S tudent success in a nursing pro- gram is a source of pride for all stakeholders including patients and families, employers, and the nurs- ing program faculty. The measure of student success addressed in most liter- ature is the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) passing rates. Unfortunately, it is possible to take the success for granted until the bubble breaks and student NCLEX passing rates drop. A spike in NCLEX failures forces the faculty to evaluate a multitude of variables including the quality of admis- sion applicants, grades in nursing courses, remediation and progression policies, use of standardized examinations at the course level and/or midprogram level, and an NCLEX simulation exit examination. Program Overview Our undergraduate nursing program is part of a small public liberal arts uni- versity located in the southeastern United States. Each academic year, the school admits 2 cohorts of students totaling approximately 80 students. The aver- age age of the students is 24 years, and 94% are women. Self-reported race composition is 1% Asian, 2% Hispanic, 5% African American, and 92% white. There is a block curriculum designed with courses according to specialty, for example, pediatrics, medical-surgical nursing, psychiatric, mental health nurs- ing, and obstetrics. The faculty began studying NCLEX student success in 2002 when, to their great dismay, an unexpected dip in the NCLEX passing rate occurred. The faculty were uncertain how to address the issue and make improvements. After the shock began to subside, the faculty started scrutinizing the litera- ture. They evaluated studies by Nibert et al 1,2 and Newman 3 and found pre- dicting NCLEX success to be possible. The faculty also started collecting and trending data at the program level and for individual courses. These activities became a catalyst in developing several evidence-based strategies. These strat- egies were developed in 3 committees: educational effectiveness, curriculum, and admission and progression. Imple- mentation began after approval by the faculty at large. Evidence-Based Strategies Implementing an NCLEX Preparation Course A new 1–semester-hour course, inte- grated clinical concepts, was imple- mented in spring of 2003 for seniors graduating that same semester and included the use of the Health Educa- tion Systems Inc (HESI) as an exit examination. Background information for the course development process was described by Frith et al. 4 The course has been continually modified using student feedback and exit NCLEX examination passing scores. Currently, students are mentored by the faculty with no more than an 8:1 student-to- faculty ratio. Nursing administrators have made the conscious choice of rotating and involving all course leaders to serve as student mentors. The NCLEX passing rate continues to be carefully monitored by members of the educational effective- ness and the curriculum committees. Adopting a Progression Policy A number of studies describe the use of progression policies to improve pro- gram outcomes. 5,6 After a careful review of the literature and much deliberation, the faculty voted to adopt a progression policy that required students to pass the NCLEX simulation exit examination to graduate from the university. The fac- ulty adopted a progression policy which included an exit examination cutoff score. Students who did not meet the passing score were delayed from graduating until they passed the exit examination. Initially, Nurse Educator Volume 33 & Number 3 & May/June 2008 109 Nurse Educator Nurse Educator Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 109-112 Copyright ! 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Nursing Program Assessment and Evaluation Evidence-Based Decision Making Improves Outcomes Jeanne Sewell, MSN, RN Flor Culpa-Bondal, MSN, RN Martha Colvin, PhD, RN The authors explore how an evidence-based decision-making process improved National Council Licensure Examination passing rates for a bachelor of science in nursing program. The process is one that may be applicable to other nursing programs despite differences in school mission, philosophy, and student population. The essential components of a nursing program that contribute to student success are examined. Lessons learned and opportunities for more comprehensive pertinent assessment methods are discussed. Authors’ Affiliations: Assistant Professors (Ms Sewell and Ms Culpa-Bondal); Professor and Chair (Dr Colvin), Division of Professional Nursing, Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, Georgia. Corresponding Author: Ms Sewell, School of Health Sciences, Georgia College & State University, Campus Box 64, Milledgeville, GA 31061 (jeanne.sewell@gcsu.edu). Copyright @ 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.