Addressing the challenges of nursing student attrition.

With the passage of the Affordable Care Act and as the number of aging and diverse individuals in society increases, access to health care will expand and the need for more competent and diverse nursing graduates will increase. An adequate number of nurse graduates is imperative to meet societal demands; however, this is complicated by high nursing student attrition rates. This article examines the need for more nurses (including those from diverse backgrounds), current attrition rates among schools of nursing, at-risk student characteristics, and previous attempts to increase student success. Applying the evidence to practice, findings from a multipronged approach to increase student success within an associate degree nursing program located within a historically Black college and university in the midwestern United States are discussed. The program's successes and opportunities for improvement are examined, as well as the recommendations for other nursing programs facing issues with student attrition.