The department has been striving to see its scores improve every year, and implemented a semester-long NCLEX review course that students take their final semester. Liberty had 94 test takers in the May graduating class.
“This really shows our curriculum is where it needs to be, our review course is working — students are getting what they need to become professional nurses once they leave,” said Dr. Deanna Britt, chair of the nursing department.
She said the high scores also reflect the faculty’s dedication to seeing students succeed.
At many other institutions, there are generally fewer test takers — ensuring the pass rate remains at a high percentage — because students are slowly “weeded out” each semester of the program, Britt explained.
Liberty is different in that it takes extra measures to ensure students aren’t dropped after they enter the program.
“Once they begin the nursing program as sophomores, we do everything we can to help them succeed,” Britt said. “So to have high NCLEX pass rates at 97 percent and have very high retention rates, it is something to be proud of. It really speaks to the quality of our faculty, that they are willing to work with our students, and support them, and create a learning environment that fosters this kind of achievement.”
Liberty’s nursing program also made recent headlines when the U.S. News & World Report ranked the online graduate nursing program in the top 10 for admissions selectivity, 25th for student engagement and accreditation, and 63rd in student services and technology.
Liberty’s Department of Nursing offers bachelor’s and master’s level nursing degrees, including an R.N. to B.S.N. and M.S.N. in nursing through Liberty University Online, offering quality education with a Christian worldview with the convenience of an online education. The residential nursing program also offers two critical care certificate programs designed to give students interested in critical care or maternal/child critical care a head start in their career.