Students' demographic, academic characteristics and performance in registered general nursing licensing examination in Ghana

The decreasing performance of student nurses in the professional licensure examinations (LE) in Ghana is a major concern to stakeholders, especially at a time when the nurse-patient ratio stands at 1: 1500. The study sought to determine the effect of students' demographic and academic characteristics on performance in the Registered General Nursing (RGN) LE. A descriptive retrospective study was conducted using a researcher designed checklist to review the administrative and academic records of 324 nursing students who wrote the RGN LE between 2007 and 2012. A stratified sampling method was used to select the participants for the study. Chi-square statistics were used to determine the effect of the predictors: demographic characteristics, entry grade and Final Grade Point Average (FGPA) on the dependent variable (LE performance). The study revealed a relationship between gender and LE performance, residential status, entry grade and students' FGPA at the college. However, no significant relationship was found between the age of participants, subject background at high school and LE outcomes. We conclude that students' socio-demographic and academic characteristics such as gender, campus residential status, entry grade and FGPA influence the outcome of the final LE of RGN students. Consequently, priority should be given to applicants with high pre-entry aggregate during recruitment and on campus accommodation should be provided for all trainee nurses. Furthermore, weak students with low FGPA should be given special tuition before they are registered for the final LE to improve their outcomes.