NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES

Laoag City

A GRADUATE TRACER STUDY OF NURSING OF NORTHWESTERN

UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC YEAR 2010 TO 2015

Presented to:

ROSELI T. AURELIO, R.N., M.A.N., PHD.

Clinical Instructor

Presented by:

JEMARISOL BRAVO

DANICA SANTOS

LEA JOYCE NACAPUY

KRISHELLE TULIAO

MARIA IRENE VALDEZ

BSN-III

Second Semester/S.Y. 2018-2019

 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

A tracer study is a graduate or alumni survey that attempts to trace the activities of the

graduates or previous students of an educational institution (Millington, n.d.). Tracer studies

enable the contextualization of graduates of a particular university through a system that is

dynamic and reliable in order to determine their life path or movement (The Association

of African Universities or AAU, 2002 and Boaduo, Mensah and Babitseng, 2009).

Conducting graduate tracer studies will help to recognize the needs for the improvement of

the graduates and to develop a better disposition to those who are still in the program. Quality

and adequacy of the staffs and good graduate performance will reflect the quality of

education.

Quality education makes difference on nursing practice. Baccalaureate nursing

programs provide in depth knowledge on physical and social sciences, research, leadership

and management, community nursing and humanities. This enhances nursing graduate’s

knowledge, skills and attitude in dealing with patients and providing health care. According

to study as the number of baccalaureate degree registered nurses increases, the mortality rate

in the hospital decreases. This shows the importance of nurse’s education level to best patient

outcome.

This study was designed to serve as the graduate tracer study of nursing graduates in

Northwestern University.

The study utilized the descriptive correlation method using convenience sampling.

Data would obtain through a questionnaire among the graduates of Bachelor of Science in
Nursing. Descriptive method was used to determine the college experience, nursing licensure

examination and employability of graduates while correlation method was used to determine

of the college experience of nursing graduates of Northwestern University have significant

relationship with their licensure examination, if the college experience of nursing graduates

of Northwestern University have significant relationship with their employment , if the

nursing licensure examination results have significant relationship with their employment.

Employability, according to Khran (1997) is a key contributor to aggregate economic

growth and improved labor outcome for individuals. There is a general belief that the citizens

are the most essential assets of every nation in the world. This is because the success of the

country in terms of economics stability and progress is highly dependent in the quality of its

man power resources. Economic development of a nation is one of the products having

educated citizens. The more and the better educated people are the greater the chances of

economic development. However, with the study increase in the number of college graduates,

it appears that jobs and works are seemingly lacking; there is a significant supply of

professionals but a shortage of profession. In other words, those college graduates have no

choice but to settle with jobs inappropriate with their degrees.

This tracer study of Northwestern University nursing graduates from academic year

2010 to 2015 provides feedback to the school as the employment status of graduates.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study are significant to the following:

Alumni. The findings and recommendations would be used objectively to inspire and

encourage the alumni to help and recommend their fellow graduates to job vacancies because
they are provided with objective information that the graduates are well prepared for

employment. `

Administrators of Northwestern University. The result of this could be used in taking

appropriate measures in uplifting academic excellence of institution, not only in the country

but in other parts of the globe as well.

Dean and Faculty. The Dean and Faculty may use the result of this study to measure the

quality and relevance of what they have been teaching. It will give insight to faculty as to

which nursing subject should be strengthen and modified to adapt with the demands of

current nursing profession. Further, to evaluate their training methodology in the program

with new innovations and technology based equipment.

Employer. Both the government and private sectors could make use of the result as a spring

board of the recruitment, selection and placement of high-skilled nursing graduates.

Parents and the Community. The information derived from this study can help parents

became that the investments with their children’s education are paying off, while community

benefits with better trained students and employed graduates

Researchers. The researchers will benefit the from the results of this study because the

researcher methodology, statistical tools, as well as the findings, conclusions and

recommendations of this study can be used as their basis when conducting similar or related

studies in the feature.

Students of Nursing. The end-product of this research will help the aspiring nursing’s

discover the quality of the curriculum, adequacy of school facilities, the competency of
academic instructors of CAHS in preparing the students and the kinds of employment waiting

for them after they graduate.

CHED/Curriculum Planners. This will help CHED weed-out the obsolete provisions which

will suit the demands of the modern times, and need skis that the industry requires in hiring

graduates of nursing.

Statement of the Problem

……………………………

Definition of Terms

The following have been used as follows:

Research. A careful consideration of study regarding a particular concern or problem

using scientific methods. Research is systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict and

control the observed phenomenon. Research involves inductive and deductive methods.

Quality Education. This refers to develop all of their attributes and skills to achieve their

potential as human beings and members of society.

Leadership. This is defined as action of leading a group of people or an organization.

Management. This is consists of the inter locking functions of creating corporate policy

and organizing, planning, controlling, and directing an organizations resources in order to

achieve the objectives of the policy.

