Nursing Class of 2023 Has 100 Percent NCLEX-RN® Passing Rate

Assumption University’s Froelich School of Nursing announced that every member of its first graduating class has passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN®) following their graduation from the program this May. 

The NCLEX-RN® is an exam regulated by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), which oversees each state’s board of registration and nursing. The national exam is the final step in the licensure process to become a registered nurse. According to data gathered and reported by NCSBN, the average pass rate for all candidates who took the NCLEX-RN® from January through September 2023 was 88.55 percent.

In April of 2023, the NCLEX-RN® test plan was updated to correlate to the revisions made on the exam. The Next Generation NCLEX-RN®, with a focus on testing the exam taker’s clinical judgment was launched on April 1 after years of research and item development.

“Amongst us in nursing education, we had never seen these kinds of exam items,” said Caitlin Stover, Dean of the Froelich School of Nursing. “It was really important to structure a curriculum that embeds clinical judgment scenarios, exam items, and simulations in every course so that the students had exposure and confidence going into this exam.” 

“The class of 2023’s success is a validation of all of the hard work that we have put in over the past couple of years,” said Stover. “We have things on paper, we give really high-quality exams, and we follow principles of best teaching-learning strategies, but you don’t know until you get the official results.”

Along with all passing the NCLEX-RN®, each of the nurses from the class of 2023 are now employed at various hospitals across the country, such as in the UMass Medical system through their new graduate program, St. Vincent Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Midstate Medical Center, Hartford Hospital, Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital, and Newport Hospital.

Students from the class of 2023, such as Aly Landry and James Bachini, have said that their experiences at Assumption have benefited them greatly, both in terms of when they had to know for the NCLEX-RN® exam and for their nursing careers.

“My experience not only prepared me for the NCLEX-RN®, but also for getting a job as a registered nurse on the cardiothoracic surgery unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston,” said Landry. “I believe that the foundation set from my time at Assumption with a strong liberal arts curriculum coupled with diverse clinical experiences really helped me transition to practice. I have confidence in my work and can draw from the values learned at Assumption.”

“Although the entire process is incredibly stressful and difficult, I felt supported, prepared and capable thanks to the nursing curriculum and education that the wonderful Froelich School of Nursing faculty provided,” said Bachini. “I was also supported by a faculty mentor who helped motivate me and keep me on track with my studying for the boards as well as providing additional resources whenever needed.”

The importance of the nursing program’s preparation for nursing students to enter their careers as compassionate professionals was also emphasized by both Stover and Bachini as a former student in the program.

“The NCLEX-RN® is 100 percent important, but we pride ourselves on developing the professionalism required of the nurse as well,” she said. “The success of the program is a reiteration of Assumption’s commitment to develop the workforce in a time of a huge nursing shortage, making sure that these nurses are high quality and compassionate.”

“Upon my hiring as a staff nurse at Beth Israel Lahey Hospital in Burlington, Massachusetts, I have felt that I have the proper skills in place to support me in my new position,” said Bachini. “We [nurses of the class of 2023] are well prepared to professionally and compassionately treat and serve patients today and well into the future.”

The success of the class of 2023 was also aided by many other departments on campus that assisted in laying the science foundations, such as the as well as the humanities departments who were instrumental in establishing a foundation of critical thinking and reasoning that nursing knowledge is built upon.

“This wasn’t just nursing’s success,” said Stover. “This was all hands-on deck, all departments that educate the students along their transformative journey here at Assumption.”