Nursing Dept. still perfect on NCLEX
Waynesburg’s Department of Nursing has continued its perfect streak on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.
As of recent notification, the graduating class of 2014 marks the sixth consecutive year that the department has achieved the feat of a 100 percent pass rate on the NCLEX, making Waynesburg one of only three schools in the state that can claim the same accomplishment. All members of the class of 2014 who took the NCLEX from the beginning of October 2013 to the end of September 2014 were taken into account.
At the end of a student’s four years in a nursing department, they are required to pass the NCLEX to be licensed to practice as a registered nurse in that state.
According to Dr. Nancy Mosser, chair of the Department of Nursing, there are multiple factors to which the department contributes its success.
“Faculty members set high expectations for students and are dedicated to helping students achieve their goals,” said Mosser.
The main reason Mosser considers the department successful is a strategy developed in 2001 to help improve NCLEX pass rates. Under this strategy, which she says has been successful, students meet with an advisor many times through the semester. It also helps that students start clinical experiences upon the first semester after admission to the department, something that provides them with vast real-life situations and opportunities to learn.
Not only is the department’s continued success with the NCLEX pass rate a selling point for prospective students, but something that stands as a great motivator and encouraging factor for students currently enrolled in the department, making their way towards their dream of becoming a licensed RN.
“Students know that many graduates have been successful in completing the program and passing the NCLEX, and that knowledge helps provide the motivation for current students to do the same,” said Mosser.
Due to the strength that the program’s rigorous curriculum provides, the department’s students generally do very well in the job field and have a high job placement rate, according to Mosser.
“Most of our graduates secure positions before they graduate, beginning employment following graduation and after they pass the NCLEX,” said Mosser. “Employers also indicate on Employer Surveys that our graduates practice professional behaviors and exhibit strong critical-thinking skills. Their liberal arts background helps to prepare graduates to practice in a complex health care environment.”