Fayetteville State University’s struggling nursing program must improve relationships and classroom curriculum to do better on the licensure exam, Chancellor James Anderson said Thursday.
According to preliminary data from the N.C. Board of Nursing, FSU nursing graduates have the worst pass rates in the state on the 2008 licensure exam. More than half failed the exam on the first try — a potential pass rate that could jeopardize the university’s program.
Anderson discussed the direction of the program with the nursing faculty in a private meeting Monday. He said the faculty members were receptive to suggestions he offered and pledged to work diligently to help students improve.
Still, Anderson said Thursday, he was stern about the need to improve the “negative dynamics” that have plagued the program in the past.
“I was encouraging. But I was also very firm with them that those scores had to be up on the next round,” Anderson said.
Student complaints and faculty dissension have gripped the program since its beginning in 2005. Some of the strife came from an ill-fated decision to implement a standardized test that wasn’t in the approved curriculum. The program was put on warning status by the state nursing board in 2007 over rules violations and low pass rates.
Although rarely done, UNC officials have warned that FSU’s program could risk being shut down if problems continue. Former Chancellor T.J. Bryan resigned last year in part because of poor performance in the nursing program.
“Faculty cares about the students, and they are well-intentioned, but they clearly needed to rethink some of their strategies,” said Anderson, who arrived in June as the new chancellor. “I told them ... some of the internal dynamics of the nursing department really need to improve in order for us to have success.”
Last year, FSU and UNC-Pembroke’s nursing programs — then both in their first years — had the lowest pass rates in the UNC system on National Council on Licensure Examination tests. FSU’s rate was 64 percent, and UNCP’s was 68 percent.
Yet early data for 2008 show UNCP may have improved in its second year. So far, 24 out of 30 UNCP students have passed the licensure exam — earning the school an 80 percent pass rate.
Only 22 of 52 FSU students have passed the test on the first try — giving FSU a 42 percent pass rate, according to the Sept.30 scores from the N.C. Board of Nursing.
Twelve FSU students have not taken the exam, however. If they do and succeed, FSU’s average could rise to 53 percent.
The state average on the test is 89 percent, preliminary figures show.
According to UNC system policy, any nursing program failing to pass at least 75 percent of its students for two consecutive years could be closed. Alan Mabe, the UNC general administration vice president who oversees the system’s nursing programs, said he would not speculate on FSU’s future until the final scores are published.
Those scores are slated to be released in January, said Linda Burhans of the N.C. Board of Nursing.
Anderson, who has previously worked as an consultant to troubled nursing schools across the nation, said many moves have occurred since his Monday talk. Nursing faculty members have formed a full-time committee to shore up weak parts of the curriculum. FSU instructors will begin mentoring individual students this week as part of a new program designed to help student progress and development, Anderson said.
In August, FSU hired Winston-Salem State professor Cathy Canzona, a nationally recognized specialist on the licensure exam, to help students better prepare for the test.
FSU’s nursing department head, Phyllis Morgan, said Canzona’s review sessions with students have already begun to pay dividends.
“We’ve already seen some changes in the test scores,” Morgan said. “By 2009, I’m confident we will have better results.”
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