Deans and directors of nursing programs across West Virginia are comparing notes, but cannot find a direct reason for why nursing students in West Virginia are less likely to pass the national test to get their licenses than their counterparts in any other state.

Preliminary data from the state's Board of Registered Professional Nurses for 2007 rank West Virginia 50th out of 56 jurisdictions, said Pamela Alderman, the board's president. The six jurisdictions below West Virginia are territories and islands, she said.

Students who complete nursing programs, whether baccalaureate or associate, must take the National Council Licensure Examination to receive their license. Their first attempt at the test is recorded and used to rank the state.

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Students of West Virginia State Community and Technical College’s nursing program practice restraining a patient. West Virginia has fallen to 50th in the nation for student passage of the national nursing licensure examination.

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The national average is about 86 percent, she said. The West Virginia nursing board requires state nursing programs to maintain an 80 percent passing rate, she said.

"All over the state we have had lower passage rates this year," Sandy Wynn, interim director of Bluefield State College's nursing program in Beckley, said. "Even the schools that have had 100 percent passage rates in the past are all standing back in awe, saying, 'What is the problem?'"

Bluefield's program in Beckley is one example. In 2006, all students in the program passed the exam on their first try, Wynn said. The next year the program had an 82 percent passage rate, she said.

"The national exam did raise the standards to pass the test. I don't know if that is the overall cause because several schools that have done well in past years continued to do well this year," she said.

Wynn said the state's shortage of qualified nursing faculty, low salaries for nursing faculty and nursing programs' admission requirements for incoming students all play into West Virginia's low ranking.

"It's a multifaceted thing. In January, all directors and deans in the state had a statewide meeting to discus this. We're all looking at our programs to see what we can do. We're all hoping this is a just a [fluke] and it will look better next year."

Sheila Kyle, president of the state Association of Deans and Directors of Nursing Education, said another factor that weighs into the overall rating is student attitude toward the licensure exam.

Kyle, who is also the director of St. Mary's Medical Center Nursing Program, said in the past, students could only take the NCLEX once or twice a year. Now they can take it every 45 days. Students view it as something they can retake and do not go in fully prepared, she said.

"Anytime our pass rates drop, we think it is a serious problem because every one of us are committed to making sure we are producing quality students," Kyle said. "We have a responsibility to the community to make sure our nurses are well prepared."

Across the state, there are about 23 vacant full-time faculty positions, according to data from the West Virginia Center for Nursing. The center predicts the situation will become worse in the next 10 years as registered nurses and nursing faculty retire.

The average registered nurse in West Virginia is about 45 years old, and the average nursing faculty member is 49 years old, according to the center's data.

"Generally everyone of us [in the state's nursing association for deans and directors] have admitted more students in an effort to address the nursing shortage," Kyle said.

There were 3,366 students in registered nursing programs last fall, according to data from the Center for Nursing, an increase of 277 students from the previous year.

"You have to look at your students and types of education they have coming into the program. We have a nursing shortage all over the state, but at the same time you can't drop your standards to fill slots," Wynn said.

Retaining and recruiting faculty is another issue programs across the state are also facing, Kyle said.

"The minimum qualification for a nursing faculty is a masters in nursing, and to put it bluntly nurses can stay in other kinds of settings or in other types of institutional settings and make a lot more money," Kyle said.

One program that has been directly affected by the shortage is Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College's nursing program in Moorefield. The program did not accept students this year because it lost its site coordinator, Nicole Herndon, administrative secretary for the community college's nursing program in Institute, said.

Students of the Moorefield program had a 100 percent passage rate in 2007, Herndon said. The program's previous graduating class in 2005 also received a 100 percent pass rate, she said.

To handle the influx of students and the statewide faculty shortage, some programs rely heavily on part time and adjunct faculty, Kyle said. This in turn can affect the overall quality of education students are getting, she said.

Despite the state's overall low ranking, several nursing programs ranked in the 90th percentile and several had a 100 percent passage rate.

Programs that had all their students pass the exam are West Liberty State College and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College's programs in Moorefield and Institute.

To contact staff writer Veronica Nett, use e-mail or call 348-5113.

Deans and directors of nursing programs across West Virginia are comparing notes, but cannot find a direct reason for why nursing students in West Virginia are less likely to pass the national test to get their licenses than their counterparts in any other state.

