904 - Bridge to Success: Providing Supplemental Instruction to Increase Student Engagement with Course Content

The needs of the nursing workforce for qualified, competent nurse graduates necessitate the design, planning and delivery of programs that increase student retention and graduation rates. Course retention and pass rate in a second semester, level 2 medical/surgical nursing course has been historically low. This course was identified as a pivotal course where students must master pathophysiology, pharmacology and integrate complex concepts of biology and disease management while increasing critical thinking and clinical judgement. A Bridge course including immersion in simulation and supplemental instruction was implemented to facilitate student engagement and development of clinical judgement. This presentation will describe outcomes of our Bridge program. Opportunity will be provided to share program design including successes and challenges.

As demand for qualified nurse graduates continues to grow, nurse educators need to design innovative strategies to support student learning and academic success to increase retention and graduation rates. It has been demonstrated that students with a grade of less than a B- in nursing fundamentals coursework have a decreased potential for progression through a level 2 nursing course. At risk students from underrepresented groups who attended supplemental instruction (SI) sessions had higher course grades than those who did not attend. (Buchanan et al, 2019). Academic success in a second semester level 2 course has been consistently 59.7% - 61% of students progressing to the third semester. SI targets historically complex courses- assists students to integrate course content with reasoning and study skills to increase performance (Rokusek, et al., 2022). Success in a level 2 nursing course requires mastery of complex course content with increased pathophysiology and clinical decision-making. In addition, mastery of essential psychomotor skills essential to safe and effective nursing practice must be supported. SI benefits include increased student retention and enhancement of the educational experience (Jones, 2013).

A faculty-led bridge program was implemented during the semester break (Winter 2023) and supplemental instruction (SI) workshop sessions on key nursing concepts were provided throughout the Spring 2023 semester for students transitioning from fundamentals Level 1 course to second semester Level 2 course to strengthen academic and clinical skills to enhance student retention. To boost student engagement in course content, active learning approaches using case studies, simulated clinical scenarios, skill demonstration and NGN-NCLEX practice questions were used to strengthen clinical judgement.