Nursing Test Prep
As Assistant Director of the Library Learning Resource Center at Palm Beach State College's Belle Glade campus, Marisha Kelly saw that its pre-nursing students needed help passing the RN program’s entrance exam.
The main issues were:
- Only 24 students out of 400+ applicants were accepted
- Belle Glade’s pre-nursing students often scored too low on the test to be accepted
- Many students from other campuses or institutions were accepted instead
To help Belle Glade’s pre-nursing students, Kelly created a workshop series to provide them with critical information, tools and skills to pass the entrance exam.
Collaboration
She collaborated with several departments on campus to offer students more resources, primarily:
- A library section devoted to test preparation and remediation
- Academic advisors to help design an education plan to meet the RN program’s admission requirements
- Exam tutors for both individuals and groups
- Testing guidelines available at the campus testing center
Measuring success
Initially, few students attended the workshops. Kelly increased attendance by scheduling them directly after a mandatory RN information session.
To gauge the program’s success, Kelly conducted student surveys before and after the workshops, with these results:
- Prior to the workshop, only three of 23 students felt confident about taking the admissions test.
- After the workshop, 18 of 21 students agreed or strongly agreed that they felt confident taking the test.
The program has since expanded to a series of test-prep classes covering each subject area in depth.
Presentation
Read the PDF of Kelly’s presentation for her Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute graduation to find out more:
