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Student Research Letter - Danielle Shaver, Umass Dartmouth

Posted 3 months ago by Sheila Blomquist

Hello Colleague,

My name is Danielle Shaver. I am a nurse and a PhD student researcher at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth College of Nursing and Health Sciences. I am interested in the nursing faculty perspective related to the factors that lead students to voluntarily leave a program of study, the obstacles students encounter, and the factors considered when guiding students in making the choice to withdraw from a nursing program for reasons other than unsuccessful academic progress.

You are eligible to participate in this study if you are: an experienced nursing faculty advisor who advised 4-year baccalaureate degree nursing students within the last five years. Participants must have experience in advising students who have voluntarily departed from nursing programs. For the purpose of this study, voluntary attrition refers to those that chose to deliberately depart from a nursing program by “dropping out” or those that chose to change majors within an academic institution resulting in a different career path for reasons other than unsatisfactory academic success. Research participants must also be a registered nurse, able to read and reply in English, and be willing to be interviewed and recorded.

You are not eligible to participate in this study if you have not advised 4-year baccalaureate students in the past 5 years or are a nursing faculty advisor who has no experience advising students who have voluntarily departed from a nursing program.

It is important for you to know that taking part in this study is voluntary and at no time will you be asked to break FERPA laws. You may decide not to take part or decide to leave the study at any time, including after you begin the interview process. There’s no penalty for not completing. If you agree to participate in the study, please send an email to dshaver@umassd.edu.

An informed consent will be sent to you via email to further outline the study. If you choose to continue you will be asked to complete a sociodemographic questionnaire during the interview process. The interview will be conducted and recorded face-to-face via Zoom so that transcripts can be completed via a professional transcription service and reviewed throughout the analysis stage. Copies of the interview will be kept in a password protected computer to ensure your confidentiality and privacy are maintained. There are no costs for you to participate in this study; eligible participants who do complete will be sent a $20 Amazon digital gift card and appreciation of their time and effort. I am interested in hearing from as many faculty advisors as possible, so if you know someone else who would like to complete the survey, please forward this communication to them. Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

Danielle E. Shaver

Doctoral Candidate, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

dshaver@Umassd.edu