ATI tests lead to higher pass rate for nursing boards
February 15, 2007
KOKOMO, Ind.—Ongoing testing and assessment of student knowledge is credited with raising the percentage of Indiana University Kokomo nursing graduates who passed N-CLEX (the National Council Licensing Exam) in 2006. Last year, close to 94 percent of IU Kokomo bachelor’s degree graduates passed N-CLEX, the board exam for licensing as a registered nurse. The national average for passage was 88.3 percent.
The computer-administered exam can run up to 265 questions, covering almost everything would-be R.N.s learn in years of schooling.
Three semesters ago, the N-CLEX passage rate for campus alumni stood at the national average, in the high 80s. “Those results were adequate, but we knew they could be better,” said School of Nursing Dean Penny Cass, Ph.D.
B.S.N. faculty incorporated tests from the software firm Assessment Technology Inc. (ATI) into their lesson plans. The ATI tests are “not added on but embedded into each course,” and ATI scores count toward final grades, Cass said. “Students are delighted” by what they’re learning from the tests, she added. “They can identify where they need improvement and work on those areas.”
Associate Professor Susan Hendricks headed the test-embedding effort and, “has been milking the [test result] data for all they’re worth,” to see where additional course refinements can be made, Cass said.
Strengthening graduates’ retention of knowledge through ATI testing can also strengthen regional healthcare, Cass believes. “When our graduates were just passing the board at the national average, it made me wonder what they didn’t know on the exams. We have the possibility of bringing [the passing rate] up to 100 percent. These tests are going to serve the community well.”
Goal: Magnet-prepared Nurses
Cass and senior tenured faculty are currently engaged in conversation with nursing executives of Howard Regional Health System on how the two institutions can collaborate toward HRHS’s goal of achieving Magnet nursing status.
The American Nurses’ Credential Center awards Magnet status to hospitals based on the measurable strength and quality of their nursing and how such nursing improves patient outcomes. Magnet standards include higher education levels for nurses, and increased involvement by nurses in the data collection and decision-making in patient-care delivery.
IU Kokomo nursing graduates are already being hired by Indianapolis hospitals with Magnet status, Cass noted, “But we want to offer a new perspective. We want to prepare nursing students who will not only fit into the Magnet standards, but will be able to contribute to the creation of Magnet-recognized institutions.”
“We want to give our students a sense that they can stay in north central Indiana and make what they want of and for themselves right here.”
For more information on the IU Kokomo School of Nursing, visit www.iuk.edu/nursing or call (765) 455-9288.
