Adding an interview to the pre-licensure track admission process enables more minority students with good but lower grade-point averages to secure a place at nursing school, according to an article published in the March issue of the AORN Journal.

Lucy B. Trice, Ph.D., and Patricia H. Foster, R.N., of the University of North Florida Brooks College of Nursing in Jacksonville, Fla., write that the university is located in an urban area where minorities account for almost 36 percent of the population, but accounted for only 2 percent of the school of nursing student body. This was attributed to the pre-licensure track admission process, which favored students with high grade-point averages, eliminating many potentially good students with good but lower grade-point averages.

The introduction of an admission interview meant that those with the highest qualifications were still screened in, but so were those with lower grade-point averages that deserved a place, including more minority students, the authors explain. The percentage of minority students rose to a high of 25 percent, with no change to the overall attrition and licensure examination pass rates.

"Faculty members continue to search for ways to better identify applicants who will be successful in the program," the authors write.

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Prepared jointly by the editors of RN and HealthDay's Physicians' Briefing (www.physiciansbriefing.com).