AC’s vocational nursing grads achieve 95% first-time pass rate on national exam

Of 61 vocational nursing students to graduate from AC in 2016, a total of 58 of them (95.08 percent) passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) on their first attempt.

This is critical because the Texas Board of Nursing requires programs to achieve a minimum 80-percent first-time annual pass rate to maintain Full Approval status, and it extends commendations to programs in which 90 percent of candidates pass the first time they take the NCLEX exam.

The most recent state and national data available is from 2015 and reveals that 85 percent of vocational nursing graduates statewide passed the test that year, while the nationwide pass rate was 81 percent.

“Our strong, No Excuses faculty is serious about removing barriers to student success, and our students are extremely hard-working and diligent,” LaVon Barrett, director of AC’s Vocational Nursing Program, said.

“It’s a winning combination, and it goes a long way toward helping us meet the high expectations that we’ve set for our program. We are very pleased with our test results and gratified by the commendation that will be forthcoming.”

Graduates of the AC program, once licensed, function as beginning practitioners in many different healthcare agencies including hospitals, clinics, physician offices, public schools and nursing homes. Amarillo College provides training for close to 70 percent of nurses who work in the Texas Panhandle.