Assess the Factors Affecting Academic Performance of the Nursing Students of Selected Nursing Colleges, Rajasthan

Abstract

Introduction: Students are the key assets of colleges & universities. The students' performance plays an important role in producing best quality graduates who will become great leaders and manpower for the country. Nursing as a healthcare profession is focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so that they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. There are various reasons for unsatisfactory academic performance among nursing students such as lack of parental guidance, language barrier, academic factors, personal factors, college related factors etc. Objectives: (1) To assess the factors affecting academic performance of B.Sc. Nursing Students. (2) To find out the association between factors affecting academic performance with selected socio demographic variables. Methodology: A non experimental, descriptive exploratory survey approach was used for the study. Data was collected from 100 B.Sc. Nursing students from Rajasthan by adopting Non probability consecutive sampling technique. Self- structured rating scale was used to assess the factors affecting academic performance. Results: Major findings related to socio- demographic variables showed that Majority of students were belongs to the age group of 19-20 years (36%). Out of 100 students, 63% were male students, 38% of students had chosen profession as it has noble nature, 48% of students have scored in range of 50-59% at previous year university exam. Findings related to area wise comparison of mean, SD , mean % of factors affecting academic performance of  B.Sc. Nursing students shown that highest mean score (28.04±8.24) which is (25.59%) of the total score was obtained in the area of test anxiety. However, the other areas like study strategy (19±4.01), academic competence (18.63±4.95), teacher related aspect (17.47±4.32),test competence (13.22±3.19), time management (13.21±3.35) were having less percentage. Conclusion: Focusing efforts to understand these factors further would be helpful for students in enhancing their academic performance. Efficient counseling services regarding these techniques along with stress management programs could also assist students in achieving academic success.