Tampa, FL (April 18, 2008) — Graduates of the USF College of Nursing achieved a 100-percent pass rate on the required exam to practice as a nurse. The college’s graduates have attained this benchmark several times, previously in Feb. 2007.

All Florida nursing graduates averaged 77.4 percent on the Registered Nurse Licensure Examination (NCLEX) reported most recently by the Florida Board of Nursing. The report covers all graduates of baccalaureate and associate nursing degree programs who took the exam the first quarter of 2008.

Only 23 percent (12) the 52 nursing schools in the state scored a 100-percent pass rate.

“This is a special recognition, and tribute to our hardworking faculty,” said Patricia Burns, PhD, FAAN, dean of the College of Nursing. “I congratulate our graduates on a job well done.”

“It’s quite an achievement, especially when you consider that every single one of our 33 students who graduated in December 2007 sat for the licensure exam and passed it the first time,” said Sandra Cadena, PhD, ARNP, assistant dean of undergraduate programs for the College of Nursing.

“It’s a testament to the clinical collaborative model and how well our faculty work with our Tampa Bay area hospital partners to prepare the best nursing graduates possible.”

Of the 11 other nursing schools with a 100-percent pass rate, none had more than 10 student nurses successfully completing the state board exam in the first quarter of 2008.

Dr. Cadena said a majority of the 33 December 2007 USF graduates who passed the exam were in the college’s accelerated second degree program, and 10 to 15 percent of these graduates have applied to advanced nursing degree programs.

Student nurses who have completed their coursework are eligible to take the national licensing exam.

Before nurses begin practicing, they must graduate from a recognized nursing program, like USF’s, meet specific requirements of the state board of nursing, and pass the National Council for State Boards of Nursing NCLEX exam for registered nurses. USF student nurses who sat for the exam in 2003 were the first to have completed their baccalaureate study in the College’s community-based clinical collaborative curriculum. The USF College of Nursing teamed up with nurse leaders from community hospitals to devise the Clinical Collaborative curriculum — a plan to keep new nurses in nursing and in Florida by bridging the gap between academic preparation and professional application of the skills and knowledge a nurse uses every day.

– USF Health –

USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With $308 million in research funding last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of Florida’s top three research universities.

– News release by Anne DeLotto Baier/USF Health Communications