August 26, 2024, Devils Lake, ND — The nursing program at Lake Region State College is on a winning streak, capped most recently with top-level student pass rates on the national nursing accreditation test, the NCLEX.
Lake Region is a partner in the Dakota Nursing Program (DNP)—a consortium of four colleges in the state along with Bismarck State College, Dakota College at Bottineau, and Williston State College. According to their website, dakotanursing.org, the four programs collaborate to provide courses through video conferences and face to face labs and clinicals. Every quarter, pass rates for the NCLEX are announced to the member programs, and the annual pass rate combines all exams taken between July 1 and the following June 30.
For the most recent academic year, every Dakota Nursing Program College surpassed the first-time pass rates for both the state of North Dakota and the entire nation. The pass rate at all four colleges for the Practical Nurse NCLEX was 100%, compared to 89.65% nationally. For the Registered Nurse NCLEX, the consortium averaged 98.56%, with Lake Region students achieving 97.5% pass rates, compared to a national average of 92.18%.
The students’ overwhelming success was no coincidence. According to Julie Traynor, DNP Consortium Director, and Karen Clementich, Chair of Nursing at LRSC, upcoming changes to the NCLEX were announced nearly five years ago, previewing a change in focus from application of knowledge in clinical situations to analyzing client data to make effective clinical decisions. Clementich says that, “DNP administrators and faculty used forward-thinking planning on steps to take in order to meet the new goals.” Faculty were trained first in accordance with the standards and skills that would now be the focus of the test, after which they began adapting lessons to give consortium nursing students the best possible preparation.
Lake Region students also have the opportunity to use simulation technology to practice skills. They apply clinical decision-making and analyze information to make quick and appropriate reactions at the bedside. The program emphasizes safety and prepares students for the NCLEX tests, which focus on generalist knowledge. Traynor says, “We are preparing them to be safe and effective nurses.”
As the NCLEX is the national certification for nurses, the students’ test scores are valid in all of the states. Even with this flexibility, the vast majority of LRSC nursing program graduates—well over 90%, according to Kelsey Mertens, Program Coordinator of the DNP—ultimately elect to stay and work in North Dakota. Many former students have even returned to become educators within the program at Lake Region—six out of the ten current full-time Nursing faculty members are LRSC graduates.
Additional information on the program, faculty, and more can be found at lrsc.edu/nursing. Keep an eye out for more detailed stories to come about LRSC’s innovative nursing department.