Educational outcomes and specialized accreditation

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Higher Education Assessment
• Healthcare Quality Assurance

Background:

• The accreditation of nursing education programs is intended to ensure quality and improve graduate performance.
• Standardized licensure examinations serve as a key outcome measure for nursing knowledge and competency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if accreditation status influences the performance of community college nursing graduates on licensure examinations.
• To assess the relationship between program accreditation and standardized nursing knowledge outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of licensure examination pass rates for graduates from accredited versus non-accredited nursing programs.
• Utilized data from all Maryland community college nursing programs (N=4114) from 1987 to 1992.

Main Results:

• Graduates from accredited nursing programs did not consistently outperform graduates from non-accredited programs.
• In one observed year, graduates from non-accredited programs showed a trend toward better performance.
• No significant performance advantage was found for graduates of accredited nursing programs.

Conclusions:

• Program accreditation may not be a definitive predictor of graduate success on nursing licensure exams.
• Further research is needed to explore factors influencing nursing graduate performance and the effectiveness of accreditation in quality assurance.