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Transcript of Nursing Aptitude Test and Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING
Introduction
The growing demand for Filipino nurses abroad has given the
country’s administrators a responsibility of ensuring the quality of care
rendered and the competency of Filipino nurses. It has to be made sure
that they get the best education and that they render effective quality
care to clients. Nurses are required to have the necessary skills to be
able to achieve this. According to Valanis (2000), nurses need
additional competencies in order to function effectively, a term which
refers to their skills, knowledge and attitude. The Joint Commission on
Accreditation of Health Organizations also said that nurses need to
develop competencies to perform well in their job function. The
competencies stated refer to skills, knowledge and behaviors, as well
as personal characteristics.
The Nursing Aptitude Test (NAT) was first used as a criterion for
retention in the college of nursing, to determine a student’s learning
preferences and talents. However, on March 10, 2009, Dr. Rizalina
Mitra-Pangan approved the recommendation to temporarily adopt the
NAT in the BSN program for diagnostic purposes rather than qualifying
criteria (Malimbag, 2009). On a study made by del Rosario, et al., the
outcome of major nursing subjects and the entrance exam were
perceived to be in the position to determine cut-offs which are
predictors for passing the Philippine Licensure Examination (Malimbag,
2009).
Many studies that have been done on nursing quality focused on
a single factor such as putting emphasis on nursing care while
neglecting other characteristics and components (Mamaoag and
Magno, 2005). The study involved four culturally relevant
characteristics of Filipino nurses: caring, compassion, commitment and
connectedness. As stated, these factors of nursing quality are directed
towards the others where caring means providing comfort, compassion
is sympathetic consciousness of others, commitment is responsibility
to others and the profession, and connectedness is the nurse-patient
bond.
A growing concern now exists on the decline in the quality of
care given by nurses and their ability to render effective care. This has
been the reason why the Commission on Higher Education has
identified several ways of upholding nursing quality. Schools with
passing rates below the national standards have been given warnings
2
by the Commission on Higher Education making it a must for school
administrators to know firsthand possible ways of determining the
performance of their students in the said examination in order for them
to identify their course of action. The researchers of this study aim to
discover and understand the relationship that students’ performance in
the Nursing Aptitude Test may possibly have to their performance and
ability to pass the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination, determine
whether the Nursing Aptitude Test can be used as a predictor for
passing the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination.
The proponents prompted this research study due to the low
passing rate of our institution. For the past years, the average passing
rate of the Notre Dame of Midsayap College – College of Nursing has
been above the national passing rate. However, with the school’s aim
for academic excellence, this is still not enough. This study may be
helpful by providing a basis for improvement and selecting measures
to not only ensure that the students receive quality nursing education,
but also to know who among the students are ready to take the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination and what steps to take in
order to have a high passing rate.
Statement of the Problem
3
The main purpose of this study is to determine if a relationship
exists between the result of the students’ NAT examination and their
performance in the Nursing Licensure Examination, and to refine our
understanding on how preferences and skills in learning, which are
assessed through the Nursing Aptitude Test, affect the performance of
nursing students in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination. This
study aims to answer the following questions:
1. What are the scores of the students in the Nursing Aptitude Test
and the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination?
2. Is there a significant relationship between the students’
performance in the Nursing Aptitude Test and the Nursing Licensure
Examination?
Scope and Limitation
The study is limited only to the analysis of the scores of the
students in the Nursing Aptitude Test and the Nursing Licensure
Examination and determining whether their performance in the
Nursing Aptitude Test can be used as a criterion for determining the
students’ performance in the Licensure Examination. This also includes
assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the students in the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination and analysis of the
4
correlation of the performance of the students in the Nursing Aptitude
Test and the different subjects of the Philippine Nursing Licensure
Examination.
Although this study includes students’ performance in the NLE
and the NAT examination, it excludes other factors like time for review,
values, beliefs, and others. As stated by Mamaoag and Magno (2005)
based on the model on nursing quality by Valanis (2000), nurse
competencies entail aspects of abilities more than affective qualities.
Valanis contended a more crucial need for nurses to possess
competencies rather than focus on the separate etymological
concepts.
Significance of the Study
This study may help in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the
implementation of utilizing the Nursing Aptitude Test for ensuring
excellent nursing education for students. It may serve as a preliminary
investigation on Nursing Aptitude Test (NAT) as a predictor for passing
the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination (PNLE) and as basis for
making changes, policies and teaching strategies to ensure quality of
education. The NAT, being a test for evaluation of students’ readiness
for the course, may be a probable criterion for evaluating students’
5
ability to pass the Nursing Licensure Examination. And because the
test evaluates a student’s skills and learning preferences, it can be
used to study the effect of their skills and learning preferences on their
performance in the Board Exam and their performance as future
nurses. Knowledge on this topic would be helpful to administrators in
selecting actions to be taken to improve performance and quality of
education the students receive and ensure a high passing rate in the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination.
This could be helpful to the College of Nursing by providing the
department an insight on several factors affecting the performance
and competence that the students have. A refined understanding on
the relationships between NLE performance, competence, and learning
preferences as well as readiness may be helpful in providing a basis for
improvement and selecting measures to not only to ensure that the
students receive quality nursing education but also know who among
them are ready for the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination and
ways of ensuring a high passing rate.
