title: Student nurse selection and predictability of academic success: The Multiple Mini Interview project.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  With recent reports of public enquiries into failure to care, universities are under pressure to ensure that candidates selected for undergraduate nursing programmes demonstrate academic potential as well as characteristics and values such as compassion, empathy and integrity. The Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) was used in one university as a way of ensuring that candidates had the appropriate numeracy and literacy skills as well as a range of communication, empathy, decision-making and problem-solving skills as well as ethical insights and integrity, initiative and team-work.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To ascertain whether there is evidence of bias in MMIs (gender, age, nationality and location of secondary education) and to determine the extent to which the MMI is predictive of academic success in nursing.
  
  
  METHODS
  A longitudinal retrospective analysis of student demographics, MMI data and the assessment marks for years 1, 2 and 3.
  
  
  METHODS
  One university in southwest London.
  
  
  METHODS
  One cohort of students who commenced their programme in September 2011, including students in all four fields of nursing (adult, child, mental health and learning disability).
  
  
  METHODS
  Inferential statistics and a Bayesian Multilevel Model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MMI in conjunction with MMI numeracy test and MMI literacy test shows little or no bias in terms of ages, gender, nationality or location of secondary school education. Although MMI in conjunction with numeracy and literacy testing is predictive of academic success, it is only weakly predictive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MMI used in conjunction with literacy and numeracy testing appears to be a successful technique for selecting candidates for nursing. However, other selection methods such as psychological profiling or testing of emotional intelligence may add to the extent to which selection methods are predictive of academic success on nursing.
authors.affiliation: Kingston University and St George's University of London, Kingston Hill, Kingston-Upon-Thames KT2 7LB, UK. Electronic address: J.Gale@sgul.kingston.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George's University of London, Kingston Hill, Kingston-Upon-Thames, KT2 7LB, UK. Electronic address: a.ooms@sgul.kingston.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ooms
authors.affiliation: Health and Social Care Statistics, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University & St George's University of London, UK. Electronic address: robert.grant@sgul.kingston.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Kingston University & St George's University of London, Kingston Hill, Kingston-Upon-Thames KT2 7LB, UK. Electronic address: k.paget@sgul.kingston.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Paget
authors.affiliation: Kingston University & St George's University of London, UK. Electronic address: marksmaran@btopenworld.com.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marks-Maran
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D008131:London; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012570:School Admission Criteria / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Interviews; Literacy testing; MMI; Numeracy testing; Student selection