CPIT nursing students achieve 100% pass rate

For immediate release 22/9/11

CPIT nursing students achieve 100% pass rate

Volunteering post-earthquake has proved beneficial for CPIT’s newest nursing graduates. The School of Nursing is celebrating a 100 per cent pass rate across its programmes. This compares with national pass rate averages of 98.14 per cent for registered nurses, 85.71 per cent for enrolled nurses and 66.67% for long term care and rehabilitation.

Kaye Milligan, Programme Co-ordinator for Nursing at CPIT, believes volunteering after February’s earthquake gave students an insight into emergency and community care in addition to their regular practical programme placements. 180 CPIT nursing students volunteered in rest homes, hospital wards and the wider community.

The content for nursing programmes is generally 50 per cent practical, carried out over five to six working placements. The extra experience gained through volunteering gave CPIT students a unique advantage when it came to exam time.

CPIT’s nursing programmes had to be delivered in innovative ways this year. Students missed out on over a months’ worth of class time but the School of Nursing was able to bring programmes back quickly using classrooms at Lincoln University. “Students were relieved to be able to continue and have something to focus on,” Milligan said.

This year’s graduates have shown a commitment to staying in Christchurch and Milligan is excited to see some employed locally. They will fulfil vital roles in the rebuild of the Christchurch community including aged care and emergency care in the hospitals.

CPIT Nursing lecturer Rosemary Mitchell is proud of students for making the most of a challenging situation and using it as a learning experience. She credits the committed lecturers and excellent support services offered throughout CPIT with helping nursing students to succeed. She said that CPIT’s community attitude provided strength throughout the challenging year. “What makes CPIT stand out is that we work together to make the most of learning,” she said. She is delighted that the School of Nursing is consistently producing such high achieving graduates.

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