Definition of Terms
For clarity of terms used in the study, the following operational
definitions are given:
6
Affective Qualities . refers to qualities related to a person’s
attitude and behavior rather than competence or performance
Community Health Nursing. refers to a nursing subject which is
part of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Curriculum and the
subject 3 of the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination focused
on concepts and principles in the provision of basic care in terms of
health promotion, disease prevention and health maintenance of
the individual, family, community and special population groups. It
also includes the study of the Philippine Health Care Delivery
System and the general context of public health. It describes public
health in the context of the Philippine Health Care Delivery System.
Competence. refers skills, knowledge, personal characteristics
and ability to render effective client care.
Fundamentals in Nursing. refers to a nursing subject part of the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Curriculum and subject 1 of the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination that is about standard
operating procedures, basic principles in nursing, normal values and
the nursing process.
Learning. refers to a change in a person’s behavior, perception,
skills and attitude that occurs through teaching, practice and
experience.
7
Learning Preferences. refers to the type of learning or teaching
strategy that a student(s) find most comfortable and easily
understandable.
Medical – Surgical Nursing. refers to a nursing subject part of the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Curriculum and subject 4 of the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination that is about techniques
and principles in nursing management of sick clients across the
lifespan in any setting.
Nursing. refers to the protection and promotion of optimal health
and prevention of injuries, alleviation of suffering through diagnosis
and treatment of human responses, focusing not only on the
individual but also includes the family and the community.
Nursing Aptitude Test (NAT). refers to a diagnostic test given to
nursing students giving an insight on the profile of a student on four
areas: verbal reasoning, numerical facility, science and health and
spatial aptitude.
Philippine Nursing Licensure examination (PNLE). refers a test
given to nursing graduates to determine whether they are qualified
for the nursing profession.
Psychiatric Nursing. refers to a nursing subject part of the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Curriculum and subject 5 of the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination that is about techniques
and principles in nursing management of sick clients across the
8
lifespan with maladaptive behaviors and alterations in cognition in
any setting.
Quality Care. refers to effective care rendered by nurses and
other health care professionals to their clients/patients.
Related Learning Experience. refers to a component of the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Curriculum which is the clinical
application of the principles taught in the classroom.
9
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE, STUDIES AND CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK
Related Literature
This section presents related topics regarding the types of tests, NAT
Examination, The Nursing Licensure Examination and Nurse
Competence.
Nursing Achievement and Aptitude
Majority of studies in nursing shows that nursing achievement is
moderately perceived as important. This concerns a great concern to
improve the abilities of nurses such as their aptitude and academic
achievement. The common measure of nursing achievement in
published studies on nursing education can be found in the results of
licensure examinations such as the NCLEX (National Council Licensure
Examination). In the Philippine setting, the Philippine Regulation
10
Commission also uses a test for the licensure of nurses, although there
are no published studies using the said instrument.
Three studies are published in reviews using the NCLEX as a
measure of nursing achievement. The study by Lamm and McCaniel
(2000) used the State Board Test Pool Examination (SBTPE), Grade
Point Average (GPA), parental education level, and age as predictors of
the NCLEX. The purpose of the study was to identify which variables
accurately predict the success of practical nursing students on the
NCLEX-PN. The results indicate that among all predictors, the General
Mental Ability (GMA-subscale of SBTPE) was the only significant
predictor of the NCLEX-PN. A recent study by Waterhouse and Beeman
(2003) was able to identify more significant predictors of the NCLEX
such as scores in the Risk Appraisal Instrument (RAI), grades in the
different nursing courses, and the nursing achievement test. In a more
recent study, Giddens and Gloekner (2005) investigated the
relationship between critical thinking and the performance scores on
the NCLEX. Their study showed that both measures of critical thinking
(California Critical Thinking Test and California Critical Thinking
Disposition Inventory) did not significantly predict the NCLEX scores.
The study recognized the need to explore other dispositional variables
in explaining nursing achievement scores.
11
The studies on nursing achievement usually correlated other
cognitive measures such as critical thinking, mental ability, grades,
with demographic factors such as age, gender, and parents’
educational level. Previous studies did not explore other dispositional
factors such as nursing quality traits in predicting nursing achievement
levels because these concurrent studies were driven by the factors
explained by other previous studies. This poses a need to explore and
use other kinds of disposition such as quality traits in explaining
nursing achievement and aptitude (Mamaoag and Magno, 2005).
Education/Licensure
Students of nursing bring abilities and attitudes to their nursing
courses. Within the course the knowledge and skills of nursing are
presented. Together the educators and students attempt to integrate
knowledge with caring, abilities with skills, skills with knowledge and so
on. Not all students of nursing in formal courses are beginners. Many
possess valuable skills and knowledge that are relevant to nursing. The
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) of skills, experience and
qualifications can be expedited by the use of Competencies. If a
student or nurse believes they already possess the integrated
attributes required in some aspect of nursing, they could be assessed
against the Competency and gain RPL. Savings in costs of education
12
and time for the learner can be achieved in this way. However to date,
this aspect of the use of Competencies in nursing has not been widely
used.
Another definition of Competency is the ability to perform the
activities within an occupation or function to the standard expected in
employment.' (Heywood, Gonczi & Hager, 1992).
