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It was disturbing to hear of the high failure rate on state exams by last spring’s graduates of the Umpqua Community College nursing program.
Just 68 percent of the students passed the National Council Licensing Exam, which qualifies the students to become registered nurses. It was quite a dive from the 85 to 88 percent who have been passing the exam in previous years.
Those who didn’t pass put themselves and local health care facilities in a bind. With the existing nursing shortage, health care facilities are eager to get registered nurses on board. They often hire them before they pass their state boards with plans to increase their salaries and move them into more highly skilled nursing jobs once they’re licensed.
When they don’t pass the exam, they must wait another 45 days before they can retake the test, leaving employers scrambling to cover the shifts they expected newly licensed nurses to cover.
Such a scenario doesn’t speak well for the UCC nursing program, either.
Sandy Hendy, director of health occupations at UCC since 1999, said her entire faculty is concerned about the low pass rate.
“We’re all stressing,” she said. “We want our students to be 100 percent.”
UCC President Blaine Nisson is asking an outside consultant to look into the program and Hendy said she welcomes any input. A regularly scheduled review by the Oregon State Board of Nursing next spring could shed additional light on any problems with the program, she said.
In the meantime, the current class of 63 students is well aware that expectations are higher for their graduating class. Hendy has already instituted one major change. All students will be required to take a comprehensive test with their spring term finals that predicts their chances of passing the National Council Licensing Exam.
They will now be required to pass that exam to receive a passing grade in their final course. Those who don’t pass will have incomplete transcripts, disqualifying them to take the state boards.
Last year, there were no consequences for failing the predictability exam, she said, and that may have led nursing students to try the state boards before they were ready.
To further prepare the students, the faculty is giving comprehensive, computerized, commercially prepared tests twice a term, so students are more familiar with this style of testing, which is also used by the state licensing board.
Last spring’s graduates took that type of test for the first time and were surprised to discover they had just one chance to answer the question before the computer gave them instant results and moved on to the next question, Hendy explained.
The faculty is also trying to identify factors that contribute either to the success or failure of nursing students. Furthermore, Hendy is hopeful that the nursing program’s new curriculum will improve exam scores.
Having a strong nursing program at UCC is important if we’re going to have high-quality nurses working in our community. We hope to see a substantial increase in the number of UCC students passing their state boards following next spring’s graduation.
Just 68 percent of the students passed the National Council Licensing Exam, which qualifies the students to become registered nurses. It was quite a dive from the 85 to 88 percent who have been passing the exam in previous years.
Those who didn’t pass put themselves and local health care facilities in a bind. With the existing nursing shortage, health care facilities are eager to get registered nurses on board. They often hire them before they pass their state boards with plans to increase their salaries and move them into more highly skilled nursing jobs once they’re licensed.
When they don’t pass the exam, they must wait another 45 days before they can retake the test, leaving employers scrambling to cover the shifts they expected newly licensed nurses to cover.
Such a scenario doesn’t speak well for the UCC nursing program, either.
Sandy Hendy, director of health occupations at UCC since 1999, said her entire faculty is concerned about the low pass rate.
“We’re all stressing,” she said. “We want our students to be 100 percent.”
UCC President Blaine Nisson is asking an outside consultant to look into the program and Hendy said she welcomes any input. A regularly scheduled review by the Oregon State Board of Nursing next spring could shed additional light on any problems with the program, she said.
In the meantime, the current class of 63 students is well aware that expectations are higher for their graduating class. Hendy has already instituted one major change. All students will be required to take a comprehensive test with their spring term finals that predicts their chances of passing the National Council Licensing Exam.
They will now be required to pass that exam to receive a passing grade in their final course. Those who don’t pass will have incomplete transcripts, disqualifying them to take the state boards.
Last year, there were no consequences for failing the predictability exam, she said, and that may have led nursing students to try the state boards before they were ready.
To further prepare the students, the faculty is giving comprehensive, computerized, commercially prepared tests twice a term, so students are more familiar with this style of testing, which is also used by the state licensing board.
Last spring’s graduates took that type of test for the first time and were surprised to discover they had just one chance to answer the question before the computer gave them instant results and moved on to the next question, Hendy explained.
The faculty is also trying to identify factors that contribute either to the success or failure of nursing students. Furthermore, Hendy is hopeful that the nursing program’s new curriculum will improve exam scores.
Having a strong nursing program at UCC is important if we’re going to have high-quality nurses working in our community. We hope to see a substantial increase in the number of UCC students passing their state boards following next spring’s graduation.
