Initiative Category: Nursing
For an unprecedented fifth time in six years, Trinity nursing graduates have achieved a perfect first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam. This success for Trinity’s top-ranked program represents the highest six-year NCLEX average of any BSN or ADN program in Illinois.
According to Nursing Department Chair Tina Decker ‘06, D.N.P., “This year’s 100% pass rate is especially significant with the challenging way the Class of 2020’s last semester ended. In addition, there was a delay in when students were able to take the NCLEX due to COVID closing testing sites. We are so proud of the graduates for all they overcame to earn this 100% pass rate.”
According to Kayla Kamp ‘20, Trinity gave her the knowledge and skills she needed to not just pass the NCLEX, but to immediately begin caring for patients in the midst of COVID-19. “Graduating in 2020 allowed me to really be thrown head first into nursing and helped me realize how prepared Trinity made me,” she said. “Learning that the NCLEX was going to so much shorter than it has been in previous years was nerve-wracking because there was less room for error, but at the same time, I was confident in what we learned at school and the study tools that were given to me–as much as I may not have liked them at the time!”
While Kamp never pictured starting her nursing career in the middle of a pandemic when she was little and dreamed of being a nurse, the situation has helped her realize the impact can have, especially Christian nurses. “Although I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what 2020 would bring, I think what I learned at Trinity was about as close as I could get to being ready to be a nurse in a pandemic!” she said.
The 100% pass rate isn’t the only reason for celebration, as Trinity unveiled renovated nursing facilities this fall. Trinity’s BSN students can now take advantage of state-of-the-art spaces that include:
- The DeJong Simulation Lab featuring three high-fidelity simulators, which now includes an observation room;
- The Veenstra Lobby, which provides a comfortable, flexible space for students to study, relax, and work together; and
- The Trinity Alumni Nursing Association (TANA) Lab, which offers virtual conferencing technology and space for clinical group meetings and small classroom gathering.
Click here for a tour of the newly updated facilities.
The NCLEX-RN exams are administered by NCSBN, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, through which boards of nursing act and counsel together to provide regulatory excellence for public health, safety, and welfare. The exam is taken after the student graduates from a bachelor’s degree-granting nursing program.
Trinity’s nursing program, which is ranked as the best BSN programs in Illinois by RegisteredNursing.org, is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Click here to learn more about Trinity’s nursing program.
Continuing a years – long tradition of excellence and recognition, Trinity Christian College has been named among the “Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report for 2021. Trinity was ranked 21st among Midwestern regional colleges in this year’s survey. Trinity was also named a “Best Value” college and a “Top Performer on Social Mobility.”
“At Trinity Christian College, our community is focused on providing a rigorous, life-changing education, and our graduates go on to find success in their careers and vocations,” said Trinity’s President Kurt D. Dykstra. “We are pleased that U.S. News & World Report has once again recognized how Trinity prepares our students to change the world.”
Said Provost Aaron J. Kuecker, Ph.D., “We are proud of the excellent academic programs that are supported by Trinity’s world class faculty. Rankings like these are a recognition of the top quality, whole-person vision of education that we pursue at Trinity.”
Trinity is frequently recognized for its high academic standards. The College’s honors include being named a “College of Distinction,” a “Best BSN Program in Illinois,” and a “National Strength and Conditioning Association Education Recognition Program,” among others. Trinity, which is a university partner with 1871, the world’s top university-affiliated startup incubator located in downtown Chicago, also has a world-class business department that recently led the State of Illinois with both the highest pass rates and average scores on the most recent certified public accounting (CPA) exam. The Trinity Athletics Department was also recently listed among the Champions of Character Five-Star institutions by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
The U.S. News rankings are based on qualitative and quantitative information in several categories, including peer assessments, graduation rates, social mobility, and faculty information. The “Best Value” ranking is determined by a school’s academic quality and the net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. The “Social Mobility” ranking is based on how successful a college is at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants.
