Drexel nursing graduates among Pa.'s best

More than 98 percent of Drexel University's nursing graduates passed their state licensing exam last year on the first try - a higher rate than any other local school and among the best in the state.

What makes the pass rate more impressive is that the school graduated the second-most students in Pennsylvania. For the year that ended Sept. 30, 335 of 340 students, or 98.5 percent, passed.

Drexel's nursing program has had a pass rate above 95 percent since its first graduating class in 2002, even as its classes have grown.

It outperformed schools in all categories, from bachelor's degrees in nursing to associate degrees and other programs.

At Community College of Allegheny County - the school with the most graduates - 83.6 percent of 398 students passed the exam, according to the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.

Four schools - Allegheny College of Maryland, Mercy Hospital, Waynesburg University, and St. Francis University - had 100 percent pass rates, but all had fewer than 50 graduates.

"To do high-volume, high-quality is quite difficult, and we're thrilled as a college that we've been able to do that," said Mary Ellen Glasgow, associate dean for nursing and undergraduate health professions at Drexel.

Statewide, nearly 87 percent of graduates from 80-plus programs passed the test. That was a bit below the national rate of 88.2 percent.

Drexel's program, designed by Glasgow and colleague Michael Dreher, includes end-of-the-year review courses, standardized tests that prepare students for the licensing exam, and a full-time remediation coordinator who aids struggling students, Glasgow said.

Glasgow, previously a nurse at Hahnemann University Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, said she wanted to be sure Drexel graduates could pass the test because she had seen so many graduates from other schools heartbroken over the years when they failed.

"It was horrific," she said, "so I really wanted a system to fulfill our ethical obligation to people when they come here so that they can pass."

Drexel's results, presented this week at a board of trustees meeting, are "certainly commendable," said Charlie Young, a spokesman for the Department of State, which oversees the Pennsylvania State Board of Nurses.

But he said it was only one factor the public should use to judge a nursing program. Other factors include the graduation rate, attrition rate, rate of employment of graduates, faculty stability, and admission requirements.

Glasgow agreed that those and other factors were important and said Drexel's program had strong results in these areas.

"The most important thing is that they are competent, ethical practitioners, and we designed our program to ensure that they have those competencies," she said.

The program closely tracks students in their clinical subjects and includes a standardized battery of tests, given periodically throughout their course work. If they don't meet standards on the comprehensive test at the end of the program, they must repeat the senior seminar course, which provides intense remediation and review.

Glasgow and dean Gloria Donnelly also attributed the test results to Drexel's co-op structure, which places students in clinical jobs for several semesters.

For nursing graduates from bachelor's programs, for Oct. 1, 2008, to Sept. 30.

Drexel University: 335 of 340 graduates passed, 98.5 percent.

Jefferson School of Nursing: 200 of 208, 96.15 percent.

West Chester University: 55 of 59, 93.2 percent.

Pennsylvania State University: 104 of 112, 92.9 percent.

Villanova University: 177 of 192, 92.2 percent.

University of Pennsylvania: 132 of 144, 91.7 percent.

Neumann University: 75 of 86, 87.2 percent.

Eastern University: 10 of 12, 83.3 percent.

Temple University: 59 of 71, 83.1 percent.

La Salle University: 160 of 200, 80 percent.

Holy Family University: 93 of 125, 74.4 percent.

Widener University: 81 of 125, 64.8 percent.

SOURCE: Pennsylvania State Board of NursingEndText