Looking around various nursing programs, and reading experiences of pre-nursing, nursing and recent grads it seems more and more programs are moving towards a GPA of at least 3.0 for entry and retention, with >3.5 highly desirable. Just wondering where this is coming from? Have there been studies or anything else that proves students with higher grades do better on the boards and or make better nurses? Or, are some programs just trying to weed out those they assume for whatever reason won't make the cut and therefore better they not even get in lest they drag the whole class down? Have also heard some programs want high school students who graduated with a rank of either the top third or quarter (if not higher), of their class. Can seem some of this if one were going to a nursing program that was part of top university, but just to enter a local nursing school?
Am not trying to start anything, just want if possible an honest reason. One hears so many people or perhaps their children who applied for entry into a program being either turned down outright or never even being selected because of GPAs that range from 2.5 to say 2.9.
Newflash!!!! Did you see the news today. NCLEX pass rates have increased for RN's. starting this April 2010. The pass rates have been producing so/so nurses and education standards needed to be increased. There have been studies done that show that higher HS GPA's do better in school, and many times better on NCLEX. It doesn't have anything to do with higher GPA in nursing school because some people are just poor test takers. And doesnt mean they will be better nurses. Dont get that confused. You might blow the NCLEX out of the water, but couldn't find the patients ear for the life of you. Be proud you passed. Enjoy it.
Huh? How do you know the pass rates (which I'm interpreting to mean the rate of those who passed the NCLEX) will increase by April 2010?
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Huh? How do you know the pass rates (which I'm interpreting to mean the rate of those who passed the NCLEX) will increase by April 2010?
Ever couple of years the NCSBN evaluate the NCLEX and decide on whether to raise the pass mark or not. Usually RN is done one year and PN a different year. If you check out the NCLEX forum there is a thread with link regarding this change which is for RN and also NCSBN will have information
Ever couple of years the NCSBN evaluate the NCLEX and decide on whether to raise the pass mark or not. Usually RN is done one year and PN a different year. If you check out the NCLEX forum there is a thread with link regarding this change which is for RN and also NCSBN will have information
Ahh, so pass rate meaning the number of points it takes to pass the NCLEX. I understood pass rate to be the percentage of folks who pass the NCLEX.
News release this am. The NCSBN Board of Directors voted to raise the passing standard for the NCLEX-RN Examination FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CHICAGO - The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) voted on Dec. 10, 2009, to raise the passing standard for the NCLEX-RN Examination (the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses). The new passing standard is -0.16 logits on the NCLEX-RN logistic scale, 0.05 logits higher than the previous standard of -0.21. The new passing standard will take effect on April 1, 2010, in conjunction with the 2010 NCLEX-RN Test Plan.After consideration of all available information, the NCSBN Board of Directors determined that safe and effective entry-level RN practice requires a greater level of knowledge, skills, and abilities than was required in
2007, when NCSBN implemented the current standard.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
If you were in the hospital...
Would you want a nurse that learned 70% of the material or learned 90% of what is needed to give you proper and safe care.
Just a thought.
I want the competent nurse. Some nurses might not be the 4.0 student but are competent and learn better once out in the field. Some nurses might be 4.0 students and learn great at school but have trouble adapting out in the field.
At the end of the day, I won't know my nurses GPA I will only know if she is competent or not and that is what matters to me.
Good points everyone! I would love to see a correlation between other factors:
Do competitive schools that use gpa as the primary factor for selection tend to have higher retention rates throughout their program than less competitive schools who do not use gpa as a factor for selection (waitlist, first come first serve as long as minimum is meet)?
Many schools boast 99%+ NCLEX pass rates. Some have acceptable NCLEX pass rates (85%+, correct?) but high rention rates. What if both the NCLEX pass rate and the rentention rate (number of students who graduated divided by number of students who started the program) where factored in? Which program type would come out on top?
Would studies based on the % students earned in their courses, as opposed to strictly overall gpa, reveal a different outcome since so many schools use a wide variety of scales?
I don't know about the NCLEX. I do know with as hard as it is to get passing grades in my nursing school classes, if you're already a marginal student, you won't make it to graduation. No graduation means the nclex won't matter.
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CuriousMe
2,642 Posts
Huh? How do you know the pass rates (which I'm interpreting to mean the rate of those who passed the NCLEX) will increase by April 2010?