The sample for this study includes a convenience sample of BSN nursing students from the two graduating
classes of May 2010 and May 2011, which were admitted in the fall semester of 2007 and 2008. The sample for
this study included all the students admitted to the BSN program in 2007 and 2008, which was a total of 201
students. However, 14 of those students were missing data from their student files, so a total of 187 of the 201
met the criteria for inclusion in the study. The sample was mostly female, Caucasian, and composed of traditional
college age students of 23 years or younger. The setting for this study was a baccalaureate nursing (BSN)
program at a large, state-supported public university in the eastern part of the United States.
6. Data Collection
The data were collected for this study from student records maintained by the BSN program, based