 Convenience Sampling. It refers to a type of non-probability sampling that involves the

sample being drawn from the part of the population that is close to hand. This type of

sampling is most useful for pilot testing.

Tracer Study. It refers to the type of descriptive research that investigates graduates who

had left the institution after compelling the course or field of specialization.

Self Employed. It refers to the graduates who operate and manage their own business.

Unemployed. It refers to the graduates who are not gainfully working and receiving

monetary compensation.

Nature of Employment. It refers whether a graduate is employed in line with his

specialization, employed but not in line of specialization or under employed, self-employed

or unemployed.

Curriculum. This refers to the formal and informal content and process by which learners

gain knowledge and understanding, develop skills and attitude, appreciation and values.

Theoretical Framework

According to functionalist theory on education, skills, attitudes, and socialization are

important aspects of school. The importance of achievements, competition, and equality of

opportunity are attained through education. Education provides the students the necessary

skills needed for the economy and it utilizes each individual to the most applicable jobs

according to their talents and qualifications. Education for Emil Durkheim is forming
community and cooperation through social solidarity. Schools provide cooperation,

interaction, and standardized rules. Furthermore, according to Talcott Parsons, as cited by

Bryant (2013), education provides competition, equilibrium, and individualism. Efforts and

abilities of an individual is the basis for achievements and rewards. Meanwhile, Melvin

Tumin, also cited by Bryant (2013), believed that rewards in the workplace make the jobs

important.

The theory shows the role that education and school played in order to produce

competent individuals that will help the job market to develop. This study showed how

education and learning experiences in NWU –impacts the lives of the nursing graduates

according to their employment status and achievements in the workplace

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES

The review of literature guides the readers to further point out the answers to the

various research questions established by the researchers and to find relevant justifications to

the findings and observations taken into consideration in the investigation.

Based on the Manual Tracer Studies prepared by Ralf Lange (May 2001), the key

questions a tracer study should answer are the following:

What is the effect of the course offered? Do graduates find jobs after graduation and

do they earn an adequate income? Even more important: why do they fail in the labor

market? To what extent do they apply the skills and knowledge imparted? Do we train them

the right skills? What competencies do they lack? Is there a need for further training (i.e. skill

upgrading courses) and other post training support mechanisms in order to promote

employment of our graduates? Or, in case such support services are offered, how effective are

they? Do we have to update our curricula, to improve our training delivery? Tracer studies, as

a tool for monitoring and (self)-evaluation, should contribute to find answers on the following

issues: o Is the training offered relevant to the needs of the market? Does it meet the

expectations/employment criteria of potential employers? What are the labor market trends?

Which course areas offer growth potential, which ones face stagnation? Is there a measurable

and positive social and economic impact attributed to the training offered (e.g. on the social

status of the ex-trainee, on the living standard/income)? He further suggested the following

points in the selection of research questions: How do graduates assess the relevance, quality

and usefulness of their education and training? What is the incidence of employment, self-

employment, further education, and under/unemployment among graduates? What are the

economic and social returns on the received education/training? Are the present occupations
of graduates related to their training? Are there significant differences in labor market

outcomes with respect to gender and socio-economic background? What is the rate of

(international) migration? The study quotes the speech made by Y.B. DatosEri Mohamed

Khaled Nordin, Minister of Higher Education Malaysia, in a seminar entitled “Enhancing

Graduate Employability: Issues, Concerns and the Way Forward” (July 21, 2009).

Today’s challenging economic situation means that it is no longer sufficient for a new

graduate to have knowledge of an academic subject; increasingly it is necessary for students

to gain skills which will enhance their prospects of employment. Hence, Higher Education

Institutions must be responsive to these changes. Historically, academic institutions have

tended to serve as institutions for moral and intellectual development as well as centers of

civilization. With rapid economic development, they are now more utilitarian with emphasis

on professional training. Their prime task is to ensure that education and training are market

driven and responsive to the changing needs of the various sectors of an economy.

In connection with this, Mercado (2004) mentioned the initiative of the Commission

on Higher Education in the Philippines to spearhead the conduct of GTS among selected

Higher Education Institutions in order to obtain data that would show if HEI’s are offering

courses or programs that produce graduates to meet the needs of industry and society.

Likewise, through the GTS, HEIs would be able to align their efforts with the manpower

needs of industry. (CHED CMO #s 38, s. 2006, 11, s. 1999)

In the study conducted by Lalican (2007) she emphasized that the acquisition of

knowledge in the undergraduate specialization, skills and competencies will also promote

productivity, efficiency and expertise in the graduates’ present job. On Employment Status

(Miranda, 2000), the provision of written agreement notwithstanding and regardless of the

oral agreement of the parties, an employment shall be deemed to be regular where the

employee has been engaged to perform activities which are usually necessary or desirable in
the usual business or trade of the employee; except where the employment has been fixed for

a specific project or undertaking the completion or termination of which has been determined

at the same time of engagement of the employee or where the work or service to be

performed is seasonal in nature and employment is for the duration of the season.