Nursing has always been a demanding profession, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the pressure.
Associate Professor of Nursing and Department Chair Tina Decker ’06, DNP, recently talked with the Illinois Association of Colleges of Nursing (IACN) about how the expectations and requirements of nurses have changed and how nurses can adapt.
“I would dare say every nurse has been affected by the pandemic,” Decker said. “Even just trying to keep up to date with the newest guidelines, and verify actual versus fake information can be mentally, spiritually, and emotionally draining.”
Click here to read the entire interview.
Trinity is a member of IACN, which strives to advance excellence in baccalaureate and graduate nursing education in service to the public.
Trinity’s Nursing Department excels at educating nurses who are prepared academically and clinically to serve with care and compassion. Our department is regularly ranked among the best in Illinois and consistently has a 100% first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam.
And now, thanks to the faithful generosity of two dedicated families, Trinity’s nursing students will have state-of-the-art facilities this fall, following extensive renovations that are currently underway.
According to Nursing Department Chair Tina Decker ‘06, D.N.P., the entire first floor of the Classroom Building will be reconfigured to include an additional new simulation lab, observation room, and a welcome center/study space for nursing students.
“We’re absolutely excited about the renovations,” said Decker. “We will now have a defined area on campus for studying and learning in a communal approach.”
The observation room will also greatly improve the educational experience for nursing students, said Decker. “The new observation room looks directly into the simulation lab and allows for a more immersive experience for students.”
The first-floor conference room is also being upgraded, she said. “We will have a dedicated space for clinical meetings.”
This project was made possible with generous support from two families committed to our department. “The hope of the Nursing Department is to use this generosity to really give back,” said Decker. “We will be able to provide the best possible education and experience to our students as they work to become excellent nurses.”
Trinity is pleased to announce that our Nursing Program has once again been recognized among the best in the state!
According to RN to BSN, Illinois is a prime state to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in and practice as a nursing professional, and Trinity was ranked second among all Illinois BSN programs.
The ranking noted the hands-on experience and simulation labs that Trinity nursing students have access to.
For four of the last five years, Trinity’s BSN graduates have scored a 100% first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam, the highest five-year NCLEX average of any BSN or ADN program in Illinois.
The baccalaureate degree in nursing at Trinity Christian College is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Trinity’s Nursing program has been recognized as a 2019-20 “College of Distinction.” The program was honored for its exemplary commitment to the four distinctions identified by the Colleges of Distinction organization: engaged students; great teaching; vibrant community; and successful outcomes.
Along with the Nursing program, Trinity overall was named a College of Distinction. Trinity was also recognized in several other areas, including: a Christian College of Distinction; Education College of Distinction; and Business College of Distinction.
Colleges of Distinction was founded on the premise that there are hundreds of remarkable colleges across the United States, each with a unique strength to offer the next generation of college-bound students.
–May 6, 2019
Thanks to the faithful generosity of two dedicated donor families, Trinity will be able to grow our nursing program facilities and enrollment for the future.
“Trinity has been blessed by two significant gifts from the family of George and Agnes DeJong and another donor family who wishes to remain anonymous. Both families have been touched by past interactions with Trinity’s nursing program,” said Rick Van Dyken ’83, Vice President for Advancement. “We are grateful that they have felt the call to give back to today’s students, and to those who will carry on Trinity’s tradition of nursing with Christian excellence.”
The expansion is scheduled to be completed next summer, in time for the beginning of Fall 2020 classes. Under the nursing program expansion plan, the entire first floor of the Classroom Building will be reconfigured to include an additional new simulation lab, observation room, and a welcome center/study space for nursing students.
“These gifts will allow us to add critical lab space to be able to expand the use of simulation for hands-on experience, and provide new areas for interaction between students and faculty,” said Nursing Department Chair and Associate Professor of Nursing Tina Decker, D.N.P. “At Trinity, we focus on preparing our nurses for a world that needs them, and the nursing program expansion will allow us to grow our tradition of Christian nurses.”
