Discriminant analysis of admission criteria for Master's degree programme in Nursing at Medical University of Warsaw

Background. One of more important tasks of departments training prospective nurses is to seek an effective method for selection of the best candidates for whom it is more likely than not that they will achieve professional success.

Aim. Assessment of discriminative capacity of admission criteria used in selecting candidates for a Master’s degree programme in Nursing at Medical University of Warsaw (MUW) between 2009 and 2013.

Material and methods. The admission data of candidates for a Master’s degree programme in Nursing between 2009 and 2013 (n = 2257) were used in the study. The following admission criteria were included in the analysis: test score, Bachelor’s GPA, type of university-level school a candidate graduated from with a Bachelor’s degree. A pool of questions constituting a subtest covering issues related to Clinical Nursing was treated as a separate criterion. ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristics) curves for two variables (admitted/not admitted) were used to estimate the selection capacity of the criteria.

Results. In all the years that were analysed, the discriminatory value of test scores was significantly higher than selective capacity based on GPA (p < 0.00001). The analysis of the ROC curves may have also indicated that the discriminatory capacity of test questions related to Clinical Nursing was high.

Conclusions. A test as an exam tool needs to be improved (reaching equivalence of each exam edition, verifying assumptions to the test plan, maintaining the same number of questions to all areas of knowledge and skills). Moreover, the proportion of GPA and scientific achievements compared to the test score needs to be revised in order to maintain high accuracy of the entire selection procedure.

Nursing Topics 2015; 23 (1): 51–56