CCGA nursing, health sciences programs achieve perfect pass rates

Brunswick, GA – Each year, the College of Coastal Georgia’s nursing and health programs are recognized and praised for their achievements, proving to be some of the College’s fastest-growing prospective career fields.

For the fourth consecutive year, 100 percent of nursing graduates in CCGA’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program have passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) on the first attempt. The BSN program is currently ranked “1 out of 2,086 similar programs nationwide” by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

This achievement is echoed by the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) program earning its first 100 percent pass rate for the same exam in 2016. In the Radiologic Sciences program, CCGA also has had a 100 percent, first-attempt passing rate with the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) exam for 4 of the past 5 consecutive years, or a 98% average over the past 5 years.

With a synergistic relationship with the Southeast Georgia Health System and over 40 other local and regional clinical facilities, students in CCGA’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences programs receive a varied and valuable clinical experience. This includes a focus on applied learning and critical thinking; a more-tailored instruction in smaller class sizes; classes solely taught by full-time faculty; and state of the art simulation and laboratory facilities in the Miriam & Hugh Nunnally Health Science Building.

Both the Nursing and Radiologic Science programs have expanded their commitment to the community beyond the confines of a classroom. Whether through service-learning courses, such as on-campus screenings, teddy bear clinics and health fairs, community health-related education, or working with the health department, hospices, school nurse clinics and local mental health facilities, students are exposed to multiple health-related resources and are better able to see how different practices work together.

“We try to show the students that the knowledge they acquire in the classroom can be used in the community outside of a hospital setting,” said Lydia Watkins, Chair of School of Nursing and BSN Program Coordinator at the College of Coastal Georgia. “Service-learning and community engagement are unique ways to learn and utilize critical thinking rather than just relying on textbooks.”

In addition to high expectations in the rigorous curriculum and student-community engagement through service-learning, faculty members also establish and model high professional standards for students. Faculty frequently present their work at regional and national conferences, and encourage and provide the opportunity for their students to do the same.

“The faculty are instilling professionalism into our students by showing them the importance of going to conferences, presenting, networking and gaining professional development,” said Dr. Patricia Kraft, Distinguished Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at the College of Coastal Georgia.

“Multiple variables impact our students’ success. Our relationship with the community at large, the leadership of the college, and the outstanding faculty who teach at the College of Coastal Georgia. Everyone wants to see our students succeed and achieve their career goals.”

Applications for Fall 2017 admission to the ASN, Prelicensure BSN, Radiologic Science, and RN-BSN programs are available on ccga.edu.

Photo by Diana Ramirez-Chinchilla ’20

Contact: Brittany Tate

(912) 279-5938