Disposition of federal records.

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The role of personality and self-efficacy in the selection and retention of successful nursing students:a longitudinal study

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to examine the role of personality and self-efficacy in predicting academic performance and attrition in nursing students.

Background: Despite a considerable amount of research investigating attrition in nursing students and new nurses, concerns remain. This particular issue highlights the need for a more effective selection process whereby those selected are more likely to complete their preregistration programme successfully, and remain employed as Registered Nurses.

Method: A longitudinal design was adopted. A questionnaire, which included measures of personality and occupational and academic self-efficacy, was administered to 384 students early in the first year of the study. At the end of the programme, final marks and attrition rates were obtained from university records for a total of 350 students. The data were collected from 1999 to 2002.

Findings: Individuals who scored higher on a psychoticism scale were more likely to withdraw from the programme. Occupational self-efficacy was revealed to be a statistically significant predictor of final mark obtained, in that those with higher self-efficacy beliefs were more likely to achieve better final marks. Extraversion was also shown to negatively predict academic performance in that those with higher extraversion scores were more likely to achieve lower marks.

Conclusion: More research is needed to explore the attributes of successful nursing students and the potential contribution of psychological profiling to a more effective selection process.

An analysis of the effects of a peer mentor program and other factors on HIV patients' retention in care and clinical outcomes at Thomas Street Health Clinic, Houston Texas

Research examining programs designed to retain patients in health care focus on repeated interactions between outreach workers and patients (Bradford et al. 2007; Cheever 2007). The purpose of this study was to determine if patients who are peer-mentored at their intake exam remain in care longer and attend more physicians' visits than those who were not mentored. Using patients' medical records and a previously created mentor database, the study determined how many patients attended their intake visit but subsequently failed to establish regular care. The cohort study examined risk factors for establishing care, determined if patients lacking a peer mentor failed to establish care more than peer mentor assisted patients, and subsequently if peer mentored patients had better health outcomes. The sample consists of 1639 patients who were entered into the Thomas Street Patient Mentor Database between May 2005 and June 2007. The assignment to the mentored group was haphazardly conducted based on mentor availability. The data from the Mentor Database was then analyzed using descriptive statistical software (SPSS version 15; SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). Results indicated that patients who had a mentor at intake were more likely to return for primary care HIV visits at 90 and 180 days. Mentored patients also were more likely to be prescribed ART within 180 days from intake. Other risk factors that impacted remaining in care included gender, previous care status, time from diagnosis to intake visit, and intravenous drug use. Clinical health outcomes did not differ significantly between groups. This supports that mentoring did improve outcomes. Continuing to use peer-mentoring programs for HIV care may help in increasing retention of patients in care and improving patients' health in a cost effective manner. Future research on the effects of peer mentoring on mentors, and effects of concordance of mentor and patient demographics may help to further improve peer-mentoring programs. ^

Guide to record retention requirements.

At head of title, <1980->: Federal register.

Membership retention within the sporting industry : factors affecting relationship dissolution

Relationship dissolution has been somewhat ignored in the study of relationship marketing paradigm. While there has been an abundance of literature giving broad conceptualizations on how to master the intricacies of relationships, very little has discussed the concept of relationship dissolution. This is especially true of the sporting industry, which does not yet understand the factors that contribute to members relinquishing their membership and severing relationship ties with the club. Team performance was found to be the most powerful predictor of relationship dissolution; however, both satisfaction with the sportscape and emotional bonds had a significant influence on the decision for a member not to renew their membership. Although team performance is mostly out of the hands of sport marketers, greater focus should be given to implementing strategies that enhance the emotional aspects of the club-member relationship while also improving aspects of the service facility.

A holistic approach to the support and engagement of first year students : a retention strategy

Institutions should enact holistic approaches that address students’ personal, social and academic engagement in the early weeks of first year to facilitate retention (Nelson, Kift & Clarke, 2008). This holistic approach is central to the FYE program at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), which was established to maximise learning engagement and hence positively influence the retention of commencing students. The program aims to • engage students in their learning through an intentionally designed and enacted curriculum (Kift, 2008) • facilitate timely access to life and learning support • promote a sense of belonging to the discipline, cohort and profession. The FYE program’s aims are achieved by strategic alliances between academic and professional staff across the institution.

A holistic approach to the support and engagement of first year students : a retention strategy.

Institutions should enact holistic approaches that address students’ personal, social and academic engagement in the early weeks of first year to facilitate retention (Nelson, Kift & Clarke, 2008). This holistic approach is central to the FYE program at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), which was established to maximise learning engagement and hence positively influence the retention of commencing students.

Harnessing assessment and feedback in the first year to support learning success, engagement and retention

It has been argued that intentional first year curriculum design has a critical role to play in enhancing first year student engagement, success and retention (Kift, 2008). A fundamental first year curriculum objective should be to assist students to make the successful transition to assessment in higher education. Scott (2006) has identified that ‘relevant, consistent and integrated assessment … [with] prompt and constructive feedback’ are particularly relevant to student retention generally; while Nicol (2007) suggests that ‘lack of clarity regarding expectations in the first year, low levels of teacher feedback and poor motivation’ are key issues in the first year. At the very minimum, if we expect first year students to become independent and self-managing learners, they need to be supported in their early development and acquisition of tertiary assessment literacies (Orrell, 2005). Critical to this attainment is the necessity to alleviate early anxieties around assessment information, instructions, guidance, and performance. This includes, for example:  inducting students thoroughly into the academic languages and assessment genres they will encounter as the vehicles for evidencing learning success; and  making expectations about the quality of this evidence clear. Most importantly, students should receive regular formative feedback of their work early in their program of study to aid their learning and to provide information to both students and teachers on progress and achievement. Leveraging research conducted under an ALTC Senior Fellowship that has sought to articulate a research-based 'transition pedagogy' (Kift & Nelson, 2005) – a guiding philosophy for intentional first year curriculum design and support that carefully scaffolds and mediates the first year learning experience for contemporary heterogeneous cohorts – this paper will discuss theoretical and practical strategies and examples that should be of assistance in implementing good assessment and feedback practices across a range of disciplines in the first year.

Zeolite from alkali modified kaolin increases NH4+ retention by sandy soil : column experiments

Sandy soils have low water and nutrient retention capabilities so that zeolite soil amendments are used for high value land uses including turf and horticulture to reduce leaching losses of NH4+ fertilisers. MesoLite is a zeolitic material made by caustic treatment of kaolin at 80-95oC. It has a moderately low surface area (9-12m2/g) and very high cation exchange capacity (494 cmol(+)/kg). Laboratory column experiments showed that an addition of 0.4% MesoLite to a sandy soil greatly (90%) reduced leaching of added NH4+ compared to an unamended soil and MesoLite is 11 times more efficient in retaining NH4+ than natural zeolite. Furthermore, NH4+-MesoLite slowly releases NH4+ to soil solution and is likely to be an effective slow release fertiliser.

Retention and degradation of organics in Rundle waste shale/retort water mixtures

Batch, column and field lysimeter studies have been conducted to evaluate the concept of codisposal of retort water with Rundle (Queensland, Australia) waste shales. The batch studies indicated that degradation of a significant proportion of the total organic load occurs if the mixture is seeded with soil or compost. These results are compared with those from laboratory column studies and from the field lysimeter at the Rundle site. G.c.-m.s. analysis of some of the eluants indicated that significant degradation of the base-neutral fraction occurs even if no soil seed is added, and that degradation of this fraction was higher under anaerobic conditions.