Trinity’s nursing program, which is ranked among the top BSN program in Illinois by RegisteredNursing.org, is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. For three of the last four years, 100% of Trinity BSN graduates have passed the NCLEX-RN exam the first time they have taken it. Learn more about Trinity’s Nursing Program here.
–Aug. 29, 2018
When Trinity’s nursing students receive their degrees, they are prepared for a world that needs them. Once again, Trinity alums continued their perfect first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam. This success represents the third time in four years that the College is celebrating a 100% pass rate.
“The nursing faculty at Trinity strive to help prepare students to be outstanding hands-on nurses, but recognize for that to happen graduates must first pass the NCLEX examination for licensure,” said Nursing Department Chair Tina Decker, D.N.P. “With this exam being so important, the department strategically designs content review and testing preparation throughout the curriculum so that when students graduate we can confidently say, ‘You are ready!’
“We are so proud that all of the hard work of the students and faculty from 2018 has resulted in the best possible outcome of 100% of the graduates passing the NCLEX on their first attempt, and a wonderful new batch of BSN-prepared RNs can go out into the world to give top-notch patient care,” she said.
The exams are administered by NCSBN, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, through which boards of nursing act and counsel together to provide regulatory excellence for public health, safety, and welfare. The exam is taken after the student graduates from a bachelor’s degree-granting nursing program.
Trinity’s nursing program, which is ranked the top BSN program in Illinois by RegisteredNursing.org, is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Click here to learn more about Trinity’s nursing program.
–Dec. 27, 2018
Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Nursing Autumn Mels ‘12, who has been named a 2019 Illinois Nurse Educator Fellow. The fellowship, a program of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Nursing Workforce Center Advisory Board, is designed to promote excellence in nursing education.
“I feel completely honored to have been granted this opportunity to be a 2019 Illinois Nurse Educator Fellow,” said Mels. “I am looking forward to the variety of different learning opportunities that lie ahead and the impact it will make on myself, our faculty, students, and future patients.”
Mels said that Associate Professor of Nursing and Department Chair Tina Decker, D.N.P., encouraged her to apply for the fellowship and wrote a recommendation letter for the yearlong program.
“Over the next year, I will be spending time partaking in a variety of different opportunities that will improve my bedside nursing, my role as a professional nurse educator, and, in turn, our students,” said Mels. That could include attending several conferences, participating in continuing education courses, and work towards receiving her certification as a nurse educator.
“The conferences are geared towards two things that I have a passion for–nursing education and obstetric nursing,” she said. The first conference is the National Nurse Educators Summit, which will be held in Savannah, Ga., March 31-April 3. “This conference is put together by ATI, which is a program we utilize to a great extent in our nursing program here at Trinity,” said Mels. “At this conference, I will learn how to develop as a professional and explore different teaching strategies and evaluation methods, which will help to improve course/program outcomes at Trinity.”
The second conference is sponsored by the Association of Women’s Health & Neonatal Nursing and will take place in June in Atlanta. “As a member of this professional organization, an obstetric bedside nurse, and women’s health educator, this convention will help to inspire and improve education related to care of women and neonates,” she said.
As part of the fellowship, Mels will report back to the State of Illinois, as well as sharing her knowledge with colleagues in Trinity’s Nursing Department. “This fellowship truly has a domino effect, in that the knowledge I gain from these experiences will have an impact on the care I provide to my patients, the educational strategies I may then share with the nursing department, the educational and clinical experiences I provide my students with, and then the effects the students have on their future patients,” said Mels. “I firmly believe this opportunity will help me advance my knowledge and skills as a professional nurse educator, which will improve my abilities in educating our future nurses.”
Trinity’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program, which has had a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam for three of the last four years, prepares graduates in all areas of clinical nursing with a Christian perspective.
Studying nursing is not just about books and clinicals, but it also is about being an advocate! The Trinity nursing program visited Capitol Hill as part of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing political action day.