ANC Associate Degree Nursing Program Students Exceed State and National Pass Rates for the Arkansas Board of Nursing Exam

Arkansas Northeastern College 2016 nursing graduates participate in a Pinning Ceremony held May 11, 2016, to commemorate their completion of the Associate Degree Nursing Program.

Arkansas Northeastern College’s most recent pass rate, by Associate Degree nursing student graduates taking the Arkansas Board of Nursing exam, was the third highest in the state at 93.5 percent.  The Associate Degree Nursing Program at ANC exceeded the state and national pass rate levels of 77.5% and 81.4% respectively. This marks another year of an increase for the ANC Nursing Program which has seen a rise in the pass rate since the College’s decision to implement changes in the program in 2014.

 “Back in 2014 we took a close assessment of our internal processes and noted several areas that we could improve to help our students,” said ANC Director of Associate Degree Nursing Program Tonya Pankey. “We have invested in and implemented practice test software to better acclimate our students with the types of questions and conditions similar to those that students will face with the licensure examination. Increased clinical simulation, specialty workshops, and individual remediation are a few of the strategies that faculty have implemented.  We currently only hire full-time nursing instructors with earned master’s degrees. These changes, combined with our stringent course work and clinicals, really prepare our students for the next step. It is very rewarding to see these practices pay off for our students.”

“We are exceedingly proud of the success our nursing graduates are showing with the state board exam. It validates the learning that is taking place in our nursing program and the hard work by all involved,” stated ANC President Dr. James Shemwell, who added, “Still, the far more important and most meaningful quality review that we receive, however, is the judgment of the area hospitals and healthcare providers who actually hire nurses. They uniformly tell us that no college or university in the region produces nursing graduates more knowledgeable or more professional than ANC’s nursing graduates.” 

ANC’s nursing program continues to be approved by the Arkansas Board of Nursing which allows ANC’s nursing graduates to sit for the state board examination for licensure.