Nursing Faculty Coaches: Uncovering a Hidden Resource for NCLEX-RN Success.

This article presents a nursing faculty department's strategy to empower nursing students identified as being at risk for not passing the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) on the first attempt while significantly increasing the nursing program's overall first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate. These students were identified as being at risk because of their low scores on standardized assessments with national norms predicting the likelihood of passing the NCLEX on the first attempt. This account details the NCLEX-RN Coaching Partnership as an exemplar to support nursing students' success through caring relationships with nursing faculty. Faculty coaches offered support, fostered confidence, and maintained accountability with the identified nursing students. The students provided positive feedback regarding the NCLEX-RN Coaching Partnership and ultimately attributed their passing to the coaching relationships. Seven of the eight identified students passed the examination on the first attempt; the overall program's first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate increased significantly from 78% to 90%.

Evaluating Cultural Competency Concepts Using Program Theory-Driven Evaluation Framework.

Research has shown that there is no consistent method of teaching cultural competence or incorporating it into nursing curricula. Thus, nursing programs are at risk for misinterpretation or not meeting required program outcomes or accreditation standards. Although considered social research, program theory-driven evaluation has been cited as an acceptable evaluation method for nursing programs. This research looks at program inputs and program outputs to establish congruency with accreditation standards and to ensure validity and reliability of future research on cultural competency levels of nursing graduates.