[GCR289]

I'm new to this board as of this week. I've been looking around a little bit and finally decided to post. I'm 17 years old and interested in a career in nursing. Long term I'd like to be involved in neonatal care but being as I have no experience with this I'm sure my mind will change many times. I live in NY and for college would perfer to stay in the Northeast. Second to NY, I love Boston. It's where my sister goes to college and I go up anywhere from 4-8 times a year and love it. Much more manageable than NYC!

My sister is a student at Boston College and was recently accepted into their med program. She is entering her junior year in college and will then go onto the med school after graduation. Her interest in medicine is what got me thinking about nursing. I never wanted to be a doctor. But nursing is something that interests me a lot. I have a strong desire to help and want to be there for the patients in a way that, I guess, doctors are not able.

Anyway, Northeastern was always a top college choice of mine before I was even thinking Nursing as a career mainly because of it's co-op. I think its a wonderful learning experience and a great way to get a resume before even leaving college as well as making connections.

I guess I sound pretty certain about my decision, but I haven't really "heard" anything about their nursing program. I know people that have gone to the school, but none for nursing. Their PharmD program is supposed to be extremely good, but once again...don't know anything about the nursing. I'm not worried about the cost of te college because all of the others I was looking into are in the same range. I want a four (even though at NU it's five) year college experience. I just wish I knew more about the actual program other than what's on the website.

I'd be interested in hearing any of your advice!

Gaby

[Leda]

One way to evaluate the effectiveness of a nursing program is the first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN. This information is posted on the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing website.

The statistics for Northeastern's first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate, as posted on the Massachusetts BON site from 2001 thourhg 2005 is as follows:

2001, rank 17 (out of 39 schools) first time pass rate, 86.30%
2002, rank 20 (out of 37 schools) first time pass rate, 87.4%
2003, rank 27 (out of 37 schools) first time pass rate, 83.8%
2004, rank 33 (out of 37 schools) first time pass rate, 77%
2005, rank 29 (out of 37 schools) first time pass rate, 79%

The less than 80% first time NCLEX-RN pass rate is of concern, and the program will be required by the Massachusetts BON to assesss why this has happend and develop a sound plan to correct the situation.

As a potential student in the program you should be concerned about the low NCLEX-RN pass rate, but you should investigate for yourself (as you are doing) what the nursing program is doing to improve the nursing curriculum so that the graduates fair better on the licensure exam. I would suggest that you contact the program directly seeking both information on the program and inquire about their plans to correct the low NCLEX-RN pass rate.

Hopefully someone more directly involved with the Northeastern nursing program will post a reply to your questions and give you first hand information about the nursing program. I've not had recent experience with Northeastern students or graduates, but did work with a co-op student a number of years ago, and found her to be well prepared academically and clinically for her experience on a busy medical-surgical nursing unit. The nursing program has a good history, so my sense is they are working hard to improve the program.

[DolphinRN84]

Originally Posted by Leda

One way to evaluate the effectiveness of a nursing program is the first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN. This information is posted on the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing website.

The statistics for Northeastern's first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate, as posted on the Massachusetts BON site from 2001 thourhg 2005 is as follows:

2001, rank 17 (out of 39 schools) first time pass rate, 86.30%
2002, rank 20 (out of 37 schools) first time pass rate, 87.4%
2003, rank 27 (out of 37 schools) first time pass rate, 83.8%
2004, rank 33 (out of 37 schools) first time pass rate, 77%
2005, rank 29 (out of 37 schools) first time pass rate, 79%

The less than 80% first time NCLEX-RN pass rate is of concern, and the program will be required by the Massachusetts BON to assesss why this has happend and develop a sound plan to correct the situation.

As a potential student in the program you should be concerned about the low NCLEX-RN pass rate, but you should investigate for yourself (as you are doing) what the nursing program is doing to improve the nursing curriculum so that the graduates fair better on the licensure exam. I would suggest that you contact the program directly seeking both information on the program and inquire about their plans to correct the low NCLEX-RN pass rate.

Hopefully someone more directly involved with the Northeastern nursing program will post a reply to your questions and give you first hand information about the nursing program. I've not had recent experience with Northeastern students or graduates, but did work with a co-op student a number of years ago, and found her to be well prepared academically and clinically for her experience on a busy medical-surgical nursing unit. The nursing program has a good history, so my sense is they are working hard to improve the program.

Hi Leda, I was just wondering what link has the first time pass rates for different schools. Thanks!

[GCR289]

Leda, thank you for the information! Do you know if each state provides that information? I'd like to look up some of the other schools I'm looking into as well. Before summer's end I will definitely be getting into contact with the school to see if they have any extra information to provide me with. I'm also going to visit in the next few months for the second time. The first time, I didn't have any questions to ask because I was undecided on a possible major, but now there are definitely things I'd like to look into.

Are there any specific questions I should ask about the nursing programs in the various schools I will be visiting within the next couple of months to compare them?

Thanks again!

[Leda]

Most state boards of nursing list the NCLEX first-time pass rates for nursing programs in their individual states on their websites. All states track this information. So if you can't find the information on a state website you can contact the board of nursing within a state and request the information.

You can ask the individual nursing programs about their first time NCLEX pass rates overall and also ask about the graduation and NCLEX pass rates for students like yourself that are right out of high school and will be carrying a full credit load. Inquire also about the support services available to promote success for students carrying a full load. Nursing is a difficult and overloaded major. Students carrying a full credit load need support to achieve success.

There are many other questions, but this is a starting point.

Best of luck to you.

[DolphinRN84]

Originally Posted by Leda

Most state boards of nursing list the NCLEX first-time pass rates for nursing programs in their individual states on their websites. All states track this information. So if you can't find the information on a state website you can contact the board of nursing within a state and request the information.

You can ask the individual nursing programs about their first time NCLEX pass rates overall and also ask about the graduation and NCLEX pass rates for students like yourself that are right out of high school and will be carrying a full credit load. Inquire also about the support services available to promote success for students carrying a full load. Nursing is a difficult and overloaded major. Students carrying a full credit load need support to achieve success.

There are many other questions, but this is a starting point.


Best of luck to you.

Thanks again Leda. I was able to find the statistics. I already graduated and passed the boards last month. I was just curious to know what the percentage rate was for my school. Thanks again! Very informative.

[pamc217]

Hi
Depends whether you want a 2 year RN associates degree or a 4 year BSN nursing.
Northeastern is very expensive, my tutuion was only about 4000 total. And my school is a community college with a pass rate at about 94%. Good luck

[Alexk49]

Boston College does not have a medical school. Northeastern has a fine nursing program has an excellent reputation.

[GCR289]

whoops that was a major typo my sister goes to BU, never even liked BC when she visited haha! Thank you for the reply.