Hope College Nursing continues to be among the select group of programs nationwide whose graduates have achieved a 100-percent pass rate on the profession’s national licensing exam.
Every Hope nursing graduate who took the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) during 2011-12 (December and May) passed on the first attempt. It is the second year in a row that 100 percent of the program’s graduates have done so.
The most recent reported state and national averages were 90 percent and 88 percent respectively. According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s program report, only six percent of all nursing-education programs nationwide achieved a 100-percent pass rate between April 2011 and March 2012.
“We are extremely proud of our nursing graduates,” said Dr. Susan Dunn, associate professor of nursing and chair of the department. “Such an exemplary pass rate on the nursing licensure exam can be directly attributed to the high caliber of our Hope students, the excellence of the Hope faculty and the terrific experiences offered to our students in clinical agencies throughout West Michigan.”
According to the NCSBN’s report, only 125 of the nation’s 1,871 nursing-education programs achieved a 100-percent rate between April 2011 and March 2012.
Hope is one of 51 programs offering a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree among the top 125 in the report. The total of 125 also includes 65 programs that offer an Associate degree and nine programs that offer a Diploma in nursing.
The department of nursing at Hope began in 2002, although nursing education at the college goes back another two decades. From 1982 through 2003, Hope and Calvin College operated a nursing program jointly before creating their own, independent programs.
The program is approved by the Michigan Board of Nursing and is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
Students begin studies in the program as sophomores based on completion of prerequisite classes as freshmen. The major includes coursework on campus as well as multiple field placements, the latter spread across six specialty practicum courses, a research practicum, a family health course and an internship. Area clinical sites have included Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Holland Hospital, the Ottawa County Health Department, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, Spectrum Health and Zeeland Hospital.