MCALLEN, Texas - New data on the passing rates of students in the Rio Grande Valley would suggest South Texas College has the best nursing program in the region.
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) develops the NCLEX exam to test the competency of nursing school graduates in the U.S. and Canada.
The preliminary results from NCLEX shows STC has the best passing rate. The results show 91.30 percent of STC students studying to become a registered nurse passed their exams at the first attempt. The results show 93.42 percent of STC students studying to become a vocational nurse passed their exams at the first attempt.
These are higher percentages than all other higher education institution in the Valley.
Jason T. Valerio, dean of nursing and allied health at STC, said the results are even more impressive because the exam was made harder over the last year.
“This is a big deal for us because the National Council of State Boards of Nursing has made the questions more challenging. They have made the exam more difficult. Why? Because they want to protect the public. They want to make sure that the graduates that we produce are competent to take care of the people of Texas.”
Valerio continued: “They changed the questions to make it more difficult so that they can really measure the clinical reasoning, the critical thinking of nursing students. That's why this is a big deal for us, because, historically, whenever they change the format of the questions, whenever they increase the passing score, the performance of the students usually goes down. But, but this time, we were actually shocked at how well our students performed.”
Asked how proud he is of the preliminary results, Valerio said: “I'm so proud because it speaks to the dedication of our faculty and staff. It's our mission within the Department of Nursing and Allied Health Division to produce graduates that are competent and that can foster safety to the people of Rio Grande Valley.”
Valerio added that the preliminary results will be turned into actual results at a meeting of the board of nurses in Austin in April.
“It’s a challenging nursing accreditation environment,” said STC President Ricardo Solis. “The pressure is extremely high. That’s why we tell our nursing faculty to maintain high standards - because the board of nursing only counts first time attempts.”
