Anyone go here? NMSU nursing program continues to strengthen - Las Cruces Sun-News

More than 94 percent of New Mexico State University's nursing students passed their licensure exam on the first try recently, continuing an upward trend. But not too long ago, the picture was not so bright.

When Teresa Keller joined the nursing faculty at NMSU in 2002, the percentage of graduates who successfully passed their licensure exam on the first try had dipped below the state-mandated 80 percent for the second year in a row. The following year it sank even lower - 62.7 percent, the lowest in the state, according to the New Mexico Board of Nursing.

"Here's where we hit the skids," said Keller, now associate director for undergraduate studies, as she indicated the 2003 marks. "In that year, there was a lot of concern about curriculum review."

Registered nurse Jeni Smith, 28, graduated from the program in 2004, and remembers feeling frustrated by the climate at the time.

"It was basically a self-taught program," said Smith, who now lives and works in Arizona. "It was really frustrating when we were trying to learn and pass our boards. I didn't feel like we were very prepared for it at all."

Smith passed her exam on the first try, but it was due mostly to her efforts outside the classroom, she said.

"I spent a lot of time outside of class doing my own research and my own reading," she said. "If I just relied on the teaching at NMSU, I wouldn't have passed the first time at all. There's no way."

Since that time, Keller said much has changed in the program. Admission standards were raised, requiring a 3.0 grade-point average instead of a 2.5, some classes were divided into two sessions to allow more time with the material, and a standardized exit exam was added before students could begin their preceptorship - a nursing internship.

The faculty made some big changes, too, Keller said. Most faculty members went to the NMSU teaching academy to learn to become better teachers.

"We aren't hired because we're teachers," she said. "We're hired because we're clinical experts."

She had a consultant sit in on her classes for a full semester, giving feedback on specific ways she could improve on her teaching. Lessons in how to hold people's attention in class and how to break up assignments into manageable parts helped her and other faculty members improve their teaching a lot, Keller said.

The most recent test results indicate all the changes are having a positive impact. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing released data this week that showed nursing students from NMSU had a 94.3 percent pass rate in their first time taking the National Council Licensure Examination, the exam required to obtain a license as a registered nurse.

It continues the trend in recent years of rates in the 85 to 95 percent range for the program.

Students say the test is one that's tough to prepare for, because it measures not only of knowledge, but also thinking.

"It was completely different from any test I've ever taken," said Lavinia Imlay, 25, a 2007 graduate of NMSU's nursing program. "That's what they want to know, is whether they've taught you to think critically."

Becky Donaldson, 37, agreed. The 2008 graduate said she felt like she was as ready as she could be.

"I don't think anybody can prepare you for that test," Donaldson said. "But I had a good knowledge base from school and from my preceptorship."

After plenty of stress over the test, she was relieved to put it behind her.

"After I found out I passed, it was a confidence-booster for me," she said.

"It was like, 'Yes - someone else thinks I can do this, too!'"

Hannah Ilczyszyn, 21, and Kristin Curtis, 22, are both set to graduate in May, and said they plan to take the test right away, while they're still in learning mode. Everything they've gone through already has led up to this, and they said they feel both confident and nervous.

"We've seen a lot of people who can't even pass (the exit) exam," Ilczyszyn said. "From the get-go, they try to weed us out."

"It's like a filter," Curtis added. "You've already passed all these different things, that by the time we reach the NCLEX, we're well equipped."

Ilczyszyn said self-reliance is part of the preparation.

"This program isn't perfect, but a lot of it is stuff you have to figure out yourself," she said.

Curtis agreed. "We're provided with the tools, but we have to figure out how to utilize those tools."

Turning out nurses who can pass the test and join the local workforce is important, Keller and others said, because nurses are in demand.

According to a study by the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, between 2008 and 2018, registered nurse is an occupation that is on both the "Fastest Growing Occupation" list and "Occupation With Most Annual Openings." Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants also made the growing occupation list.

"We are always looking for highly skilled, compassionate nurses and clinical staff," said MountainView Regional Medical Center CEO Denten Park in an e-mail. "We are fortunate to have an RN program in our own back yard."

Paul Herzog, CEO at Memorial Medical Center, said that his hospital just brought on more staff, including 20 new nurses, as it opens its new Cardiac Care Unit.

"Most of them are graduates of our local nursing schools," said Ann DeBooy, chief nursing officer at MMC, of the programs at NMSU and Do-a Ana Community College.

At Do-a Ana Community College, the first-time pass rate has not been above the 80 percent mandate since 2003. In three of the last five years, it has been the lowest in the state, dipping to 54.6 percent in 2007. The associate's degree program has been on a provisional status recently, but DACC President Margie Huerta said all that's changing.

High faculty turnover created instability in the department, Huerta said.

"We are all still struggling with retention of faculty," she said. "Salaries for faculty can't compare to what they can make at a hospital, for example."

With some funding from the state Legislature to help make salaries more competitive and some big curriculum changes, the program has made a complete 180-degree turnaround, she said.

"We're very much in recovery mode," she said. "We've addressed the high faculty turnover and looked at the industry standards with our curriculum. That has made all the difference."

Huerta proudly reported that the 2009 first-time pass rate was 100 percent. After recent visits from the state Board of Nursing and National League for Nursing, she said the provisional status will soon be lifted.

"We've really turned our program around," she said.