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LATI’s Practical Nursing Program Boasts High Licensure Pass Rate

Posted on: January 27, 2016   |   Category: News

WATERTOWN, SD –The Practical Nursing faculty at Lake Area Technical College recently received notification that the pass rate for its graduates who took the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nursing (NCLEX-PN) examination in 2015 was an outstanding 98.11 percent. NCLEX is a national examination for licensing nurses in the United States and Canada and is designed to test the knowledge, skills and abilities crucial for the safe and effective practice of nursing at the entry-level, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

Lake Area Technical College Practical Nursing Program Supervisor Patty Foley credits the high NCLEX pass rate to the well-rounded, hands-on technical education at Lake Area Technical College. “Our overall mission is to prepare individuals for licensure and safe nursing practice,” she said. “We feel through our challenging curriculum, that our students graduate prepared to write the licensure exam and become competent nurses. We also prepare them as individuals with communication and people skills, and also the academic ability to further their education, if they so wish.”

Foley said an active, current nursing license is required to practice nursing. “After graduating from a school of nursing, a student takes the NCLEX exam to receive his or her nursing license. The nursing license gives the individual the permission to practice nursing, granted by the state where he or she has met the requirements. To ensure public protection, each state board of nursing requires a candidate for licensure to pass the appropriate examination, in our case, the NCLEX- PN.”

Lake Area Technical College offers three Practical Nursing options including:

  • a full-time, on-campus option (lasting 11 months, and begins each fall);
  • a full-time, online hybrid option completed mostly online, but with some travel to campus for clinicals, labs, and simulation (lasting 11 months, and begins each fall); and
  • a part-time, online hybrid option (lasting 22 months, and begins each January).

Acceptance into the Practical Nursing Program at Lake Area Technical College is competitive. Each year the school receives two to three times as many applicants than there are open spots. For more information, please visit www.lakeareatech.edu.