BRYAN, TX — One hundred percent of Blinn College’s Associate Degree Nursing Program [ADN] students passed their National Council Licensure Examination [NCLEX-RN] in 2020.
According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, in 2020 most associate degree nursing students across the country passed this critical exam, at a rate between about 80% and 86%. Blinn College recently announced, however, that every single one of their ADN nursing school graduates for the class of 2020, passed, the national licensing exam required to receive an RN.
"What we do really well, is try to get the students hands-on learning experience," said Dr. Karla Ross, director of Blinn's ADN Program. "All nursing schools have to do some clinical, but we really focus on our students getting in there and not just learning about it, but actually getting in there and doing it.”
Ross said that the 89 Blinn nursing students studying at the Texas A&M University RELLIS campus were, burdened, with the added obstacle of doing much of their learning virtually due to the pandemic.
"They knew they were going to be out working in hospitals, so a lot of them just took the opportunity to work in those environments," she pointed out. One such successful graduate was Emily Sabin, who was able to apply her degree from Blinn almost immediately after graduation and is now working for a medical system in nearby Huntsville.
"They really did prepare us very well," Sabin said. "They provided us with not only their own teaching and lectures, but they were really good about bringing in outside resources for us to learn from.”
Dr. Ross said that the National Council Licensure exam is a good measure of a new nurse’s real-world ability. She feels confident, her former students have entered the professional world well-equipped.
"It is a good indicator," Dr. Ross stated. "It's one of the best tests, I think, to test what we call clinical reasoning and clinical judgment, which is what nurses need to have.”