Pennsylvania Nursing Schools

Nursing Education Capacity Initiatives Announced

Harrisburg, PA - March 21, 2006 - As part of continuing efforts to alleviate Pennsylvania's growing shortage of nurses, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation in cooperation with The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) held an event today to brief area educators and health care leaders on the new Nursing Education Capacity Initiatives.

In a briefing held at the Boyce Campus of the Community College of Allegheny County for over 30 area nursing schools and hospitals, six new nursing education programs were highlighted encouraging current nurses to return to school, earn their graduate degrees and teach the next generation of nurses.

The Nurse Educator Loan Forgiveness Program forgives up to $50,000 of qualified loan debt, provided that the applicant agrees to work three to five years as a new nurse educator at an approved Pennsylvania postsecondary nursing school.

The Graduate Nurse Education Grant Program awards scholarship funds to graduate nursing schools within Pennsylvania, to be used to increase enrollment and improve retention for students pursuing a graduate degree in nursing in order to teach.

The Nurse Faculty Lines Program provides funds annually to non-profit, tax-exempt Pennsylvania schools of nursing to underwrite nursing faculty positions. The initial round of awards, subject to available funding, will provide $50,000 per line, renewable for a minimum of three years, to increase teaching faculty at an institution.

Supplemental Funding for Practical Nursing Programs allows Pennsylvania schools with Practical Nursing Programs to submit a proposal for additional scholarship funding of their Practical Nursing students.

The Interim Student Loan Guarantee Program provides alternative loans to fund the unmet needs at Pennsylvania nursing schools prior to receiving FFELP eligibility. This will initially target new nursing schools, nursing schools attempting to reopen and nursing schools providing accelerated programs.

The Dr. McKenzie Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students is named in honor of the late Dr. Edna McKenzie, a distinguished educator, and a long-time member of the PHEAA Board and the Foundation Board. This program is currently under development with more details forthcoming.

These new programs join current Foundation nursing initiatives in addressing the critical shortage of qualified nursing care in Pennsylvania. They are a result of a cooperative effort with the Leadership Council of the Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers.

"For the past three years the Foundation has been actively working to encourage students to consider a career in nursing," said Michael H. Hershock, Foundation President and CEO. "We're very proud of the success of these programs. In fact, they've been so successful that nursing schools are turning away applicants due to a lack of nursing educators. Therefore we're focusing on fulfilling that need with these new nursing education initiatives."

"Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems are proud of the results of the collaborative approach by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation, and the work of the Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers under the statewide Workforce Investment Board," said Carolyn F. Scanlan, President and CEO of HAP. "We are graduating more nurses now and together can increase the availability of nursing education so that nurses are there to care for patients in the Commonwealth."

The Foundation's current nursing initiatives include the Nursing Education Grant Program, the Nurse Scholars Program, the Nursing Loan Forgiveness for Healthier Futures program, the Tax Credit Program for Low Income Nursing Students, the Big 33 Nursing Scholarship Program and the Penn HOSA Scholarship Program.

"PHEAA has worked closely as a partner on several of the Foundation's nursing initiatives," said Representative Joseph Markosek, a member of the PHEAA Board of Directors and a speaker at today's event. "Their mission is a perfect match for our own of creating affordable access to higher education. We pledge our continued support of their education initiatives as they work to address and resolve areas of critical need throughout the Commonwealth."

The Foundation's programs are funded through the generosity of community-minded donors, including PHEAA and HAP, who share the Foundation's concern for today's nurses. In most cases, donors may also direct their contribution to the Pennsylvania nonprofit nursing school of their choosing.

For additional information about the Foundation's initiatives or to inquire about donation opportunities, contact the Foundation office at (717) 720-3961 or go here.

Further information on the new nursing education programs, as well as applications and eligibility requirements, can be found here.

The NCLEX® Exam

To ensure public protection, the United States and its territories require entry into the practice of nursing to be regulated by licensing authorities within each jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction requires all candidates for licensure as entry-level nurses to pass an examination (NCLEX) which assesses the knowledge required to perform safely and effectively.

NCLEX stands for The National Council Licensure Examination which is a standardized exam used by each state board of nursing to determine if RN or LPN/LVN candidates are competent for entry-level nursing practice. There are two NCLEX tests offered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN): the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses - NCLEX-RN ® and the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses - NCLEX-PN ®.

