Predictors of academic performance among second-year nursing students at a university in the Western Cape

Abstract

Students with low grades in high school science related subjects as well as those that obtained low grades in their first year of study should be given the necessary support to avoid the risk of unsatisfactory academic performance. The performance of nursing students is a diverse topic that needs further investigation at more nursing institutions and at various levels of undergraduate programmes. This study describes the predictors of academic performance among second-year nursing students at a university in the Western Cape. A non-experimental quantitative research approach with a cross-sectional predictive design was carried out to determine the relationship between predictor variables and academic performance of second-year Bachelor of Nursing students (n=226). A multiple-linear regression analysis was done to determine which variables best explains the variations in the students’ academic performance. The study found that the cognitive variables had the strongest predictive power in association with academic performance in comparison to the demographic variable, besides race which rejected the null hypothesis.