One of the central themes of the use of Competencies in
education is the change of focus from what a student is taught and the
knowledge they learn, to outcomes, or demonstration of what the
learner can actually do. Many nurses have difficulty in understanding
the competency movement because nursing has traditionally prepared
its students in settings and in a manner that closely resembles this
description. Hospital-based schools of nursing presented theory and
skills for learning that were highly relevant and functional to the
standard expected in the hospital ward. Since the move of nursing
education to tertiary settings, the workplace nature of much of the
learning and application of that learning has altered. However, nursing
courses for Enrolled and Registered nurses remain based upon the
knowledge, skills and attitudes nurses are expected to demonstrate in
employment in a wide variety of contexts and settings. More emphasis
is placed on ensuring every participant gains and is able to apply the
required competencies in the course of their occupation or profession.
13
Competency-based Education and Training have been introduced to
many occupational and trade vocational preparation programs as well
as to some professional programs and courses such as nursing.
Another distinct feature of Competency-based education or
training is the emphasis on assessment in real-life settings and
situations. The demonstration of knowledge is frequently assessed by
judging its application in the work situation rather than by undertaking
written exams.
Although students of nursing may no longer be employees of the
hospital where they gain clinical experience, much of the assessment
of their suitability to qualify as a nurse, or their competency in nursing,
takes place in the real-life setting. This may be in the context of
planning the care of a patient upon admission to the surgical ward of a
hospital, providing care at the bedside of a patient in the nursing
home, caring for a child in the operating room, assessing a client in a
community clinic or their home or teaching the patient and their family
about medications.
Using descriptions of the performance competencies required of
RNs or ENs throughout Australia (for example, the standards of a nurse
who undertook basic preparation in Western Australia can be
compared with one who graduated in Queensland), the equivalence of
professional performance can be determined. A nurse from Argentina
14
or Thailand or Great Britain can also be assessed for suitability for
recognition in any state, by assessing each individual's nursing
performance and knowledge using the Australian nursing
competencies(Hird, 1995).
Do Nursing Quality Traits affect Ability Measures?
Nursing quality traits do not affect ability measures, but aptitude
affects achievement in nursing. These findings support previous
models of using cognitive factors to predict cognitive criterion as well.
Current literature describes nursing licensure exams like NCLEX as a
measure of nursing achievement. Most often, studies indicate factors
such as general mental abilities, Grade Point Average (GPA), parental
education level and age as best predictors of success in passing board
examinations. None ever described yet that empirically, personality or
personal attributes can also predict success in the nursing profession.
The findings indicate that affective measures such as traits are
not good predictors of ability measures such as achievement and
aptitude. The nursing traits having no effect on both aptitude and
achievement further indicate that nursing quality is distinct with the
two ability measures. The distinction is indicated by the nature of the
constructs itself – where the nursing traits are non-cognitive and the
ability measures as cognitive. The traits were self-reported that may
15
be subject to social desirability in the measurement, while the ability
measures are tests of one’s achievement and aptitude that are
assumed objective. Previous studies that used affective predictors also
did not yield significant effects for ability measures like the risk
appraisal assessment (Waterhouse & Beeman, 2003).
Apparently there is a need to explore and use other measures of
disposition aside from quality traits in explaining nursing aptitude and
achievement. However, the belief that human functioning includes
behaviors, person variables, and the environment that are interacting
with and shaping with one another (Bandura, 1986) has been further
strengthened as indicated in the resulting model tested in this study.
Further studies can include other disposition measures such as
interest, motivation, and self-efficacy in exploring the predictability of
successful careers in nursing. A further analysis using a larger sample
needs to be undertaken to increase the power of the statistics (Magno
and Mamauag, 2007).
Is the Integration of Nursing Quality with Ability Measures a Good
Model?
Integrating nursing quality with both aptitude and achievement
shows a considerable good fit for the proposed model and more so with
the constrained model as indicated in the noncentrality fit indices and
16
single sample fit indices. The good fit of the resulting model may be
attributed to the three distinct measures of the NQS, Aptitude, and
Achievement tests. Considering that these all belong in a single test
battery, the participants of the study most likely saw the parallelism in
the measures used. It also indicates that the structure of the three
variables fit together because all the items were calibrated with person
ability by using the same one parameter Rasch model in a binary
response type of scaling (“0” and “1”). The technique of calibrating the
infit and outfit characteristics of items for all the factors in a model
increases its fit indices.
Unlike earlier studies that generated multivariate procedures,
the SEM takes a confirmatory rather than exploratory approach to data
analysis as illustrated in this study. While most of the multivariate
techniques from previous studies provides regression and predictive
models of nursing achievement, the present study showed that the
factors of nursing quality, achievement, and aptitude fits together in a
structural model. As depicted in this study, the constructs of nursing
quality, aptitude, and achievement in nursing were shown to be
independent measures of both non-cognitive and cognitive abilities.
The integration of the nursing quality with ability measures was
apparently good as a model but the model also showed that affective
qualities are independent of cognitive abilities.
17
Aside from citing statistical considerations and benefits of using
the SEM and Rasch model applications as shown in this study, nurses
in the academic setting are expected to possess all the necessary
competencies, skills, attributes to be effective in their profession
(Valanis, 2000).
