Tag: first-time NCLEX pass rates

Report from the 2021 NCSBN NCLEX Conference

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN                                                            

April 2023 remains the target date for the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) for both the NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN licensure examinations. These examinations emphasize the use of clinical judgment in caring for patients in a variety of healthcare settings by focusing on interactions between nurse and client, the client’s needs, and expected outcomes.

Nursing faculty across the US and Canada are ramping up their preparation for the new NGN approach to testing. Continue reading “Report from the 2021 NCSBN NCLEX Conference”

Highlights from the new NCSBN Report on Quality Indicators for Nursing Programs

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

COVID-19 has changed how nurse educators prepare students for practice. The changes in the health care environment—and nursing specifically—over the last decade have given faculty numerous challenges: integration of important new content in an already “stuffed” curriculum, evolving expectations of students, parents and college administrators, and the difficulty in finding appropriate clinical sites and sufficient numbers of faculty. As if these challenges weren’t enough, now faculty must cope with an international pandemic that has huge implications personally and professionally. In addition to their other responsibilities, faculty now must prepare students for practice using masks, social distancing, and limited clinical sites-all while working from home!

One thing, however, has not changed. Continue reading “Highlights from the new NCSBN Report on Quality Indicators for Nursing Programs”

Why Effective Assessment is Important to Student Success

by Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

Assessment, the starting point to an effective clinical judgment, is an important competency of nurses and other health care providers. When caring for patients, we use a wide range of assessment techniques, including review of the presenting complaint; health history; complete physical assessment; and family, social, and cultural history, to collect sufficient data to plan patient-centered care.  However, we all know that in certain clinical situations, a complete assessment is not an appropriate strategy, because of the patient’s condition and/or limited time and resources available.  In those situations, a focused assessment that delves into a specific identified problem or issue is more appropriate. Continue reading “Why Effective Assessment is Important to Student Success”

Analyzing the Problem: The First Step in Improving NCLEX First-Time Pass Rates

by Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

The final results of first time NCLEX-pass rates are in—and you and your nursing faculty colleagues are concerned.  There has been a significant drop in the first-time pass rate of your program compared to the year before.  Inconsistent pass rates have occurred for the last ten years.  What can be done? Continue reading “Analyzing the Problem: The First Step in Improving NCLEX First-Time Pass Rates”

The Complex Challenge of Improving NCLEX Pass Rates

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

The September 2017 Collaborative Momentum Consulting blog “What were the program’s NCLEX scores this year?” sparked a considerable amount of Continue reading “The Complex Challenge of Improving NCLEX Pass Rates”

“What were the program’s NCLEX scores this year?”

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

Nurse educators have heard this phrase dozens and dozens of times in their career.  At times we can reply with pride (and often relief!)—“Our first time pass rate exceeded our expectations, and we were expecting this class to do very well!” Other times we are counting every student who passes with crossed fingers and bated breath.  Over the years as a faculty, Associate Dean, and Dean, I have had both experiences and have spent considerable time thinking about ways to maintain or improve my students’ NCLEX scores.

Many factors play into students’ success, Continue reading ““What were the program’s NCLEX scores this year?””