NCLEX-RN 2017: Performance of Alberta graduates College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta
Contents Introduction 1 Who is included in this report 1 Attempts 1 Cohorts 1 NCLEX-RN pass rate by cohort 3 2015 cohort pass rate by the end of 2017 3 2016 cohort pass rate by the end of 2017 4 2015-2017 cohort pass rates by attempt 5 NCLEX-RN test plan performance 6
Introduction Who is included in this report This report provides statistics on the performance of graduates of Alberta nursing education programs who wrote the NCLEX-RN in 2015, 2016, and 2017 as a part of their registration/licensure application process with a provincial or territorial Registered Nurse (RN) regulator in Canada. These writers are referred to as Alberta graduates throughout the report. This report does not include any Alberta graduates who applied for licensure/registration outside of Canada. Attempts The report only includes graduates attempts on the NCLEX-RN; any attempts at the previous nursing regulators exam in years prior to 2015 are not included. Cohorts For the purposes of reporting, the Alberta graduates were separated into cohorts based on the year in which they wrote the NCLEX-RN for the first time: 1. 2015 cohort: those who wrote the NCLEX-RN in 2015 for the first time 2. 2016 cohort: those who wrote the NCLEX-RN in 2016 for the first time 3. 2017 cohort: those who wrote the NCLEX-RN in 2017 for the first time By introducing the concept of cohorts, a group of writers can be followed every year in which they make new attempts. Table 1 shows how many Alberta graduates in each cohort attempted the exam at least once in each cohort year. Table 1. 2015-2017 cohorts writing in each exam year 2015 EXAM YEAR 2016 EXAM YEAR 2017 EXAM YEAR 2015 cohort 1,633 233 59 2016 cohort - 1,568 201 2017 cohort - - 1,500 In 2015, 1,633 Alberta graduates wrote the NCLEX-RN for the first time and thus belong to the 2015 cohort. Of those who did not pass the exam in 2015, 233 wrote again in 2016 and 59 wrote again in 2017. Page 1
In 2016, 1,568 graduates wrote the exam for the first time, and are considered part of the 2016 cohort. 201 wrote the exam again in 2017. In 2017, 1,500 graduates wrote the exam for the first time. Page 2
NCLEX-RN pass rate by cohort 2017 cohort pass rate by the end of 2017 Of the 1,500 Alberta graduates in the 2017 cohort (writing for the first time in 2017), 84.5% passed on their first writing (Table 2). The first-attempt pass rate for the 2017 cohort is a substantial improvement over prior year results. The year-end pass rate for the 2017 cohort was 91.5% (Table 3). Table 2. First attempt NCLEX-RN pass rate by cohort 2015 2016 2017 FIRST-ATTEMPT PASS RATE FIRST-ATTEMPT PASS RATE FIRST-ATTEMPT PASS RATE Alberta 1,633 69.1% 1,568 78.1% 1,500 84.5% Canada 9,074 69.7% 9,338 79.9% 9,659 82.1% Table 3. Year-end NCLEX-RN pass rate for the 2016, 2017 cohorts PASSED FAILED TOTAL YEAR-END PASS RATE 2016 cohort by the end of 2016: 1,387 181 1,568 88.4% 2017 cohort by the end of 2017: 1,372 128 1,500 91.5% Previous cohort pass rates by the end of 2017 Of the 1,633 Alberta graduates in the 2015 cohort (writing for the first time in 2015), 83.9% passed by the end of 2015 after one or more attempts (Table 4). Of the 263 graduates in the 2015 cohort who did not pass the exam in 2015, 211 attempted the exam again in 2016 and 59 attempted in 2017. Ultimately, by the end of 2017, 95.5% of the 2015 cohort had passed the exam. Table 4. Year-end NCLEX-RN pass rate of the 2015 cohort 2015 cohort writing in: PASSED FAILED TOTAL YEAR-END PASS RATE 2015 1,370 263 1,633 83.9% 2016 160 51 211 75.8% 2017 29 30 59 49.1% By the end of 2017: 1,559 74 1,633 95.5% Page 3
The percentage of the 2016 cohort who had passed by the end of 2016 (88.4%) was 4.5 percentage points higher than that of the 2015 cohort by the end of their first year of writing in 2015 (83.9%). Looking at the cumulative results of 2016 cohort after two years of writing, 97.0% have passed (Table 5). Table 5. Year-end NCLEX-RN pass rate of the 2016 cohort 2016 cohort writing in: PASSED FAILED TOTAL YEAR-END PASS RATE 2016 1,387 181 1,568 88.4% 2017 134 67 201 66.6% By the end of 2017: 1,521 47 1,568 97.0% Page 4
All cohort pass rates by attempt The NCLEX-RN results can also be reviewed to see how successful each cohort was on each attempt (Table 6). Of the 1,500 graduates in the 2017 cohort, 84.5% passed on their first attempt, a 6.5-percentage point higher pass rate when compared to the 2016 cohort s firstattempt pass rate of 78.0%, and 15.4 percentage points higher than the 2015 cohort. Table 6. NCLEX-RN pass rates by attempt and by cohort (as of the end of 2017) 2015 COHORT 2016 COHORT 2017 COHORT TOTAL ATTEMPT PASS RATE TOTAL ATTEMPT PASS RATE TOTAL ATTEMPT PASS RATE Passed on first attempt 1,633 69.1% 1,568 78.0% 1,500 84.5% Passed on second attempt 480 65.4% 213 71.8% 139 72.7% Passed on third attempt 110 71.8% 15 73.3% 6 66.6% Passed after additional attempts 15 66.7% 0-1 - Page 5