Standardized Tests
A standardized test is one that is administered under
standardized or controlled conditions that specify where, when, how,
and for how long children may respond to the questions or "prompts."
Standardized tests should meet acceptable standards for technical
qualities in construction, administration, and use.
Goodwin and Driscoll (1980, pp. 59-60) note that standardized tests
have the following qualities:
1. They provide a "systematic procedure for describing
behaviors, whether in terms of numbers or categories."
2. They include specified procedures for administration and
scoring.
3. The test items are derived from experience, either by
experiment or observation, rather than theory.
4. They have an established format and set of materials.
18
5. They present the same tasks and require the same response
modes from all test takers.
6. They provide tables of norms (see standards for technical
qualities) to which the scores of test takers can be compared
in order to ascertain their relative standing.
The great majority of standardized tests are marketed by
commercial test publishers, who have prepared them for use in a
broad array of educational institutions in many different settings. This
means that they are based on educational objectives common to such
diverse schools, and "rarely will these common objectives coincide
exactly with the specific objectives of the individual classroom teacher
or project director" (Goodwin & Driscoll, 1980, p. 60).
Individually administered standardized tests can serve important
purposes when they are selected wisely and used as intended by the
test developers, and their results are not overgeneralized or
misinterpreted. Hills (1992) notes:
"The primary strengths of standardized tests, if they are properly
designed and properly used, are that they can eliminate biases
in assessment of individual children and that they provide data
that can be aggregated, permitting comparisons of groups to a
standard." (p. 49)
19
School personnel must not, however, limit assessment to such
tests or allow the tests to dominate assessment of the test takers.
Can readiness be considered as an important aspect of learning?
Readiness may be included in the factors that affect education
and learning. As stated by Nunnery (2005), readiness is an important
concept in learning, regardless of the learner’s chronological age. For
teaching to be effective and learning to take place, the readiness of
the learner must be a prime consideration.
How Learning, Readiness, Cognitive Aspects and Understand are
Related
Learning is the perception of and assimilation of the information
presented in a variety of ways. Learning has the following aspects:
1. perception of new information
2. initial reaction to the information
3. ability to recall or repeat the information (simple
knowledge level)
4. rejection or acceptance of the information (understanding)
5. use of the information in a similar situation (application)
20
6. critical analysis of the information
7. incorporation of the information in the values system
(evaluation)
8. use of the information in various situations and
combinations 9creation)
an increasing complexity emerges here as the learner moves from
receiving and recalling information through:
1. understanding
2. application
3. analysis
4. evaluation of the knowledge acquired and creation of new
applications
Learning can also be enhanced with specific strategies or
approaches: individual styles vary, motivation strengthens learning,
arousal influences attention, application in varied context broadens
generalization, personal history shapes the perception of the
experience (Nunnery, 2005).
In terms of learning and cognitive aspects, what has to be
remembered is that to achieve a lasting change in observed behavior
(which is the goal of learning), the value of that change (affective
21
domain of learning) and the intellectual capacity (cognitive domain)
must first be present (Nunnery, 2005).
Main Areas of the Nursing Aptitude Test
Nursing career is getting attention all around the world.
However, unlike mechanical and technical professions you need some
qualities of heart for nursing jobs. The best in the nursing services
have been generous, loving and compassionate.
Still nursing career is not considered personal because it involves a lot
of team work. You will have to take care of physically or mentally ill
people. You have to perform in different roles such as a disciplined
care giver, a counselor, a manager, a teacher etc. Your every action
shall focus upon benevolence of the patients.
Furthermore, you need not only to be responsible and dependable but
also capable to accept truths of death and life.
Most of the nursing jobs screen you through nursing aptitude tests. The
psychologists build them around the following main areas:
A. Applied Sciences
22
1. Physics - The multiple choice questionnaire tries to measure your
comprehensions for mechanics, measurements, laws of
thermodynamics, acceleration, momentum etc.
2. Organic and Inorganic Chemistry - You have to take care of the
patients with certain medicines and chemicals. You are expected to
know basics of solvents, electrons, titration, periodic table etc.
3. Daly Life Science - You need to learn basics of TCA cycle, ATP,
cardiac control, human nervous system, endocrine glands, ECG basics,
cardiovascular system, lungs and respiratory effects, thyroid
hormones, etc. You are expected to hear and use these basic things
about the human medical science for your life long nursing career.
4. Vocabulary Skills - The nursing career requires you to have correct
knowledge of different words. Sometimes, your wrong perception of
words can put lives of the patients in severe danger. That’s why
vocabulary skills are tested with nursing aptitude test.
5. Mathematics Skills - Though the nursing aptitude tests include only a
portion of math to test your mathematical reasoning but it is still a
important to know about real numbers, fractions, trigonometry, area
calculations, logarithmic scale etc.
6. Reading Comprehension - In your nursing career you will have often
to read the instructions issued by the doctors during their visits. When
23
you fail to comprehend the simple instructions, you can’t help the
patients in any way. So your reading comprehension is also tested
before you qualify for entry level nursing jobs.
7. Analytical Reasoning - Analytical reasoning helps you to make quick
decisions during emergency. Most of the nursing aptitude tests include
this portion before you are selected for a nursing career.
