601 - A New Paradigm: Six Ways to Demonstrate Success on the National Licensure Examination

ACEN 2023 Standards and Criteria offer ACEN-accredited programs six options to demonstrate licensure pass rate success. These options are also defined in the ACEN Licensure and Certification Pass Rate Guidance (ACEN Guidance). Although six success options exist in ACEN’s Guidance, some Boards of Nursing provide licensure data that must be recalculated within the context of ACEN’s options. The presenter will describe a nursing program’s use of the ACEN Guidance to select options, which demonstrate success, through exploration of Board of Nursing licensure data. The presentation will include examples of data reports, data calculations, and sample data tables for public disclosure.

Faculty have the responsibility of outcomes assessment including data collection, analysis, and documentation. Recently, in the release of the 2023 Standards and Criteria, the Accreditation Commission of Education in Nursing (ACEN) offered six options to demonstrate licensure pass rate success (ACEN Accreditation Manual, Standards and Criteria, 2022). Each of the six options may be used to publicly (e.g., websites, catalogs, and handbooks) illuminate the program’s strengths. However, the dilemma is identifying which of the six method(s) comprehensively convey the program’s success.

Although six options exist in ACEN’s Criterion 5.3 Licensure Examination Pass Rates, some Boards of Nursing provide licensure data that must be recalculated within the context of ACEN’s six options to demonstrate licensure examination success. The reconceptualization of licensure pass rate success combined with the calculation of licensure pass rates is the gap in knowledge that currently exists. Additionally, transparency of the program’s licensure pass rates in the public domain is important to programmatic accreditors and the public. The challenge is sharing visually appealing data, which are comprehensive and simple to understand (e.g., repeaters, mean rates, national comparison rates).