Campus News

Great Falls College registered nursing graduates pass national boards at record rate despite pandemic

The 2020 graduates of Great Falls College's registered nursing program passed their national board exam at the highest rate in program history despite the pandemic.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Talk about perfect storms.

Or almost perfect, anyways.

Great Falls College MSU was looking to start the process of seeking national accreditation for its registered nursing program and wanted to raise its national licensure exam first-time pass rate as part of that process when the novel coronavirus pandemic hit and the college had to move all of its courses off campus this spring.

Well, the college just found out its 2020 graduates passed their boards at the highest rate ever, 91.3 percent,
beating the national average of 87.53 percent and the state average of 89.29 percent.

"That was a huge sigh of relief," said Lauren Swant, nursing program director at Great Falls College. "Huge."

It also was the result of tremendously hard work by Swant, her faculty and the students, said Russ
Motschenbacher, Great Falls College's health sciences division director.

"We are really proud of this accomplishment," Motschenbacher said. "To post the highest scores in the history of the program during a pandemic when we couldn't hold classes on campus for the last eight weeks of the program is a credit to everyone -- faculty and students – associated with the program."

Swant said her faculty members have been working to more closely align the program with the National Council Licensure Examination, which graduates of the nursing program have to sit for to become registered nurses. They also tailored their exams to be more like the national exams, so that students would know what to expect when taking the tests.

She also integrated materials from Kaplan Nursing, a company that provides a variety of services that ensure students are better prepared to succeed in nursing school and pass their national boards.

During the months away from campus this spring, Swant said her faculty members were amazing.

"They were proctoring tests for their students at 9 o'clock at night when students couldn't take tests during the day because they had kids at home. They held virtual office hours, they bent over backward for their students," she said. "They were just incredibly flexible and made a real effort to let the students know they were personally invested in each one of them individually."

Swant said that devotion to student success didn't stop at graduation.

"I made a study plan for the two months leading up to their boards, what they needed to be studying each week," she said. "And then I checked up with every student each week to make sure they were on track, and if they got behind, I worked with them to catch them up."

She said the study guide is one of those silver linings found during the pandemic that she will continue as a best practice going forward.

Brianna St. Lawrence, a 2020 graduate of the Great Falls College registered nursing program, said the personal touch was deeply appreciated.

"Being a student in the final semester of my Great Falls College nursing program career when the pandemic began taught me versatility, adaptability and perseverance," she said. "The program could have shut down and forced the nursing program cohort to graduate late. Instead, the faculty and staff rose to the occasion, exemplified resiliency, and came together to provide an education that drove me and my class towards great success. It is because of their examples during this unprecedented time that our class leaned in harder, became stronger and pursued the excellence by which we were led."

The registered nursing program, with a relatively new statewide curriculum implemented in 2016, is fully approved by the Montana Board of Nursing and meets all the requirements to make graduates eligible to take their national licensing exam. Graduates are eligible to apply for licensure by endorsement in any of the 50 states upon passing the NCLEX exam.

"I just can't stop smiling," said Dr. Susan J. Wolff, CEO/dean of Great Falls College. "It is just another example of the way this campus comes together to get things done. I'm bursting with pride for Lauren, her faculty and the students and really pleased to see their hard work pay off."