Conceptual Framework
Independent Variable Dependent
Variable
Figure 1.1 shows the conceptual framework of the study demonstrating
how the student’s abilities, which are assessed through the Nursing
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination
Fundamentals of NursingCommunity Health Nursing, Maternal and Child Health NursingMedical-Surgical Nursing Part IMedical-Surgical Nursing Part IIPsychiatric Nursing
24
Nursing Aptitude Test
1. Judgment in Nursing Situations
2. Visual Memory3. Memory for Content4. Information5. Scientific Vocabulary6. Ability to Understand
and Follow Instructions
Aptitude Test (NAT) which include all important skills that nurses
require such as judgment in nursing situations, visual memory,
memory for content, information, scientific vocabulary and ability to
understand and follow instructions, affect their performance in the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents a brief description of the method used in
the research including the research design, study subject, method of
sampling used, research instrument, data gathering procedure and
methods of data processing.
Research Design
The researchers used the descriptive correlational design. It does
not infer cause-and-effect but describes the relationships between two
variables namely the students’ performance in the Nursing Aptitude
Test and their performance in the Philippine Nursing Licensure
Examination.
Respondents and Locale of the Study
25
The population of this study is defined as the 4th year nursing
students of Notre Dame of Midsayap College during the school years
2006-2007 and 2007-2008 who have taken the Nursing Aptitude Test,
graduated, complied with the requirements and have taken the
Philippine Nursling Licensure Examination regardless of whether they
passed or not.
Sampling Design
The researchers utilized complete enumeration to select the
respondents for the study. This is due to the small number of students
in the nursing department of Notre Dame of Midsayap College and to
ensure higher reliability of the results of the statistical treatment.
Research Instrument
The research instrument in the study mainly composes of official
records of the outcomes of their Nursing Aptitude Test of the
respondents from the Notre Dame of Midsayap College Guidance Office
and records of their scores during the Philippine Nursing Licensure
Examination with permission from the dean of the College of Nursing,
Psychometrician and Guidance Counselor.
26
Data Gathering Procedure
The data needed for the study are official records of the results
of the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination and the records of the
results of the Nursing Aptitude Test in the Guidance Office of Notre
Dame of Midsayap College.
Data gathering began by obtaining the approval of the dean of
the College of Nursing to conduct this study and gather the data,
permission and approval of the Guidance Office of Notre Dame of
Midsayap College to have access to the grades and scores of the
respondents included in the study. Reviewing these materials ad
securing our own copy of these materials were the most crucial parts
of this process.
Statistical Treatment
The statistical treatment used to analyze the data and determine
the degree of association and closeness of relationship between the
two variables is the Pearson r or the Pearson Product-Moment
Correlational Coefficient.
27
The correlational coefficient in this method is measured on a
scale that varies from positive one through zero to negative one. When
one variable increases as the other does, then the correlation is
positive; when one decreases as the other does, the correlation is
negative. Complete absence of correlation between two variables
would mean an r-value of zero (Basilio et al, 2003).
CHAPTER IV
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
This chapter contains a presentation and analysis of all the data
collected as part of the research. These data include scores of the
respondents in the Nursing Aptitude Test and the Philippine Nursing
Licensure Examination which is also comprised of different subjects
namely: Fundamentals of Nursing (Subject 1), Community Health
Nursing (Subject 2), Psychiatric Nursing (Subject 3), Medical-Surgical
Nursing (Subject 4), and (Subject 5).
The demographic profiles of the respondents have not been
included since the only factors that have been considered were the
Nursing Aptitude Test and the Philippine Nursing Licensure
Examination results.
28
The results of the Nursing Aptitude Test have been correlated to
every subject of the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination.
Scores of the Respondents in the Nursing Aptitude Test and the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination
The Nursing Aptitude Test which is given to nursing students
before they proceed to Level 2 may have a significant relationship to
their performance in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination. The
5 areas of the Nursing Aptitude Test namely: Judgment in Nursing
Situations, Visual Memory, Memory for Content, Information, Scientific
Vocabulary, and the Ability to Understand and Follow Directions are all
necessary characteristics that nursing students and nurses alike should
possess. Therefore, the performance of nursing students in the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination may be affected by their
skills in these areas.
On these grounds, the following discussions present the scores of
the respondents in the Nursing Aptitude Test and the Philippine
Nursing Licensure Examination including both the general average and
their scores in 5 different subject areas of the Philippine Nursing
29
Licensure Examination, and the correlation between these scores. Data
regarding these are presented in the following tables.
Table 1.1
Table 1.1 presents the respondents’ scores in the Nursing Aptitude Test.
Number of Respondent
Nursing Aptitude Test
1 702 773 744 775 756 777 828 799 7510 8311 7812 7813 7814 7515 7516 8117 7218 7319 7320 8021 7222 7623 7424 8525 7726 8527 8128 7929 7630 8631 7932 7933 82
34 8235 8236 9037 7138 8039 7840 7741 8542 7343 8544 7645 7946 7647 7748 7149 8250 7651 7552 7253 7554 8755 8156 7857 7958 7759 8360 7261 8562 7863 7464 8065 8266 8067 7468 85
30
69 8070 7371 74
31
Table 1.2
Table 1.2 presents the ranks, range of scores, frequency and
percentage of scores in the Nursing Aptitude Test.
