Alamance Community College (ACC) has announced that 100 percent of all 42 graduates of the 2024 Associate Degree in Nursing class have passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) to earn their certification as Registered Nurses.

 

This is the second consecutive year that all of ACC’s nursing graduates have passed the state exam on the first try. Furthermore, this is the fourth time in five years that all 100% of graduates have done so, according to Darlene Listopad, Department Head of ACC’s Associate Degree Nursing program.

 

The NC Board of Nursing monitors colleges’ NCLEX-RN pass rates for first-time test-takers. NCLEX is used across the country to determine if graduates from RN programs have acquired and retained the necessary knowledge, judgment and critical thinking skills during their nursing training to begin practicing as an entry-level RN. The test is primarily a multiple-choice test, with a minimum of 75 questions that grow progressively more difficult with each correctly answered question. Because it is a pass/fail test, no letter grade or score is earned.

 

Between 2017-2019, ACC’s nursing graduates had a passing rate of 90%, higher at the time than the North Carolina average passing rate of 84%.

 

In 2019, ACC began its unprecedented success on the NCLEX-RN state exam when all 12 nursing graduates in the evening program had a 100% passing rate. This was a landmark accomplishment for the evening program at that time. In spring 2020, all 24 graduates in the day program did the same with a 100% passing mark, and again in 2021 all 20 graduates hit the 100% passing rate. COVID had an effect in 2022 when 39 of 42 graduates passed with a 92.86% mark. Now the program has returned to the 100% passing rate for the last two consecutive years.

 

“This is phenomenal and such a testament to the hard work and dedication of our most amazing nursing faculty team. They are incredibly dedicated to their students and profession,” said Dr. Lisa Johnson, Vice President of Instruction.