FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              September 20, 2006

NORTHWESTERN’S 2006 NURSING GRADUATES
HAVE 92 PERCENT LICENSING PASS RATE

            The licensing examination pass rate of 2006 graduates and other changes in Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s nursing program are expected to result in the early removal of restrictions placed on the program by the Oklahoma Board of Nursing (OBN).

            Dr. Carol McKenzie, who became director of the program this summer, said 92 percent of the spring graduates passed the required exam on the first try, and the two who did not are expected to retake the test soon.

            “Faculty members have worked incredibly hard and have done such a good job that we have dealt with all the stipulations issued by OBN and will request approval to admit a full class of 35 students for the 2007-2008 school year,” McKenzie said.

            “I applaud the faculty and students because they made a commitment last spring to hold additional study sessions after attending daily courses and clinicals,” said Dr. Steve Lohmann, vice president for academic affairs. “Northwestern’s nursing program is vital to the region and it is important that we turn out excellent students.”

            This spring, the OBN expressed concerns in several areas of instruction and local testing and allowed a maximum of 15 students to enter the program for this academic year.

            McKenzie met with Dr. Gayle McNish, educational consultant to the OBN, on Sept. 19 to review changes and improvements made in the program. She said McNish encouraged her to complete a request to the board to have the restriction removed instead of waiting until the spring. The ONB will consider the request at its mid-November meeting.

            While state and national results of the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) for nurses for the July-September time frame will not be available until mid-October, Northwestern’s pass rate for first-time exam writers is well above the national average of 86 percent for the April-June quarter.

            McKenzie said that the OBN considers Northwestern’s three campuses as separate entities, but that since Woodward has fewer than 10 nursing students enrolled there, it does not require a separate report.

Fourteen of the 15 Alva nursing students passed on the first try and all of the nine Enid students passed.

“While we would always love to have a 100 percent pass rate, that is not realistic,” McKenzie said. “What we need is to be at or above the national level, and we’ve certainly accomplished that. Since I’m new, I really had nothing to do with it. The faculty deserve a great deal of credit.”

“It’s never a bad thing to reassess your program and make any needed changes,” she said. “The stipulations have caused us to look at some specific areas and having a small class has allowed a more individualized focus on the students. We can go forward with strength.”

-NW-

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