Thought you'd like to know this: News : NDSCS nursing graduates ranked No. 1 (Wahpeton, ND and Breckenridge, Minn.)

North Dakota State College of Science practical nursing students graduating in May 2008 have earned a No. 1 ranking in North Dakota and tied for first in the United States among those taking the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nursing (NCLEX-PN). NCLEX recently released the North Dakota and United States rankings of practical nursing school graduates who took their licensing examinations earlier in the year.

NDSCS had 20 students take the exam during the April – September 2008 period, and all 20 passed. This 100 percent success rate ranks NDSCS as a No. 1 out of six schools offering practical nursing courses in North Dakota; NDSCS is also tied for No. 1 from a total of 1,036 schools in the United States.

"I am very proud that the NDSCS practical nursing program has ranked so high in North Dakota as well as the U.S.,” said Barb Diedrick, MS, RN, and chairperson of the nursing department. The NDSCS practical nursing program is a four-semester curriculum that awards an associate in applied science degree, preparing students for careers in hospitals, schools, industry, long-term care facilities, clinics and home health. Credits also easily transfer into associate’s or bachelor’s degree registered nursing (RN) programs. The first two semesters of practical nursing consist of classroom, laboratory and clinical instruction at the college and in long-term care facilities. The final two semesters include clinical affiliations in adult, maternal-child, psychiatric, long-term care, home health and clinic nursing in the community along with classroom course work.

Eighty to 90 percent of graduates from the NDSCS program stay in the North Dakota/Minnesota area. Of this year’s graduates, 15 applied for licensure in North Dakota and three in Minnesota.