While most nurse graduates are successful on the NCLEX-RN licensure examination, certain students continue to be at risk for failure. To understand the complexity of at-risk students and NCLEX-RN failure, systems theory was used to analyze the interdependency of the nursing education system and the nursing student learning system. From this perspective, these problems relate to flaws in perceived learning gaps and student outcome measures. Predicting NCLEX-RN success is further complicated because students leave the teaching system prior to taking the exam, making them vulnerable to other influencing variables. The student's approach to learning (SAL) theory was used to aid in identifying effective strategies. The literature supports this theoretical approach, which targets changing the teaching and learning environment. However, there is limited research on the nursing student's approach to learning, on the benefits of innovative student-centered learning environments, and the most effective use of NCLEX-RN assessment products.

Student Achievement and NCLEX-RN Success: Problems That Persist

First-time NCLEX-RN pass rates are important measures of educational quality in prelicensure nursing education programs. Licensure pass rate problems has been the subject of countless nursing education articles and studies over the past several decades. To improve NCLEX-RN pass rates, remediation is often prescribed for students who have academic performance deficits. This article presents a systematic review of studies on remediation interventions and their effects on NCLEX-RN pass rates. Most studies of remediation and its effects on licensure pass rates are descriptive program evaluation reports. The overall quality of studies included in this review is uneven but generally low. Nursing education researchers should focus on conducting higher quality intervention studies in which the fidelity of remediation interventions can be examined. Viewing licensure pass rates from a process improvement perspective and accounting for pass rate variations could also change the nature of scholarship on this topic.

A systematic review of the effectiveness of remediation interventions to improve NCLEX-RN pass rates.

Relationship of associate degree nursing program criteria with NCLEX-RN success: What are the best predictors in a nursing program of passing the NCLEX-RN the first time?

Improving NCLEX First-Time Pass Rates: A Comprehensive Program Approach

Student success is a concern for all nursing schools. Accountability for NCLEX(®) pass rates, along with accountability for student attrition and progression, compel nursing schools to carefully select applicants and then actively manage their progress. One of the strategies of managing student progression is to use standardized, nationally normalized exit examinations to identify students at risk for NCLEX-RN failure. This article describes the response of one baccalaureate nursing program to an unacceptable number of exit examination failures among senior students preparing to graduate. As a unique approach to this matter, a crisis management process was used to assess the problem, to develop and implement an intervention for at-risk students, and to revise program policies to better support ongoing student success.

Strategies for success: crisis management model for remediation of at-risk students.

The authors explore how an evidence-based decision-making process improved National Council Licensure Examination passing rates for a bachelor of science in nursing program. The process is one that may be applicable to other nursing programs despite differences in school mission, philosophy, and student population. The essential components of a nursing program that contribute to student success are examined. Lessons learned and opportunities for more comprehensive pertinent assessment methods are discussed.

RN Flor A. Culpa-Bondal

Papers

Nursing program assessment and evaluation: evidence-based decision making improves outcomes.

Nursing program assessment and evaluation: evidence-based decision making improves outcomes.