My Nursing school only has a 55% completion rate for the program

[Slim_Medic]

I was recently accepted into a 1 year transition program from Paramedic to RN ADN @ a local community college for Summer 2018. The program I was accepted to had a 74% completion rate in 2015 and has declined to 55% in 2017.

Several of the other schools within the district all have 85-89% completion rate but I have yet to receive acceptance letters from them. As they start a little later into Fall 2018

Should the low completion rate be worrisome or hold out for a program with a better completion rate?

[Guest219794]

Personally, I wouldn't worry.

A- if it was a small class, a few extras one year could skew the statistics.

B- Just shoot for the top of the class. It is rare for somebody who truly tries their hardest to fail. I am sure it happens, but since you already passed medic school, you have at least basic study skills, and the absolute knowledge you can do something hard.

[Sour Lemon]

I was recently accepted into a 1 year transition program from Paramedic to RN ADN @ a local community college for Summer 2018. The program I was accepted to had a 74% completion rate in 2015 and has declined to 55% in 2017.

Several of the other schools within the district all have 85-89% completion rate but I have yet to receive acceptance letters from them. As they start a little later into Fall 2018

Should the low completion rate be worrisome or hold out for a program with a better completion rate?

I think it would depend on their admission criteria, for me. If they accept "anybody" and a lot of people don't follow through, that's understandable.

[klone, MSN, RN]

What's their NCLEX pass rate?

[Slim_Medic]

100% 2017

[klone, MSN, RN]

That's a good sign. It suggests that it's a rigorous program that weeds out the weak.

[elkpark]

That's a good sign. It suggests that it's a rigorous program that weeds out the weak.

I disagree. To me, a high NCLEX pass rate plus a high attrition rate suggests to me that there's something wrong the with program -- either they're doing a poor job of selecting candidates, or they're doing a poor job of educating them once they're in the program. A high attrition rate in a nursing program is a big red flag for me, regardless of the pass rate. I suppose that, in the case of a nursing program that is specifically for paramedics, it could be the case that a lot of the students just decide nursing school is harder and more work than they expected and they'll just stay paramedics; but the combination of high NCLEX pass rate/high attrition rate is common in the cheesy proprietary schools -- they admit literally anyone, people they know have no chance of succeeding in nursing school, take their money, and then flunk out everyone except the people they are sure are going to pass the NCLEX despite the poor quality education the school has provided. IMO, a good school has both a high NCLEX pass rate and a low attrition rate.

OP, what does the school say about the attrition rate?

[CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN]

I disagree. To me, a high NCLEX pass rate plus a high attrition rate suggests to me that there's something wrong the with program -- either they're doing a poor job of selecting candidates, or they're doing a poor job of educating them once they're in the program.

Remember that this is not your average RN program, it is a bridge from Paramedic to RN. As someone who has walked that path, we had a lot of people start out and had a relatively high attrition rate (30-40%). Usually it was academic or the realization that paramedic ≠RN as far as scope of practice and thought processes or a combination of both. We still had 92% first pass NCLEX score.

[TruvyNurse]

Agree with the above posters. I'd be looking at NCLEX pass rates. My RN program years ago started with 30 and we graduated with 10 of us.

[Slim_Medic]

Even though other programs in the same college system have completion rates in the 80's

[Slim_Medic]

To Apply:

Pharmacology

A/P 1

English

College Alegebra

Hesi: 75 or better

A/P

Grammar

Math

Vocabulary

Reading

Critical Thinking

Then scores are averaged and candidates are ranked

They only take 40 per transition class

[Apples&Oranges]

Sounds better than mine. We started with 130 and graduated with 37 of the original class. 100% NCLEX pass rate. Most people who start nursing school don't finish. I think it's mostly because they have no idea what they are getting themselves into, and schools are not selective/rigorous enough in their admissions processes.