NCLEX-RN test plan performance Each writer of the NCLEX-RN must answer questions across four major categories (with two of the categories having sub-categories for a total of eight topic areas) all of which are based on patient needs. The content for these question topics is referred to as the test plan. 1 To pass the NCLEX-RN, the exam writer must perform above the passing standard, which is set at 0.00 logits. 2 The longer bars indicate better performance. The overall test plan performance of the first-attempt writers of the 2017 cohort was on average 0.44 logits above the passing standard. It was also 0.07 logits above the first-attempt 2016 cohort average and 0.01 logits above the first-attempt national average in 2017. This is the first time the Alberta cohort has performed above the national average overall. Compared to the passing standard, Alberta graduates in the 2017 cohort performed best on the Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies test plan category. (0.54 logits above the passing standard). Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies tests the competency of nursing care related to the administration of medications and parenteral therapies. The lowest average result for the 2017 cohort was 0.36 logit on the Basic Care and Comfort test plan category. This is 0.02 logit over the 2017 national average, and 0.05 logit improvement over the 2016 cohort. Basic Care and Comfort tests the competency of nursing care related to providing comfort and assistance in the performance of activities of daily living. Alberta graduates in 2017 showed their largest improvements in Safety and Infection Control and Management of Care, though they did perform slightly below the national average. 1 For more information, see Topics covered on the exam section in the NCLEX-RN 2017: Canadian Results report 2 For more information, see How a pass or fail is determined and What is a logit? in the NCLEX-RN 2017: Canadian Results report. Page 6
Figure 1 shows how well an average Alberta graduate taking the NCLEX-RN examination for the first time in 2017 and 2016 performed overall and on each test plan category. The average first-attempt performance of Alberta graduates can be compared against the passing standard, each test plan category and cohort (based on the year of writers first attempt). The longer bars indicate better performance. The overall test plan performance of the first-attempt writers of the 2017 cohort was on average 0.44 logits above the passing standard. It was also 0.07 logits above the first-attempt 2016 cohort average and 0.01 logits above the first-attempt national average in 2017. This is the first time the Alberta cohort has performed above the national average overall. Compared to the passing standard, Alberta graduates in the 2017 cohort performed best on the Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies test plan category. (0.54 logits above the passing standard). 3 Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies tests the competency of nursing care related to the administration of medications and parenteral therapies. The lowest average result for the 2017 cohort was 0.36 logit on the Basic Care and Comfort test plan category. This is 0.02 logit over the 2017 national average, and 0.05 logit improvement over the 2016 cohort. Basic Care and Comfort tests the competency of nursing care related to providing comfort and assistance in the performance of activities of daily living. Alberta graduates in 2017 showed their largest improvements in Safety and Infection Control and Management of Care, though they did perform slightly below the national average. 3 For more information on each test plan category, see Topics covered on the exam in the report NCLEX-RN 2017: Canadian Results. Page 7
Figure 1. Average test plan category performance of Alberta graduates on their first NCLEX-RN attempt in 2017 (compared to the average national performance and its provincial performance in 2016) Alberta 2016 Alberta 2017 Canada 2017 Physiological Adaptation 0.42 0.43 0.44 Reduction of Risk Potential 0.35 0.35 0.40 Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies 0.50 0.54 0.54 Basic Care and Comfort 0.31 0.34 0.36 Psychosocial Integrity 0.34 0.39 0.46 Health Promotion and Maintenance Safety and Infection Control Management of Care 0.40 0.38 0.35 0.33 0.41 0.43 0.45 0.44 0.47 Overall Performance 0.37 0.43 0.44 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 Average logits Passing standard: 0.00 logits Page 8