RANK RANGE OF SCORE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE
Low Average 17-30 0 0%
Average 31-68 0 0%
High Average 69-86 69 97.18%
Above Average 87-96 2 2.9%
Superior 97-98 0 0%
Excellent 99-100 0 0%
Based on the data presented above, 69 or 97.18 percent of the
respondents ranked high average (R=69-86) while 2 or 2.9 percent
ranked above average (R=87-96). These findings indicate that majority
of the respondents ranked high average in the Nursing Aptitude Test
while only a few of them have ranked Above Average. This reflects the
effectiveness of the methods that the College of Nursing uses in
screening students. Students that are accepted are required not only
to have satisfactory grades but also good performance and aptitude.
This is the reason why the use of the Nursing Aptitude Test to measure
these things is considered as an important part of ensuring that the
Notre Dame of Midsayap College – College of Nursing is not only able
to produce very capable graduates but also maintain a high passing
rate in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination.
Scores in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination
The Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination has 5 areas
namely the Nursing Practice I (Fundamentals of Nursing), Nursing
Practice II (Maternal and Child Health Nursing, Community Health
Nursing), Nursing Practice III (Medical-Surgical Nursing part 1), Nursing
Practice IV (Medical-Surgical Nursing part 2), and Nursing Practice 5
(Neurological Medical-Surgical Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing). These are
all key areas in the nursing profession. The examination also assesses
the skills of a nurse in different key areas of competency which mainly
revolve on responsibilities of nurses and how to give quality care to
patients in different stages of life.
Learning preferences and skills are very important not only for a
graduate who takes or is about to take the Philippine Nursing Licensure
Examination but also for professional nurses because learning does not
stop when one becomes a registered nurse. Judgment in nursing
situations, visual memory, and memory for content, information,
scientific vocabulary and ability to understand and follow instructions
are skills that all nurses must possess. Experiences in the clinical
setting prove that nurses are regularly faced with situations wherein
they are required to make decisions when they care for their patients.
Making the right decision in these situations is crucial because nurses
are held responsible for the lives and welfare of patients. The
knowledge they have can become basis for the decisions they make
and their vocabulary and ability to understand and follow instructions
are all important when it comes to carrying-out doctors’ orders.
On these grounds, the following discussions present the mean of
scores of students in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination per
subject area and as a whole, the passing rates in the different areas,
standard deviation of their scores and the value of r which shows the
correlation of the variables.
Table 1.3
Table 1.3 presents the mean of the scores of the respondents in
the Philippine Nursing Licensure as a whole and per subject area, the
passing rates in these areas, the standard deviation of the scores and
the value of r.
SCORE MEAN OF
SCORES
PASSING
RATE
STANDARD
DEVIATION
VALUE OF
R
General Average in PNLE
73.06 52.11 5.66 0.51
Subject I 77.73 98.59 5.72 0.53
Subject II 73.58 90.14 6.67 0.35
Subject III 74.32 91.55 6.37 0.25
Subject IV 66.59 56.34 9.4 0.41
Subject V 72.86 81.69 7.85 0.46
Based on the data presented above, subject I (Fundamentals of
Nursing) has the highest mean (77.73). It is followed by subject III with
a mean of 74.32, subject II with 73.58, subject V with 72.86 and finally
subject IV with a mean of 66.59.
When analyzed by passing rates, subject I (Fundamentals of
Nursing) has the highest passing rate (98.59%) suggesting that
students have been able to receive good foundation on this subject.
Subject IV (Medical-Surgical Nursing part 2) on the other hand, has the
lowest passing rate (56.34%) although the passing rate of students in
subject III which is part 1 of Medical-Surgical Nursing is quite high. This
shows that Medical-Surgical Nursing is indeed a broad subject. A low
passing rate in subject IV means that not all concepts in this subject
area (Medical-Surgical Nursing) have been discussed. Since it involves
all concepts regarding care of patients in all stages of life with illnesses
in different systems or organs, all medications, medical managements,
nursing responsibilities and even assessments, students need more
time to familiarize themselves with these different concepts. Since the
time they have for review is limited, it is crucial that they be given a
background of these concepts as early as possible in the school
setting. The very high standard deviation of the respondents’ scores in
this subject (9.4) shows the inconsistency in their performance. As
presented above, subject I (Fundamentals of Nursing) has the lowest
standard deviation suggesting that the scores of the respondents has
the least difference in this area.
When analyzed by their correlation to the independent variable,
subject I (Fundamentals of Nursing has the highest correlation (r=0.53)
which is even higher than the correlation of the Nursing Aptitude Test
to the general average of the respondents in the Philippine Nursing
Licensure Examination (r=0.51). These show a very high positive
correlation to the Nursing Aptitude Test suggesting that the
performance of students in the Nursing Aptitude Test can determine
their performance in subject I (Fundamentals of Nursing) and the
Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination as a whole. Performance in
subjects II, IV and V have moderate positive correlation to their
performance in the Nursing Aptitude Test which means that the
Nursing Aptitude Test can also determine performance of students in
these areas. As presented above, there is a moderately small positive
correlation between the performance in the Nursing Aptitude Test and
subject III or Medical-Surgical Nursing part 1 (r=0.25). Although there
is a positive correlation between the two, it is the least. The low
correlation in this area suggests that performance in subject III is not
affected so much by a person’s skills (those assessed in the Nursing
Aptitude Test). This may be where factors such as teaching strategies,
time for learning, and review come in. This shows how important
quality education is. The high mean of the scores and passing rate in
this subject area suggests that the College of Nursing has been able to
give the students this kind of education.
