Graduates of the nursing programs at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton passed a national nursing exam at nearly perfect rates. It’s the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX)—the standardized test all nursing graduates must take before they can start working as a professional nurse. The high scores are made up of graduates in the licensed practical nursing (LPN) and registered nursing (RN) programs, far exceeding the national and state averages. In the 2019 UACCM class, 95.9 percent of LPN graduates and 97.4 percent of RN graduates passed the NCLEX. The 2019 class joins an established trend of UACCM students passing at a high rate—if not a perfect one—over several years. For the nursing program, the NCLEX is critical. NCLEX scores are a gauge of how prepared nurses are to enter the workforce, and passage rates are one of the calibers by which nursing schools are judged. Among graduates, the college’s high passage rate means better job placement o...

The Arkansas Rural Nursing Education Consortium has announced the recent approval from the State Board of Nursing to increase acceptance for 16 additional students and with current applications, they plan to accept 26 additional students, program-wide. This larger class will begin January 2014. “ARNEC has already exceeded the number of applications from last year, so we feel it is vital to increase student acceptance in 2014,” said Crystal Gillihan, ARNEC Director. “Our students are very successful. They are employed quickly after graduation in both acute care and long-term care settings. Many of our students chose to further their education and are gaining acceptance into BSN programs. ARNEC is a vital piece to rural education and rural health care in Arkansas.” The program is fully approved by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, and the eight colleges that comprise the consortium have graduated approximately 225 students each year from the program, prior to the increase. ...