IL Program Rankings

luvs637 · Oct 22, 2010

I wouldn't really trust those stats without knowing exactly what they are based on. Nearly all of the schools in Chicago have very high NCLEX pass rates.

SMOKEY2112 · Oct 22, 2010

Thanks for that info Luvs! How do you find out that information? I'm also going to be applying to a few Indiana schools and according to the pass rates on the Indiana NCLEX pass rate sheet...the IN schools pass rates are, I think, a lot lower than the Chicago schools... so how do you find out what to go by?

Thanks for the help! :)

zbb13 · Oct 24, 2010

Truman's pass rate on the NCLEX needs some explanation: At the end of the 2 year program, students need to take the HESI exams. I think they need an 890 or something like that (see the nursing handbook on their website) to pass. Only once they have passed this exam, do they become eligible to take the NCLEX exam. Therefore, the "100%" pass rate, or whatever is claimed, is a useless comparison, because other programs have other requirements. There are always students who complete the 2 years, have decent grades, and fail the HESI and therefore are not eligible to take the NCLEX.

SMOKEY2112 · Oct 24, 2010

That's true but I would think that those people aren't even counted in the percentage because they would be ineligible to even take the NCLEX..so I would assume that those are the only people who were eligible to take the test and took it. Or am I wrong for thinking that?

sgthanzo · Oct 25, 2010

@Smokey: Follow this logic and the answer may not be too far off.

X-school applied for an LPN program and got approved. In their program, they included HESI as part of the curriculum.

X-school enrolls 20 students for said program on same year. Program took 1.6years (including GenEd courses).

During the length of the program, 3 students drop and 2 withdrew for personal reasons -- which left only 15 students from the original batch to finish said program

Of the 15 students, all completed all PN core courses, but only 12 completed all requirements, to include HESI. Of the 12 that completed HESI, 11 actually passed the NCLEX-PN exam.

Annual Reporting time comes. X-school now prepares its student completion vs. student NCLEX pass rate report to the BON.

What do you think is the number that they will report as their final "Completed" number? What do you think is the number that they will report as their final "NCLEX-PN Pass" number?

SMOKEY2112 · Oct 25, 2010

Honestly, I believe that they should report their final "completed" number as 12 and the final "NCLEX-PN Pass" number should be 11.. that's what would make the most sense to me.. because those 15 people might have completed the PN core courses but they are not all eligible to sit for the NCLEX therefore, they should not all be counted.. I would think that only the "eligible" students are the ones who should be counted as completed because they are the only ones who are actually "completed" KWIM? Are you saying that they will report the 15 and 11 numbers?

sgthanzo · Oct 25, 2010

...you saying that they will report the 15 and 11 numbers?

12 and 11 will give X-school a 91.6% Passing Rate.

15 and 11 will lower it down close 19 points to 73% -- a "probationary mark".

If you were X-school, which number would you prefer reporting?

There is a 3rd school of thought though... and that is... if a student does not or has NOT pass the NCLEX, the said student's program status can be deemed "incomplete." As such, X-school can argue that ONLY its NCLEX passers can be reported as having completed the program. This school-of-thought will produce a 100% over 100% passing rate. Can this be called a deceptive practice? Perhaps... But, that's for the BON to decide...

What do I think? I think there ought to be transparency and a standard on whatever method is used to derive the Passing Rate. Such a calc method should be made available to the general Nursing public. This way, the prospective students don't have to keep guessing on which schools are really putting out quality NCLEX passers (and hopefully quality Nurses) down the road.

Moral of the story is... don't look for "perfect," look for consistency and longevity -- and it will (for the most part) allow you to find the right school to partner with when it comes to your Nursing education and aspirations.

zbb13 · Oct 26, 2010

My understanding is that the NCLEX pass rate is the percentage of students from X school who took the NCLEX for the FIRST time who passed the exam. The pass rate is not a TRUE, VALID indication of the strengths of the nursing program the students completed, and this is why:

At Truman, you take the HESI at the END of your nursing program, having completed the program with a B AVERAGE or above-Nursing school requirement. After the HESI, you are either eligible for taking the NCLEX, or not. If you passed HESI with the grade they require, you take the NCLEX. If you don't get the grade they require, you are not allowed to take the NCLEX. You may have finished their 2 year program AND passed according to their requirements, but you are now ineligible for the NCLEX and cannot take it and cannot work as an RN.

According to past students, the HESI is considered more difficult than the NCLEX.

Only a certain percentage of the graduates from Truman take the NCLEX. Malcolm X had different criteria and, it appears, allowed more of their students to take the NCLEX. Their pass rates were low and therefore they lost their accreditation. Their pass rates implied they were not providing an adequate education for their students. This may be perfectly true, but if you think about the process, it is really not a valid evaluation. If Truman allowed all of the students who passed their nursing program to take the NCLEX, their real pass rate would not be 100%.

Different programs use different criteria for allowing their graduating students to take the NCLEX, so this would also be accurate for many other programs. A school may say they have a WHATEVER pass rate on the NCLEX but this is not a clear picture of their effectiveness as a nursing school.