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Restatement of the Problem
The main purpose of this study is to determine the relationship
between the result of the students’ NAT examination and their
performance in the Nursing Licensure Examination. Another is to refine
our understanding on how preferences and skills in learning which are
assessed through the Nursing Aptitude Test affect the performance of
nursing students in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination. This
study aims to answer the following questions:
1) What are the scores of the students in the: Nursing Aptitude Test
and Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination?
2) Is there a significant relationship between the students’
performance in the Nursing Aptitude Test and the Nursing Licensure
Examination?
Summary of Findings
Based on the presentation, analyses and interpretation of data,
the following are the major findings of the study:
1. Analysis of the scores of the respondents in the Philippine
Nursing Licensure Examination revealed that the highest scores
are Subject 1 (Fundamentals of Nursing) with a passing rate of
98.59 percent and a mean of 77.72. This is followed by Subject 3
(Medical-Surgical Nursing part 1) with a passing rate of 91.55
percent and a mean of 74.32. Subject 2 (Maternal and Child
Health Nursing, Community Health Nursing) follows with a
passing rate of 90.14 and a mean of 73.58 then Subject 5
(Neurologic Medical-Surgical Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing) with a
passing rate of 81.69 percent and a mean of 72.86. The lowest
scores that the respondents had during the Philippine Nursing
Licensure Examination were in Subject 4 (Medical-Surgical
Nursing part 2) where only 56.34 percent passed the subject and
the mean is only 66.59.
2. With the scores of the students we can say that they have a
good foundation in the Fundamentals of Nursing, Maternal and
Child Health Nursing, Community Health Nursing, Psychiatric
Nursing and Medical-Surgical Nursing part 1. As of their
performance in Subject 4 (Medical – Surgical Nursing), it
demonstrates a weak point in their education and a need for
strengthening their foundations in this subject (Medical – Surgical
Nursing). The high passing rate in the first part of this subject
suggests that the result of the low passing rate in the second
part would be that the students were not able to encounter the
concepts included in the second part of Medical-Surgical Nursing.
This may be a result of the lack of time allotted for the subject.
2 Analysis of the correlation of the scores of the respondents in the
Nursing Aptitude Test and the Philippine Nursing Licensure
Examination as a whole and by subject showed that there is a
strong relationship between the variables. Correlating the scores
in the Nursing Aptitude Test and the general average of the
respondents in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination
showed that there is a high correlation between the two
variables (r=0.5125). Upon correlation of the scores in the
Nursing Aptitude Test and the scores in the 5 different subjects
in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination, researchers
have identified that the subject with the greatest correlation to
the Nursing Aptitude Test is the Subject 1 or the Fundamentals of
Nursing (r=0.53), followed by Subject 5 or Psychiatric Nursing
(r=0.46), Subject 4 or Medical Surgical Nursing part 2 (r=0.41),
Subject 2 or Maternal and Child Health Nursing, and Community
Health Nursing (r=0.35), and Subject 3 or Medical-Surgical
Nursing part 1 with the least correlation (r=0.25).
Conclusions
Based on the findings of the study, the researchers have
formulated the following conclusions:
1. The College of Nursing especially the Clinical Instructors have
been able to give the students a good foundation on these
subjects:
a. Fundamentals of Nursing
b. Maternal and Child Health Nursing
c. Community Health Nursing
d. Psychiatric Nursing
This is demonstrated by a high passing rate and high average
score of students in these subjects.
2. Nursing education given to students should focus on
strengthening their foundations
3. More time must be given to Medical-Surgical Nursing to be able
to cover all the important concepts and further strengthen the
foundation and understanding of students in this subject.
4. The Nursing Aptitude Test can be used as a predictor for the
performance of students in the Philippine Nursing Licensure
Examination and may also be used to determine how well they
perform in the different subjects of the Philippine Nursing
Licensure Examination particularly on Subjects 1, 4 and 5 which
have the moderate and high correlation to the scores in the
Nursing Aptitude Test.
Recommendations
In the light of the findings of the study, the researchers have made the
following recommendations:
A. Possible Course of Action
1. Clinical Instructors assigned on these subjects should have a
good background on the subject for him to be able to impart
knowledge to students and be able to properly discuss the topics
so students would be able to completely understand the subject.
2. Clinical Instructors should always be updated about current
issues related to nursing for them to be able to share this to
students.
3. Clinical Instructors should monitor the performance of students.
Clinical instructors should then take the necessary steps to
improve their performance in areas where it is not satisfactory.
4. The Nursing Skills Laboratory should have better equipment and
facilities where students can practice and simulate clinical skills.
5. There should be more books and other updated sources of
information on Medical – Surgical Nursing in the library which are
accessible to nursing students.
6. In terms of Related Learning Experience, ward classes should be
practiced to reinforce the knowledge that students receive in the
classroom and also help them understand cases that they
encounter in the area.
