Nightingale College’s ADN Program Receives Continued Accreditation for Good Cause
Nightingale College is excited to announce that the Accreditation Commission in Nursing Education (ACEN) has continued programmatic accreditation for the ADN Program for Good Cause.
Nightingale College hosted a site visit from the ACEN in March of 2019, and this week, specifically April 24, 2019, the College received a letter from the ACEN stating that the ADN Program will continue to be accredited for good cause.
What does “Continuing Accreditation for Good Cause” mean?
Good Cause is when a program has not met one of the benchmarks for accreditation, but the accreditors have good cause to believe that the program is improving and executing on its goals in meeting the standards. For Nightingale, the standard unmet was for first-time pass rates on the NCLEX-RN.
Nightingale College’s Philosophy
While the ACEN measures NCLEX first-time pass rates, Nightingale College prioritizes overall NCLEX pass rates, as we believe measuring first-time pass rates places undue pressure on the learners, and motivates schools to wash out underperforming learners. Many nursing programs wash out students who do not meet the benchmark on NCLEX-success predictor exams prior to graduation in order to boost levels of first-time pass rates. We believe this practice, as well as the practice of elitist admissions processes, to be unethical. Nightingale College will not sacrifice potential nurses to artificially boost first-time pass rates.
At Nightingale, we are proud of our overall licensure rates, graduation and retention rates, and employer satisfaction rates. Eighty-four percent of our ADN graduates who have attempted the NCLEX have passed the examination and are now licensed registered nurses. You can see these statistics on our College statistics page.
Moving Forward
Nightingale is excited to be continuing to offer the Associate Degree in Nursing Program to communities in need throughout Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. We are proud to have graduated over 600 nurses who are serving their communities, and excited to be continuing to offer accredited nursing degree programs in many states across the nation.
Blended-Distance Nursing College in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming welcomes health care professionals to meet nursing learners and graduates
Salt Lake City, Utah Feb. 15, 2019 — Nightingale College, a fully accredited nursing school, announced today its upcoming networking events to be held at partner facilities throughout Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
These networking events provide an opportunity for prospective and current nursing learners and alumni to cultivate relationships with health care professionals in their community. Representatives from health care facilities are also invited to explore partnership opportunities for expanding accessibility to nursing education.
“Nightingale College is excited to connect future nurses with experienced health care professionals,” said Mikhail Shneyder, President of Nightingale College. “Together we can improve patient outcomes by addressing the nursing shortage.”
The College’s Open House Events will take place on the following dates:
Many of these partner facilities also houses the College’s DDC area hub where learners gain hands-on nursing skills. Partners and health care facilities interested in joining the consortium to provide experiential learning are welcome to tour the hub and meet Nightingale staff and faculty to learn about the College’s unique education model. This hybrid-virtual model allows learners to take didactic courses online and complete experiential learning requirements at local health care partner facilities such as hospitals and long-term care facilities, as well as the local experiential learning hub.
The College offers two programs with this model, the ADN Program, which can be completed in as few as 20 months, and the 32-month BDN Program.
“Nightingale College is thrilled to be educating nurses in these communities,” said Blake Halladay, Senior Manager of Partnerships. “We look forward to what these networking events will bring, and what it will mean for the future of nursing education and health care in rural and underserved areas.”
For additional information about the networking event, please email careerservices@nightingale.edu. This is a free event that is open to all. No reservation required.
ABOUT NIGHTINGALE COLLEGE
Nightingale College creates avenues to accessible nursing programs with its fully accredited distance education associate and bachelor’s degree nursing programs. Supporting the growing need for nurses and providing strategies to combat the nursing shortage, the College’s programs work to not only grow but maintain homegrown nurses with the help of local health care systems. Nightingale College emphasizes graduating future nurses who are confident, competent and compassionate. Since its establishment in 2010 in Ogden, Utah, the College has graduated nurses in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. To learn more about the College, its mission, and programs, visit https://nightingale.edu/.
With 63 graduates in blue and 6 in black, the room pulsed with excitement and anticipation. Waiting for the event to start, the graduates exchanged excited whispers and laughter to pass time between rehearsal and the event. The room quickly became full of cheers and hollars as family and friends watched their graduate descend the stairs and into their seat during the processional and did not cease until well after the ceremony had ended.
This graduation marks a few milestones for the College: Six learners from the RN-to-BSN Program graduated this semester, which is a new record, and this was also the very first graduation from the Evanston, Wyoming DDC (see all of our locations here).
Congratulations to the ADN and BSN Degree Programs’ graduates! To view photos of the event, visit our Facebook page.
Graduation Ceremony Highlights
Loraine Larsen, an instructor in our ADN Program, gave the graduates sound advise in her speech. “Nurses choose to be caring and compassionate,” she said. “A nurse chooses to be an advocate, a leader, a teacher, and at times a therapist. We all know that nurses are not ordinary, but what makes them extraordinary? To me, what makes a nurse extraordinary is being willing to dare greatly. Dare to keep trying even when you’ve failed. Dare to continue your education. Dare to stand up for your patients. Dare to say ‘stop’ when you see an unsafe practice. Dare to be the voice of civility in an uncivil workplace. Be willing to dare greatly.”
The valedictorian from both programs followed Larsen’s remarks.
Dionne Jaques, valedictorian of our RN-to-BSN Program, spoke on overcoming fear. “All of us started out nervous, scared, unsure of ourselves, unsure of how to combine school with our lives,” she said. “But we learned to take that fear and stomp on it, and say ‘We can do it!’” Read more about Jaques’ unique journey through nursing school here.
Theresa Troia, the valedictorian of our Associate Degree Nursing Program, said “We stand here today with our families and friends, instructors and classmates to celebrate and acknowledge that a rollercoaster journey is coming to an end, but another one is about to begin…It’s been a long, hard ride, but we did it!”
After being inspired by their valedictorians, graduates were inspired anew by their classmates who received honors and awards. There are several different awards given away at graduation, including the FLAME! FORWARD! Award, the Community Fellow Award, and the academic honors. Dionne Jaques and Megan Trappen received the Community Fellow Award for their dedication and service as volunteers.
The FLAME! FORWARD! Award is given to learners who have gone above and beyond our expectations. Faculty members nominate students for the FLAME! FORWARD! Award when they feel a learner exemplifies all theseven values of the college. Jonathan Loper and Stephanie Atkinson were presented with the FLAME! FORWARD! Award this year.
Next on the list, the graduates received their nursing pins from those individuals who had a profound effect on their nursing journey, usually a family member, spouse, or instructor.
The lighting of the lamps was next, a reverent ordeal in which the Nightingale graduates light each of their lamps to symbolize the lamp that Florence Nightingale tirelessly carried to and from each sickbed. They then repeat the Nightingale Pledge.
Then with cheers from the crowd, each graduate walks across the stage to receive their degree. Kara McDonald-Harmon, Vice President of Operations and Controller at the College, conferred the degrees at graduation. Bursting with excitement, graduates cheered as they moved their tassels.
What an accomplishment! We are so proud of all these learners who have studied countless hours, sacrificed precious sleep, and dedicated so much of their time and energy to becoming nurses. We know you will be incredible in this noble profession. The graduates of the ADN Program will now work toward passing the NCLEX-RN and becoming licensed as registered nurses.
The faculty and staff at Nightingale wish the graduates the utmost success in their future nursing careers. May the light of Florence Nightingale’s lamp and her unwavering values light your path onwards to great things, and remember, be willing to dare greatly!
If you are interested in having your unique journey through nursing school featured in an in-depth article, please submit this form.