A study made by Yangco (2007) showed that ECEgraduate-respondents are employed

and mostly with permanent positions. As to the small portion who were unemployed they

said that they wanted to apply for a job abroad. The respondents also suggested more skills

related to information technology and improved facilites for hands-on-training to further

improve the curriculum. On the number of employed and unemployed, (Diestro, 2013), most

of the graduates are employed on the course they finished while those who did not land a job

mentioned the following reasons: busy as housewives and some pursue to higher studies

(Masteral and Doctorate).

Review of Related Literature

Tracer study is an approach which is widely being used in most associations

especially in the educational organizations to discover and to retain record of their students

once they have graduated from the institution. Through tracer study, an institution is able to

evaluate the quality of education given to their graduates by knowing the graduate’s

placements and positions in the society which later can be used as a benchmark in producing

more qualified and competitive graduates.

The existence of a huge number of educated unemployed can lead to a certain amount

of political instability in a country, for they being among the educated class and

knowledgeable about the privileges society can offer, feel doubly deprived. In this matter, the

analysis of the unemployed situation in the Philippines shows that the young graduates are

still in job-hunting stage. (Adriano and Sanyal, 1987)

 The Philippine Labor Code states that an employer has a right to select his employees

and to decide when to engage them. He has the right under the law to full freedom in

employing any person free to accept employment from him, and his, except as restricted by

valid statute or valid contract, at a wage and under conditions agreeable to them. This author

wants to give insights about the rights between the employee and employer with regards to

the employment that should be given to any person to be employed. This will distinguish the

importance of being employed and the choice of a job that is desired.

The Philippines may go beyond the standing of employment in the country, rights and

importance should be understood. According to Cristobal Pagoso, he states that in view of

law literacy rates in rising unemployment in developing countries it has become imperative

that greater educational opportunities should be provided for the great proportion of adult

population as well as the large number of youth outside the formal school system to help

them acquire further knowledge and skill thereby improve their livelihood and strengthen the

country. One thing that a student must be considered is the notion that there is no age matter

when it comes to job offerings because in the field of working, to be fair to any person who

are capable of jobs is a factor to be employed. (http://www.academia.edu)

Employment is the capacity of an individual to showcase his talent and to use the

trainings gathered in course programs, the notion that marketable skills provided today’s crop

of worker’s employment opportunities. The statement of powers is relevant to the present

study because he pointed out that education is very important in having the marketability and

general skills needed in finding an appropriate job. In this study, it helps to develop such

skills among the college graduates for them to find or to get an appropriate

job.(http://www.academia.edu)
 The employee’s performance on the job and attitude about the job would depend on

the degree to which the manager fulfills the needs. The author associated that to the

employees that will look at the performance and attitude towards the job that will be strongly

affected by the degree on where the superior may reach the fulfillment of the job desires.

(McIntosh, 1917)

Moreover, Meredia pointed out that for an educational institution to be effective, it

must have as many desired qualities as Adaptive to local environment- that the curricula

must be geared towards addressing local trend and factors that influence labor development

agenda; Demand driven- that the curricula and teaching programs must be relevant to the

clientele needs and employment demands; Innovative and interactive- that it must make use

of innovative and interactive tools, methods and approaches to deliver the content of

education that maximizes the learning intended skills, knowledge, and practices; Dynamic-

it must not be a fixed and authoritative structure which contains the organized content of

leaning.it should change and evolve the clientele needs and demands change; Quality- the

curriculum must meet accreditation standards of quality in order to produce trained human

resources with qualifications that are accepted by prospective employers.(Meredia,2007)

 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design, the respondents, the research instrument,

data gathering procedure and the statistical treatment used in this study.

Research Design

Research design enabled the researcher to develop a set of methods and procedures

that lead her to answer the research problems

In the context of the study, it described the profile of the graduates, the employment

data, and the specific competencies and skills learned in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing

program.

Population and Sampling

The population of the study was composed of graduates of the Bachelor of Science in

Nursing from the school years ( ).The respondents were selected through convenience

sampling.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study involved ( ) or ( ) out of ( ) nursing graduates of

Northwestern University from academic year ( - ).

Locale of the Study

This study was conducted in Northwestern University which is a non-sectarian private

University in Laoag City. This higher education institution pioneered the opening of a

College of Nursing in Laoag City and Ilocos Norte which dates back in 1973 under the

leadership of the late Mr. Nicolas Nicolas, the former College President. The prime movers

of Northwestern College were inspired by the idea of a felt need to open a College of Nursing

in this Region in order to produce quality graduates to be able to meet the demands for

professional nurses. This is coupled with the growing enthusiasm of private institutions in

contributing and helping residents in particular and the Filipino people in general. (Pascual, et

al., 2008)

Sampling Technique

The respondents were selected through convenience sampling. The researchers

considered the graduates who are available at the time of data gathering.

Research Instrument