Preliminary data from the state's Board of Registered Professional Nurses for 2007 rank West Virginia 50th out of 56 jurisdictions, said Pamela Alderman, the board's president. The six jurisdictions below West Virginia are territories and islands, she said.

Students who complete nursing programs, whether baccalaureate or associate, must take the National Council Licensure Examination to receive their license. Their first attempt at the test is recorded and used to rank the state.

In 2006, West Virginia's rate was about 81 percent, Alderman said. In 2007, it dropped to 80 percent, according to the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, she said.

The national average is about 86 percent, she said. The West Virginia nursing board requires state nursing programs to maintain an 80 percent passing rate, she said.

"All over the state we have had lower passage rates this year," Sandy Wynn, interim director of Bluefield State College's nursing program in Beckley, said. "Even the schools that have had 100 percent passage rates in the past are all standing back in awe, saying, 'What is the problem?'"

Bluefield's program in Beckley is one example. In 2006, all students in the program passed the exam on their first try, Wynn said. The next year the program had an 82 percent passage rate, she said.

"The national exam did raise the standards to pass the test. I don't know if that is the overall cause because several schools that have done well in past years continued to do well this year," she said.

Wynn said the state's shortage of qualified nursing faculty, low salaries for nursing faculty and nursing programs' admission requirements for incoming students all play into West Virginia's low ranking.

"It's a multifaceted thing. In January, all directors and deans in the state had a statewide meeting to discus this. We're all looking at our programs to see what we can do. We're all hoping this is a just a [fluke] and it will look better next year."

Sheila Kyle, president of the state Association of Deans and Directors of Nursing Education, said another factor that weighs into the overall rating is student attitude toward the licensure exam.

Kyle, who is also the director of St. Mary's Medical Center Nursing Program, said in the past, students could only take the NCLEX once or twice a year. Now they can take it every 45 days. Students view it as something they can retake and do not go in fully prepared, she said.

"Anytime our pass rates drop, we think it is a serious problem because every one of us are committed to making sure we are producing quality students," Kyle said. "We have a responsibility to the community to make sure our nurses are well prepared."

Across the state, there are about 23 vacant full-time faculty positions, according to data from the West Virginia Center for Nursing. The center predicts the situation will become worse in the next 10 years as registered nurses and nursing faculty retire.

The average registered nurse in West Virginia is about 45 years old, and the average nursing faculty member is 49 years old, according to the center's data.

"Generally everyone of us [in the state's nursing association for deans and directors] have admitted more students in an effort to address the nursing shortage," Kyle said.

There were 3,366 students in registered nursing programs last fall, according to data from the Center for Nursing, an increase of 277 students from the previous year.

"You have to look at your students and types of education they have coming into the program. We have a nursing shortage all over the state, but at the same time you can't drop your standards to fill slots," Wynn said.

Retaining and recruiting faculty is another issue programs across the state are also facing, Kyle said.

"The minimum qualification for a nursing faculty is a masters in nursing, and to put it bluntly nurses can stay in other kinds of settings or in other types of institutional settings and make a lot more money," Kyle said.

One program that has been directly affected by the shortage is Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College's nursing program in Moorefield. The program did not accept students this year because it lost its site coordinator, Nicole Herndon, administrative secretary for the community college's nursing program in Institute, said.

Students of the Moorefield program had a 100 percent passage rate in 2007, Herndon said. The program's previous graduating class in 2005 also received a 100 percent pass rate, she said.

To handle the influx of students and the statewide faculty shortage, some programs rely heavily on part time and adjunct faculty, Kyle said. This in turn can affect the overall quality of education students are getting, she said.

Despite the state's overall low ranking, several nursing programs ranked in the 90th percentile and several had a 100 percent passage rate.

Programs that had all their students pass the exam are West Liberty State College and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College's programs in Moorefield and Institute.

To contact staff writer Veronica Nett, use e-mail or call 348-5113.

Passage rate in West Virginia

Associate degree programs student passage rate of the national nursing licensure examination, according to preliminary data:

 s West Virginia Northern Community and Technical College (94 percent).

Baccalaureate programs student passage rate of the national nursing licensure examination, according to preliminary data: