Nobody Does It Better

For the second straight year, graduates of Longwood’s nursing program have reached rarefied air by recording a 100 percent pass rate on their first attempt at the required licensure exam, an accomplishment few schools can boast.

All registered nurses must pass the national licensure exam, called the NCLEX, to become licensed to practice.

“It’s a huge deal,” said Dr. Lee Bidwell, interim chair of the Department of Nursing. Our reputation has grown substantially in the last five years, and our students are graduating well-prepared to become fully licensed nurses. You just don’t see a 100 percent pass rate very often, for a lot of reasons, and our having back-to-back classes reach that height is not only pretty special but says a lot about the program and caliber of students who come here.”

The NCLEX exam rate success can be attributed to multiple factors, including the hard work and expertise of the nursing faculty and the clinical experience students receive.

Longwood offers state-of-the-art simulation experiences for nursing students at the Edward I. Gordon Clinical Simulation Learning Center, a 10,000-square-foot facility that includes a mother-infant patient simulation lab, patient examination room and home care learning center.

“Our students get lots of hands-on experience,” said Cindy Crews, Longwood’s clinical simulation learning center director. “We get a lot of feedback from employers that Longwood students are better-prepared than their peers from other schools because of the simulations they have been through in our lab.”

In the simulation lab, students practice a wide variety of live scenarios on mannequins. A digital audiovisual system allows simulated experiences to be recorded and then played back for faculty and student evaluation. Bidwell said other factors in the NCLEX success are a new test-preparation product for students and revised tutoring programs that allow peer-to-peer mentoring.

Longwood nursing students begin getting clinical experience at partner agencies in their sophomore year, which is far earlier than in most programs. Nursing majors also participate in an intensive practicum in the second semester of their senior year.

“The quality of our real-life simulations, as well as the level of clinical experience we provide, really help prepare our students for success on the NCLEX test,” Crews said.