For the fifth time in seven years, Wingate’s nursing program has earned a 100-percent first-time pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.
“All 20 of our 2022 graduates passed the NCLEX-RN on their first try,” says Dr. Kristen Barbee, program director and associate professor.
Named the fourth-best nursing program in North Carolina by RegisteredNursing.org last year, and the highest-ranking independent university on the list, Wingate’s program reports a seven-year average pass rate of more than 98 percent. In fact, during that span, only three students failed on their first try and had to take the exam a second time.
Barbee says the program’s intimate environment contributes to its success.
“Our small class size, along with classroom and clinical instruction, lends itself to having a close relationship with each student,” she says. “That’s just one of the things that makes our faculty, and our program, special. We really are a family.”
Graduate Janeth Medellin-Tapia, 22, of Hickory, cited those relationships and experiential learning as keys to her success.
“I loved my cohort and the bond that was created with my classmates as well as faculty,” she says. “I liked the hands-on labs the best, as they helped me practice nursing skills and learn in a different way. I have always had a love for helping others, and I knew that becoming a nurse would equip me to do just that.”
Medellin-Tapia, who has landed an RN job on the intermediate floor of Catawba Valley Medical Center, offers this advice to incoming Wingate nursing students: “Make time for having fun with family and friends throughout nursing school. It can get overwhelming, and this is a great way to destress. Enjoy nursing school the most you can, and take advantage of every opportunity.”
The national average pass rate on the NCLEX is just over 86 percent among graduates of baccalaureate programs and 82.48 percent among all U.S.-educated grads, including those in diploma or associate-degree programs.
Learn more about nursing at Wingate.
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