GORDON'S BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING PROGRAM ACCREDITED

The Georgia Board of Nursing (GBON) reviewed the 2019 NCLEX scores for the first time writers of Gordon State College’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) prelicensure degree and voted full approval for the program through December 31, 2024.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing develops the NCLEX exam to test the competency of nursing school graduates. Students who graduate from the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) and the BSN prelicensure programs are eligible to take the NCLEX exam. Passing the NCLEX allows a student the opportunity to practice as a registered nurse in Georgia.

The first class graduated from Gordon in the spring of 2019 with 21 students. This first cohort had a first time pass rate of 85.75%. The GBON requires that at least 80% of all graduates pass the licensing exam as first-time writers within one calendar year of graduation. GSC was well above the minimum for this first cohort of BSN students.

“Gordon State College has been known to produce great nurses since 1972 in their associate’s program, so this is simply a continuation as we move into the bachelor’s degrees,” said Dr. Victor Vilchiz, Dean for the School of Nursing, Health and Natural Sciences.

Gordon’s nursing program is slated to graduate 33 students this semester and plans to admit a cohort of 40 in the fall semester for the Class of 2022 for the highly-competitive program. As the program grows, the number of applicants also increases. For this last application period, the program had 99 applications. Of those 99 applicants, 68 were eligible to sit for the Kaplan Nursing Admission Test and 55 students were ultimately reviewed for admission. The program was only able to accept 40 students based on accreditation limitations. The number of students admitted to the pre-licensure program will gradually increase every year.

Gordon started the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) degree 1972 and added the Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN) program in 2010, which is fully online. The BSN pre-licensure program started in 2017 and the four-year degree includes more academic collaboration, community leadership and management emphasis.

“Our students in the BSN prelicensure program are equipped with enhanced experiences and more prepared to take on leadership roles in their workplace,” Vilchiz said

Interim Director of Nursing Samantha Bishop declared, “It’s been a very successful program. We see it growing every year. The NCLEX exam is challenging, and I credit our remarkable faculty and students for the success. Everyone works hard to maintain the quality of our program. All of our programs truly help meet the demands of the nursing workforce in our region.”

Bishop added that Graduates from Gordon’s nursing program are quickly offered positions in esteemed medical facilities in the college’s 14-county service region as well as the state to help meet the demand of the nursing shortage.