Does academic performance decline when nursing students work 12 or more hours per week?

Title : Does academic performance decline when nursing students work 12 or more hours per week?

Abstract:

Internationally, it has been a common practice that college and university based nursing programs encourages undergraduate nursing students not to obtain either part time or full time employment during a nursing school semester due to the high intensity and demands of these programs. Limited literature is available on this topic, a few studies suggest that it does have detrimental impact in the performance of nursing students and other studies showed only a slight significance.

Purpose of the study: The purpose of this research study is to identify if a nursing student working part time or more influences their overall GPA in nursing school.

Introduction: In recent years due such factors as a nursing shortage and an increase in nursing salaries there has been a rise is the number of students enrolled in college and university nursing programs. Nursing employment opportunities have expanded due to the increasing health care needs of the large population of “baby boomers”, changes in health insurance, and the increase in health disparities across the nation. The current nursing student is from various generations and because of this many often have family responsibilities. These undergraduate nursing students in order to meet their financial obligations of paying for their education as well as providing for their families often seek employment in addition to their student role. This employment will limit the amount of time the student is able to spend on their nursing studies and thus have a negative impact on their overall academic performance.

Audience Take Away:

• Does student performance decline when nursing students work 12 or more hours per week.

• Recommendations for nursing schools

Biography:

Dr. Abigail Mitchell is Professor and Graduate Associate Dean in the Patricia H. Garman School of Nursing at D’Youville University.  She currently teaches in the DNP, Graduate, and in the Accelerated programs. She has presented her various research projects internationally, nationally, and local. She has published over 20 manuscripts in various peer reviewed journals.  Dr. Mitchell holds a DHEd, MSN, MBA, RN and is a certified nurse educator. She is a fellow with the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia.  She has been awarded prestigious honors, including Western New York Nurse of Distinction in 2009 and Top Manager in 2019, and recently nominated for WNY Nurse Educator of the Year.