Use of a File Review Rubric to Facilitate NP Program Admission Decisions

Nurse Practitioner program resources are finite. The continuing shortage of qualified faculty has been joined by mounting competition for quality clinical sites. In addition, accreditation agency requirements now demand documentation of minimum levels of program completion and certification pass rates as well as post-graduation employment (CCNE, 2013). Many potential students also report significant family responsibilities along with a need to continue to work, often full time, while completing graduate education.  These factors make the identification of highly qualified applicants who have a clear desire to enter NP practice in the role for which they have been prepared  and who understand the focus, time and energy required to complete nurse practitioner education increasingly complex.

The limited body of research on predictors of success in graduate education indicates that GRE scores, GPAS, student goal statements as well as applicant scope, depth and length of experience in the nursing role are useful predictive data (Ortega, Burns, Hussey Schmidt, Austin, 2013; Crosby, Dunn, Fallacaro Jozwiak-Shields, Macisaac, 2003). The challenge then becomes how to aggregate and, in some cases, quantify, this data in order to identify those applicants most likely to succeed.

This presentation will describe the development, use and outcome of a rubric which allows quantification of admission data in order to standardize applicant file review. This process facilitates identification of students not qualified for admission and helps rank order applicants when there are more qualified candidates than space available.

This rubric summarizes data extracted from each applicant’s file. These include GRE score, GPA and an evaluation score on an a writing sample containing responses to three specific questions. There is also an evaluation of the students CV which provides information on the applicant’s prior education (including prior graduate work and receipt of academic honors and other recognition), work history, certifications, professional activities and memberships, scholarly work and community involvement.

Specific details on the rubric’s content, percentages of the total score for each component, process for increasing inter-rater reliability and procedure to address significant differences in scores will be presented. Outcomes based on multiple admission cohorts will be reported.