FACTORS INFLUENCING PHARMACOLOGY KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION IN TRADITIONAL VERSUS NONTRADITIONAL BACCALAUREATE NURSING STUDENTS ROBERT M. STRAYER, MSN, RN, CCRN8* AND JANICE M. BEITZ, PHD, RN, CS, CNOR, CWOCN, CRNP, APRN-BC† Factors that restrict or support academic achievement are a major concern for nurse educators. The authors examined selected academic and nonacademic factors, including the Kolb Learning Styles Inventory III, that affected the ability of prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students in acquiring pharmacology knowledge. This study used a comparative descriptive design to analyze the nature and strength of the relationship between the selected independent academic and nonacademic variables and final pharmacology course averages. Findings suggest that nonacademic factors such as family responsibilities significantly affect academic success. (Index words: Pharmacology; Undergraduate; Nursing Student; Traditional; Nontraditional) J Prof Nurs 26:301–308, 2010. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Background T HE CURRENT REGISTERED nursing shortage has generated significant changes in the composition of the nursing student population. According to the March 2004 National Sample Survey, 73.4% of registered nurses are older than 40 years, with an average age of 46.8 years. In addition, only 16.6% are younger than 35 years. According to the same survey, the average age of nursing program graduates is 29.6 years, with 39.2% graduating between 2000 and 2004 younger than 25 years and 20.9% of the remaining 60.8% between the ages of 35 of 49 years (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Health Professions, Division of Nursing, 2004). These data suggest that increasing numbers of nursing gradu- ates are individuals who have returned to school to embark on a second career. Nursing programs are challenged to provide educational experiences for this diverse group of students, many from nonprofessional positions, for entry-level professional nursing practice. Studies conducted in the United States and internation- ally have examined learning strategies, along with other selected factors, in an attempt to determine which teaching strategies are most effective in improving academic success rates in prelicensure RN preparation programs. The challenge is particularly compelling when providing education in highly abstract topics such as pharmacology for prelicensure nursing students. Literature Review Driscoll (2000) asserted that learning is a lifelong activity, occurring both intentionally and incidentally and should be viewed as a complex process. Intentional learning may be formal, such as an institutionally sponsored, highly structured classroom activity, or informal, occurring in an institutional setting but not necessarily in a structured classroom. Incidental learning takes place in everyday life occurrences and during targeted educational endeavors. The difference between the two is that the people are aware of the former and not always conscious of the latter. Observation and measurement of human perfor- mance is the most obvious indicator of learning, but how *Assistant Professor of Nursing, La Salle University, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Philadelphia, PA. †Professor of Nursing, La Salle University, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Philadelphia, PA. Address correspondence to Dr Strayer: La Salle University, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Philadelphia, PA 19141, USA. E-mail: strayer@lasalle.edu 8755-7223/10/$ - see front matter Journal of Professional Nursing, Vol 26, No. 5 (September–October), 2010: pp 301–308 301 © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2010.02.001