7. Students need to have more review sessions on Medical –
Surgical Nursing. And the review center must be well-chosen to
ensure that the students receive the best lectures and
instructions.
8. Nursing students should do their best to expand their knowledge
and understanding of topics related to Medical – Surgical
Nursing.
9. Administrators should monitor the performance of the students
and instructors.
B. Further Studies
In the light of the findings of the study, the researchers
recommend the following for further studies:
1. Further studies should include the academic performance of
students as a predictor for their performance in the Philippine
Nursing Licensure Examination.
2. Further studies should also utilize other statistical tools or
treatment to determine the correlation of the variables (e.g.
regression).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A) BOOKS
1. Divinagracia, C. (2008). Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Curriculum. Manila, Philippines: ADPCN Inc.
2. Mamauag, M. & mango, C. (2005). Nursing Quality Scale:
Test Development. Unpublished manuscript. Asian
Psychological Services and Assessment, Inc.
3. Subong, P. (2005). Statistics for Research. Quezon City:
Rex Printing Company Inc., 2005
4. Theodore, C. A. (1982). Managerial Statistics. Belmont,
California: Kent Publishing Company, 1982
5. Valanis, B. (2000). Professional Nurisng Pracices in an
HMO: the future is now. Journal of Nursing Education. 39,
13-26.
6. Polit, D. and Beck, C. (2005). Nursing Research.
Philadelphia: Lipincott Williams and Wilkins
B) INTERNET
1. Roman, M. (2005). Assessing Nursing Competency.
Available at: http://www.docstoc.com
2. How to Find the Correlation Coefficient When Doing
Statistics. Available at: http://www.ehow.com
3. Main Areas of Nursing Aptitude Tests. Available
at:http://www.wikipedia.com
4. Hird, V. Nursing Competencies. Available at:
http://www.medcenter.com
APPENDICES
Scores of the respondents in the Nursing Aptitude Test
Number of Respondent
Nursing Aptitude Test
1 702 773 744 775 756 777 828 799 7510 8311 7812 7813 7814 7515 7516 8117 7218 7319 7320 8021 7222 7623 7424 8525 7726 8527 8128 7929 76
30 8631 7932 7933 8234 8235 8236 9037 7138 8039 7840 7741 8542 7343 8544 7645 7946 7647 7748 7149 8250 7651 7552 7253 7554 8755 8156 7857 7958 7759 8360 72
61 8562 7863 7464 8065 8266 8067 7468 8569 8070 73
71 74
Scores of the Respondents in the Philippine Nursing Licensure
Examination.
Number of Respondent
PHILIPPINE NURSING LICENSURE EXAMINATIONSubject 1
Subject 2
Subject 3
Subject 4
Subject 5
Gen. Ave.
1 80 72 80 57 63 70.42 81 67 82 73 72 753 79 78 77 76 77 77.44 70 75 75 52 61 66.65 85 67 83 77 78 786 86 69 80 76 77 77.67 80 74 80 70 72 75.28 67 60 74 56 65 64.49 75 77 76 77 70 75
10 61 61 76 56 62 63.211 75 72 72 59 61 67.812 75 70 74 76 67 72.413 86 76 83 76 76 79.414 78 76 77 63 52 69.215 76 69 77 77 76 7516 82 69 82 70 79 76.417 77 76 79 76 70 75.618 76 66 72 71 75 7219 77 71 75 57 54 66.820 74 59 65 48 65 62.221 74 69 72 56 60 66.222 88 81 85 79 79 82.423 82 73 78 71 71 7524 75 78 79 65 80 75.425 77 67 67 60 63 66.826 82 82 79 75 79 79.427 76 67 77 65 70 7128 72 70 69 59 71 68.229 86 71 82 76 72 77.430 77 74 79 63 69 72.431 82 78 85 64 80 77.8
32 75 63 77 57 69 68.233 66 62 75 56 61 6434 83 84 84 80 83 82.835 72 65 76 67 66 69.236 80 80 70 65 77 7537 61 72 79 56 56 64.838 72 78 71 68 77 73.239 81 79 76 75 80 78.240 77 77 61 59 77 70.241 77 59 65 60 64 6642 79 75 61 60 78 7143 79 77 76 69 81 76.444 79 79 77 74 80 77.845 88 87 79 79 80 82.646 65 76 69 63 75 69.647 76 62 75 46 64 64.648 83 82 71 77 78 78.249 76 65 62 53 68 64.850 85 79 80 74 83 80.251 80 79 76 63 79 75.452 76 69 72 50 66 66.653 78 77 71 69 80 7554 72 65 61 57 75 6655 79 75 71 57 75 71.456 85 85 83 85 83 84.257 87 81 78 82 83 82.258 80 79 78 77 79 78.659 80 78 71 75 80 76.860 77 77 71 60 72 71.461 80 79 76 77 82 78.862 71 68 58 56 71 64.863 83 81 72 76 81 78.664 74 77 66 59 81 71.465 82 80 72 68 72 76.266 78 77 77 72 79 76.667 74 68 59 57 72 6668 84 81 76 74 80 7969 82 79 71 63 81 75.270 75 78 66 59 59 67.471 77 76 77 78 80 77.6
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