The relationship between educational preparation of nursing faculty and associate degree program pass rates on the national council licensure examination for registered nurses

Today's complex healthcare system requires nursing graduates to be prepared to deliver high quality, patient-centered care to a diverse population. Nurse educators must be highly proficient nurses as well as excellent educators who are able to facilitate student learning. There is a paucity of published literature regarding the optimal preparation for nurses entering the faculty role. This retrospective survey study examined the relationship between the educational preparation of nursing faculty and the student outcomes of program pass rates and performance on key components on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) in 40 associate degree nursing (ADN) programs in Florida, both public and private/proprietary. The specific components of educational preparation that were included in this study were (a) the highest degree attained; (b) the type of doctoral degree attained (Doctor of Education, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nursing Practice, or other); and (c) completion of a minimum of nine credits of graduate level education coursework covering topics such as curriculum development, instructional design, assessment and evaluation, and adult learning theories. Other faculty characteristics analyzed were teaching experience, student-to-faculty ratio, and percentage of full-time faculty. All faculty data were grouped by program. Faculty characteristics shown to predict program NCLEX-RN pass rates were faculty completion of graduate level education coursework and years of teaching experience (averaged teaching experience by the full-time faculty group within a program), although faculty completion of education coursework was related to NCLEX-RN pass rates at a significantly higher rate than was found with years of teaching experience. Based on the findings from this study, ADN programs in Florida that employ full-time faculty members who have completed graduate-level education coursework may see positive effects on NCLEX-RN pass rates. Likewise, ADN programs in Florida that increase the average teaching experience of the full-time faculty may see positive effects on NCLEX-RN pass rates. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries