ISSUED: 28 February 2024
MEDIA CONTACT: Cecelia Mason
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s School of Nursing has achieved a milestone—100% of the students who graduated in December 2023 passed the National Council Licensure Examination-RN (NCLEX-RN) exam.
“This is the first time in the school’s history that we have achieved this milestone,” said Dr. Mary Hancock, School of Nursing director.
“We are extremely proud of the milestone reached by the School of Nursing students,” said Dr. Mary J.C. Hendrix, Shepherd president. “This is a tribute to the teaching effectiveness and commitment to excellence by our faculty and staff.”
The previous NCLEX-RN success rate record was 97% for the students who graduated in May 2023. Hancock said the NCLEX format changed in May 2023 and School of Nursing faculty and students have worked together to ensure success with the new exam.
“It is a testament to the incredible dedication and hard work of our entire faculty that they were able to revise testing and teaching methodology throughout the entire curriculum to not only match the previous benchmark but exceed it with a 100% pass rate,” Hancock said. “It also reflects the hard work of our former students who took the classroom instruction, clinical experiences, and enhanced testing methods seriously by synthesizing the knowledge required to pass NCLEX after graduation.”
Hancock said 40 students graduated in December 2023 and in addition to passing the licensing test, all of them had jobs. The School of Nursing traditionally has a 100% job placement rate. Shepherd graduates work in emergency departments, intensive care units, neonatal intensive care, labor and delivery, mother-baby, medical-telemetry, medical-surgical at various regional health care organizations such as Berkeley Medical Center, Meritus Medical Center, Winchester Medical Center, and the VA Medical Center.
Hancock also credits the Office of Admissions and the Advising Assistance Center for their work to ensure students enroll in the right courses at the correct time.
“The Academic Support Center provides much needed support and tutoring for students as they take their prerequisite courses,” Hancock said. “We have provided additional academic support via success coaches and worked with various university services to assist struggling students.”
Hancock said the School of Nursing faculty have worked diligently to maintain the rigor of the nursing curriculum to meet the regulatory requirements of the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses and accreditation standards set for by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Faculty attended seminars in the new NCLEX-RN testing format which began in April 2023.
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