ADN, LPN Grads Top State and National Scores on Licensing Exam
CONTACT: JANET FULLER, 646-1343
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4/14/2009
(By Lisa Garrett)
PENDLETON --- For the second consecutive year, Tri-County Technical College’s associate degree Nursing (R.N.) and Practical Nursing (L.P.N.) graduates topped State and national scores on the National Council Licensing Exam (NCLEX).
The 88 graduates of Tri-County’s Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) class of 2008 report a 90.91 percent pass rate. South Carolina colleges’ average passing rate is 87.34 percent and the national average is 86.73 percent. Tri-County reported the highest scores among Upstate technical colleges.
Tri-County’s 29 Practical Nursing grads report a 96.55 percent pass rate while the State reports a 95.7 percent rate and national figures are at 85.62 percent.
The State Board of Nursing released these statistics about graduates from January through December 2008.
Graduates of associate or baccalaureate nursing programs must pass the NCLEX- RN exam to become a registered nurse in the state. The NCLEX exams for both Practical Nursing and Associate Degree Nursing programs are computerized exams that test a graduate’s basic nursing knowledge and decision-making ability on commonly encountered health-care situations.
“I am so pleased with both sets of scores,” said Janet Fuller, Nursing department head. “I attribute these success rates to the commitment of our students and our faculty’s commitment to our students’ education,” said Fuller.
“Our nursing faculty prepares students for this rigorous exam by working with their classes, spending extra time on test-taking skills and applying the classroom skills in the clinical setting. It’s not unusual for me to call a faculty member and find them still in clinical long after the class has ended. If a learning opportunity presents itself, our faculty will stay as long as they need to.”
Fuller says faculties from both departments have a wealth of experience in all areas of nursing.
“It’s impressive that the 14 full-time ADN faculty members have 300 cumulative years of experience in all areas of nursing,” she said.
The same goes for the LPN faculty, she said. “The three faculty members have equally as much hospital experience and average 25 years of experience each.”
The LPN program expanded to Oconee County several years ago when Tri-County partnered with the Oconee County School District and Oconee Medical Center to develop a collaborative articulation agreement to expand nursing opportunities for Oconee County high school students. The result is a seamless pipeline for high school students to take courses in the health profession and then articulate to Tri-County.
This past December the LPN program at the Hamilton Career Center graduated its first class and of those 22 grads, nine of them entered the RN program. “The evening program works perfectly for individuals who want to attend classes/clinical training in the afternoon/evenings are able to maintain a part-time job. Many transition into Tri-County’s RN program the next year. We are seeing more and more students complete the general education requirements so they can pursue a baccalaureate degree after graduating from Tri-County.”
The recent LPN NCLEX scores include the program at Oconee, she said. “This was our first class at a new site, and we are so proud of these scores. It just proves there are quality programs on both campuses.”
Tri-County’s nursing departments are fully accredited by the State Board of Nursing in South Carolina and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.
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Oconee