Retention in nursing education and scholarship programs: Survival analysis of the Veterans Health Administration National Nursing Education Initiative Data

• Published in: Journal of advanced nursing 2023-08, Vol.79 (8), p.3069-3081
• Main Authors: Toyinbo, Peter, Rugs, Deborah, Nedd, Nicole, Wang, Xinping, Hall, Kimberly S., Hyacinthe, Martin, Cowan, Linda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic degrees; Adult; Aspiration; Completion; degree completion; Education, Nursing; Educational programs; employee scholarship programs; Fellowships and Scholarships; Female; Health education; Humans; Male; Medical education; midwives; Military hospitals; National Nursing Education Initiative; nurse retention; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing education; nursing workforce; Policy making; Quality management; Retention; Retrospective Studies; Student retention; Survival Analysis; United States; Veterans; Veterans Health; Workforce
• ISSN: 0309-2402; 1365-2648
• DOI: 10.1111/jan.15655

Aims To investigate factors affecting non‐completion by registered nurses (RNs) participating in degree programs supported by the scholarship program of the National Nursing Education Initiative of the United States Veterans Health Administration. Secondarily, to assess overall retention in the scholarship program over time. Design Retrospective longitudinal design using administrative data. Methods Defining retention time as the time elapsed from enrollment date to non‐completion, we performed survival (retention) analysis (i.e.,Kaplan–Meier survival functions, log‐rank tests and Cox regressions) to retrospectively analyzea national sample of RNs (N  = 15,908) enrolled in the scholarship program between the United States federal fiscal years 2000 and 2020. Results Nurses' mean age was 44 years (range: 19–71), and 86% were females. Six‐ and 12‐month cumulative educational program retention rates were 92% and 84% respectively. The newest group of enrollees (2016–2020), younger nurses (