As National Nurse Practitioner Week [1] comes to a close, the UCF College of Nursing would like to honor its nurse practitioner alumni for passing their board certification exams.
The most recent graduates of two nurse practitioner programs at the UCF College of Nursing [2] passed their national certification exam, earning the college a 100 percent pass rate in both categories and exceeding national averages.
Six students from the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner [3] program and 23 from the Family Nurse Practitioner [4] program took and passed the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) national certification exam, and are now board certified as AGPCNP-BC and FNP-BC, respectively.
The 100 percent pass rate among the UCF students exceeds national averages for the ANCC board certification exams. In 2015, the national pass rate on the Family Nurse Practitioner exam was 75 percent and the national pass rate on the AGPCNP exam was 79 percent.
Upon earning a Master of Science in Nursing [5] (MSN) from the nurse practitioner programs at UCF, students are eligible to sit for the required board examination for national certification to practice in the advanced practice role. The ANCC board certification examinations are competency based and provide a valid, reliable assessment of entry-level clinical knowledge and skills of nurse practitioners. The credential is valid for five years.
Ranked among the best in the nation, UCF College of Nursing provides a high quality education from the bachelor’s degree (BSN) to the doctorate [6]. The college’s BSN students routinely exceed state and national averages on the RN license (NCLEX-RN) exam, ranking in the top four percent nationally and one of the highest pass rates in Florida.
The college has continually evolved to meet growing demand nationwide for highly educated, advanced practice nurses, adding new expert faculty [7] and expanding its programs. Most recently, the college added an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner [8] program, a MSN in Nursing and Healthcare Simulation [9], and a graduate certificate in Healthcare Simulation [10] that is open to both nurses and non-nurses to increase collaboration in the field.