Cumberland University’s Jennette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions’s undergraduate nursing program’s National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rate increased to 96.43 percent for the 2020 nursing graduating class. 

This is the second consecutive year that NCLEX scores increased, jumping from 93 percent in 2019 and 82 percent in 2018.

In the past academic year, the nursing program increased clinical hours from 796 hours to 1,050 over the 5-semester period, continued to maximize the use of the new simulation lab created from the proceeds of the annual Notes for Nurses fundraising event, and was accepted as a new chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, the largest nursing honor society in the U.S.

“While we continuously receive good feedback from the healthcare facilities regarding our graduates, we always strive to improve and raise the bar of excellence,” said Dr. Mary Bess Griffth, Dean of The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions, and Associate Professor. “The future patients of these nursing students deserve nothing less than the best care possible. CU is working to ensure that excellent care is delivered by every single graduate of the nursing program.”

CU nursing faculty review program curriculum after each academic year to make enhancements to ensure continued growth and success on NCLEX testing and patient care.

“Our vision is to be the leading BSN program in Middle Tennessee based on NCLEX outcomes and the excellence of nursing graduates,” said Dr. Griffith. “I believe the future of the CU nursing program is very bright.”