to realize that there are different, but equally valid, ways of thinking, perceiving and
behaving.- Peter Chinn
Patience Mbulu, EdD, MS, RN
Problem and purpose Outcomes achieved to dateEvidence/Background
Patience Mbulu, Ed.D, MS, RN
Associate Professor of Nursing
Montgomery College
Patience.Mbulu@montgomerycollege.edu
Data from the coordinator in the department of institutional
research and analysis in this institution indicated that many of
these ESL nursing students struggled to successfully
complete coursework, consequently resulting in higher
attrition rates among this student population (Coordinator,
personal communication, September 27, 2012).
In the spring semester of 2012, 287 native English-speaking
students graduated from the nursing program while 68 non-
American students graduated. Approximately 301 of these
new graduates took the National Council Licensure
Examination for the Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN), and
76.8% native English-speaking (ES) students passed this
examination, compared to 23% of non-American students
(Coordinator, personal communication, May 06, 2013).
Literature shows that attrition among ESL students was not
limited to this nursing program and also agreement among
researchers that a well thought out program specifically for
ESL students would increase retention of them (Brown, 2008;
Campbell, 2008; Walker et al., 2011).
This community college is currently working on a grant
to support the implementation of the professional
developed based on finding from this research.
The community college chosen for this study is a
public college with several campuses in various
locations in a single metropolitan area. The college
has an open enrollment policy and has maintained a
steady growth in diversity of the student population.
About 47% of the people in the county in which this
college is located are not American-born individuals
Despite this fact, there is a lack of retention of English
as Second Language (ESL) students in the nursing
program.
In the data released by the college for 2011 and
2012, the college’s distribution, by campus, was
compared to this nursing program, and the gap
between the retention rate of native English speaking
students and the ESL students was significant
(personal communication May 12, 2012)
The problem that was addressed in this project is the
following: although this community college nursing
program allocates the necessary resources for
increasing the admission of ESL students into the
program, the gap in practice at this college in keeping
the ESL students in the program has not been very
successful; therefore, the amount of recruitment is
rendered insignificant by the high attrition rate. Higher
attrition among ESL students in this nursing program
has posed and continues to pose many problems that
could affect the society at macro, meso, and micro
levels. The purpose of this study was to investigate
factors that influence retention of ESL students in this
local community college nursing program.
What the Numbers Tell Us
Distribution, by Race/Ethnicity for U.S., State,
County, College, Campuses, Nursing Program
Qualitative case study design was used in this study.
Qualitative research design allowed me to gather data using
various methods, including conducting structured and semi
structured interviews and using open-ended and closed-ended
interview questions to solicit subjective information that
addressed the research questions (Merriam, 2009; Polit &
Beck, 2013).
research question: To what factors do ESL students and faculty
attribute the retention and academic success of ESL students
in a community college nursing program? Participants were
recruited from the ESL student population and from faculty
members in the nursing program in this community college
Race/Ethnicity United States State County The College Campus w/
Nursing
Nursing Program
White 78% 61% 49% 31% 20% 43%
African-American 13% 31% 17% 31% 48% 20%
Asian 6% 5% 14% 14% 9% 20%
Hispanic 17% 8% 13% 13% 12% 8%
Native American 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Multi-Race 3% 3% 3% 12% 10% 9%
Methods
The participants was drawn from a local community
college; therefore, outcomes are applicable only to this
population. Evidence from this research indicated that
the perceptions of ESL students and members of the
nursing faculty were interrelated in their responses to
this guiding question, "To what factors do ESL students
and faculty attribute the academic success and retention
of ESL students in their community college nursing
program?”
The interrelationship is evident in the themes identified
in the study. The themes from ESL students and faculty
show that members of faculty perceive that there is a
lack the knowledge and skills paramount to effectively
facilitate and support the learning of ESL students.
Further education for members of the faculty on how to
facilitate the learning of a diverse student population
could benefit the nursing program. This study suggests
the need for further education of the faculty.
This education could take the form of a three-day
evidenced-based professional development training,
which would educate nursing faculty on the relationship
between culture and learning.
It would also equip them with the most best strategies to
address the academic challenges faced by ESL
students in this nursing program.
With the continuous increase in immigrant students in
the nursing program, members of the faculty need to be
aware that the same approaches used in
communication, counseling, teaching, and offering
support with native English-speaking students would not
be effective with ESL students (Jeffreys, 2012).
Don’t try to fix the students, fix
ourselves first. The Good teacher
makes the poor student good and
the good student superior. When
our students fail, we, as teachers,
too, have failed.- Marva Collins
CONTACT
This project was a dissertation
for Doctor of Education
Themes from ESL Students
 Faculty lack cultural sensitivity and awareness
 Faculty knowledge on ESL academic development
 Faculty support
 Lack of academic language support
Themes from Faculty
 Lack Cultural competency, awareness, & sensitivity
 Lack knowledge in identifying the academic needs of ESL
students
 Lack knowledge and skill of teaching strategies that
accommodate ESL students learner
 Lack knowledge on preparing ESL students for what to
expect.
Results
Conclusions
References
If you need the references please request for the
handout.