Resource Center

A National Survey links the elements of nursing education to perceived preparedness of new graduates for nursing practice (© 2006).

This report was written after 4 years of work identifying evidence-based nursing education strategies that are essential for preparing new nurses for safe entry-level practice. These recommendations are based on a systematic review of outcomes research in nursing education, as well as NCSBN's own education studies. Adopted August, 2006.

This annual publication provides national and state summary data of Member Boards’ licensure activities, as well as data on candidate performance on the NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN examinations. (© 2006)

This study provides information on the activities performed by nurse aides employed in nursing homes, home health care agencies and hospitals. (© 2006)

Presented at AERA

Presented at AERA

Presented at AERA

Summary data for multiple categories of candidates, U.S. and international, is provided for performance on NCSBN's two nurse licensure examinations, the NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN.

A significant role for most state boards of nursing, whose mission is to protect the public, is the approval of nursing education programs in their state. As part of this process, many of the state boards review their schools’ annual pass rates of first-time NCLEX-RN candidates and compare these percentages to state regulations. Schools whose pass rates fall below the state standard risk losing the approval of their state board of nursing.

Evidence-based health care (EBHC) and its approach to the practice of medicine has gained considerable acceptance among health care professionals. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) advocates integration of the principles of evidence-based medicine (EBM) into undergraduate training. Promoted as a tool to further learning by inquiry, to steer clear of opinion-based medicine (Sackett et al., 2000), and to help students at all levels of training to assess conscientiously the current best evidence, an increasing number of medical schools in the United States have incorporated it into their curriculum.

Since Boards of Nursing are mandated to approve nursing programs, the boards are interested in knowing the evidence-based elements of nursing education that are essential for preparing new nurses for safe entry-level practice.