Barton Community College’s Nursing programs are celebrating a 100% pass rate on national boards so far – with one student who has not yet taken the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for Registered Nurses, according to Dr. Kathy Kottas, executive director of Nursing and Healthcare Education at the college.
Students take the NCLEX-RN or the NCLEX-PN, depending on whether they have studied to be a Licensed Practical Nurse or an RN.
Barton’s Nursing program has also seen success on the Pratt Community College campus. BCC agreed to administer Pratt’s Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program for RNs starting in 2022-2023. The following year, Barton also took the reins of Pratt’s Practical Nursing program.
Not all students who are accepted into the nursing programs complete them. The success rate reflects those who completed the program and passed the NCLEX on the first attempt. In most cases where a Barton student has not passed on the first attempt, the student has retaken the test and passed, Kottas said.
Barton’s five-year pass rate average on the test for RNs is 92.4%, compared to the national average of 84.9%. Its five-year average on the test for LPNs is 99.36%. (One student in eight years didn’t pass on the first attempt but did on the second, Kottas said.) The national average is 83.74%.
On the Pratt campus, Barton took over the ADN classes in 2022-2023 with 12 students and saw a 100% pass rate. (Overall, the pass rate for Barton that year was 91%.)
In 2023-2024, the Pratt program started with 11 students. Three withdrew – one for personal reasons and two for academic reasons – and eight students graduated. Barton and Pratt had 100% pass rates (pending the one Barton student who has yet to take the test).
When Pratt decided not to offer a Practical Nursing Program, Barton took that on as well, Kottas said. “It tends to be a feeder so we took it on,” she said, noting the LPN is often a stepping stone toward the ADN. The first LPN classes were offered in 2023-2024. Seven Pratt students started, even though they had to travel to Great Bend for classes while Barton searched for a nursing instructor. Christina Blanton was hired. Again, three students left before completing the year but 100% of Pratt and Barton LPN students passed the exam on the first attempt.
“We have four nursing instructors based in Pratt but we function as one unit,” Kottas said.
Director of Nursing Renae Skelton said the program covers a lot of geography beyond the two campuses. Students from Bucklin, nearly an hour’s drive, have come to the Pratt Campus.
“The expansion has been good for us,” Skelton added. Students now have clinical opportunities at Ascension Via Christi St. Teresa in Wichita.
Taking on the Practical Nursing program was a new challenge, she said.
“We thought Pratt was going to do PN and that didn’t materialize.” She also described it as a “feeder” program and indeed it contributes to the number of applicants for the ADN program. “Our students in that very class have been great recruiters.”
Pratt subsidizes Barton’s program in exchange for the teaching services. Barton President Dr. Marcus Garstecki told trustees he would be renegotiating the three-year contracts soon.