The NCLEX-RN is for registered nurse candidates while the NCLEX-PN is for practical and vocational nurses. The main difference between the two tests is the number and difficulty of correctly answered questions required to pass the exam. The States and territorial boards of nursing use these exams in making licensure decisions. The NCLEX-RN has 265 questions and the minimum number you need to answer is 75. The NCLEX-PN has 205 questions and the minimum number you need to answer is 85. The NCLEX exams are administered using Computerized Adaptive Testing - CAT. There is a six hour limit for NCLEX-RN and a five hour time limit for NCLEX-PN which includes time for the computer tutorial and breaks.

Using this method (CAT) each NCLEX exam is unique and the questions are retrieved from a database as the exam progresses. The computer measures the ability of the candidate using the answers provided previously and changes the difficulty and topic of the new questions accordingly - if you answer correctly the computer will select harder NCLEX questions and if you are answer incorrectly it will choose easier questions. The NCLEX software estimates your ability every time you provide the answer to a question and with each new answer you provide the estimate of your ability gets more precise.

The NCLEX exam software selects questions that it considers you will have a close to 50% chance of answering correctly - not too hard or too easy for the ability it believes you have. This is done so that a well prepared candidate will be asked more difficult questions thus having a good chance of passing the NCLEX exam by answering the minimum number of questions while less prepared candidates are not forced to guess the answers to questions too difficult for them. The expected number of correct answers is half the total number of NCLEX questions you are presented with because of the adaptive nature of the test.

After you answer the minimum number of questions for the NCLEX exam the software will analyze your performance and it may shut-down the computer. This means that you either passed or failed the exam. The computer will shut-down only when the program running the test has determined with 95% certainty that your ability is either above or below the passing standard.

The only way to get additional NCLEX questions is if you are very close to the passing score - either 2.5% above or 2.5% below it. If this is the case you should not worry about failing but instead should concentrate on answering correctly the next set of questions. You must understand that you are very close to passing the exam if you answer most NCLEX questions correctly from this point on. You must answer the maximum number of questions on the exam only if at the end of each set of questions you are within the 2.5% above or below the passing score. The time you spend on each question is not an important factor with regard to passing but you should answer the required number of questions in the allotted time.

If you are required to answer the maximum number of NCLEX questions and the computer still isn't 95% sure you can pass, the 95% confidence requirement is dropped. If at this point you have a score higher than the minimum required you pass the exam otherwise you fail. If you run out of time and did not answer the minimum number of questions required you fail automatically. If you run out of time but you answered the minimum number of questions required and for the last 60 NCLEX questions your score was never below the passing standard you pass otherwise you fail the exam. This does not mean that you have to answer the last 60 questions correctly but only that at any point during the last 60 NCLEX questions your score was above the minimum required to pass the exam. You can think about it this way: for each correct answer add one to your score while for each incorrect answer subtract one. Adding your scores one at a time for each question answered should never result in a negative score in order for you to pass if you run out of time but you have answered the minimum number of questions required.

The NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN questions are mostly multiple-choice questions with four answers. In some cases the NCLEX exam uses more difficult question formats such as multiple-choice questions that require you to select one or more correct answers, fill-in-the-blank questions or questions that require you to identify an area on a picture. Both exams cover mostly the same topics but the NCLEX-RN is more difficult. 

You must apply to your state board of nursing in order to take the NCLEX examination. That board of nursing will decide whether or not you are eligible for the NCLEX examination. If you are eligible you must register to take the exam using the Authorization to Take the Test (ATT) provided by the board of nursing in your state. They will also provide you with a list of testing centers and instructions for how to schedule and take the licensure examination. After you take the test you will have to wait for the results. The time you need to wait depends on how the results are reported in your state: mail, online, phone or email. If you fail the test you will receive a summary of your test performance indicating topics where you did well and topics that you need to study further. You will be able to take the test again after a mandatory waiting period - usually 45 days.

NCLEX-RN Exam
Kaplan NCLEX-RN Exam 2006-2007 with CD-ROM
Kaplan MCAT Comprehensive Review with CD-ROM
NCLEX-RN Exam Cram (Exam Cram)
NCLEX-PN Exam Practice Questions Exam Cram (Exam Cram)

Nursing Resources

Information about employment opportunities may be obtained from local hospitals, nursing care facilities, home health care agencies, psychiatric facilities, the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing, and local offices of the State employment service. For information on nursing schools and lists of accredited programs in other states visit one of the following websites: New Mexico Nursing Degrees, Rhode Island Nursing Schools, Tennessee Nursing Programs, Michigan Nursing Degrees and Missouri Nursing Schools.

The information on Pennsylvania-Nursing-Schools.com is for general informational and educational purposes only. Pennsylvania-Nursing-Schools.com makes no representation that the information is accurate, reliable, complete or timely.