The average first-time pass rates on the national nursing certification test, the NCLEX-RN, for nursing graduates from the OBU School of Nursing consistently exceeds 90% as compared to the national rate of 79.91% and the Oklahoma rate of 78.67% in 2022. The OBU nursing graduates’ five-year average is 91.51% and is 92.11% for 2022. The NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses) is required for nursing graduates to successfully pass to be licensed as a Registered Nurse in the United States.
This is just one example of the quality of nursing graduates OBU consistently sends into the healthcare industry.
Even more important are the graduates who breathe life into those numbers. OBU Nursing alumna Abbie Richardson is a tremendous example.
After graduating from OBU in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Richardson was thrust into the global pandemic. (story continues below)
“I started as a brand-new nurse during COVID, and it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life,” Richardson said. “People were so sick, and I was devastated by loss every day. I thought back to simulation so often during that time because the patients in the simulation lab prepared me to take care of my real patients that desperately needed safe nursing care.”
She was a student, she was a nurse, and now she is back on Bison Hill training tomorrow’s nurses as an Instructor of Nursing and the Director of Nursing Simulation.
“Without the foundation that our faculty and simulation program gave me, I don’t think I could have fought through the Pandemic alongside my fellow nurses,” Richardson said. “That is why I returned as the simulation director at OBU.”
Home to this pace-setting program is the Jane E. and Nick K. Stavros Hall, a 31,600-square-foot nursing education facility.
Dr. Stephanie Parker, chair of the OBU School of Nursing, said, “We continue to educate future nurses to meet increasing healthcare needs in our communities and commit to equipping as many nursing students as possible. Our School of Nursing, with 71 years of history, does this with a cutting-edge program and state of the art simulation facility.” Stavros Hall offers a great environment where students interact with dedicated nursing faculty who integrate interactive simulation technology along with their clinical rotations to provide increased opportunities for learning.
In terms of cutting-edge training, OBU’s simulation suite alone, has six functioning hospital rooms. The program’s three standardized adult mannequins, birthing mother, and pediatric mannequins are the top-tier of high-fidelity simulators. They simulate the responses of a real patient, capable of breathing, talking, bleeding and reacting to medications. These display vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse, and respiration, preparing students for a full range of healthcare situations they will encounter as nurses. These mannequins are limitless in the disease processes they can portray, meaning faculty can place students in almost any nursing situation and expose them to more complex patient scenarios.
The OBU simulation lab is meant to function like a hospital, according to Richardson.
“This is where we, as faculty, see the lightbulbs go off and we get to watch them turn into compassionate, safe and caring nurses. I owe so much to our simulation program, and I am thrilled to have a front row seat to the student transformations that take place in our program, Richardson said.”
