Graduates of The City University of New York passed the New York State nursing exam at a higher rate in 2008 than students from all other nursing schools in the state, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein announced today.
According to the New York State Education Department, exam pass rates for first-time test takers in 2008 for all CUNY schools was 86.5%. The total pass rate for students at all other nursing schools in New York State was 82.1%.
Additionally, CUNY has almost doubled the number of graduates of its nursing programs in the past five years. In 2007-08, 1,610 nursing students graduated from CUNY colleges, nearly twice the 844 who graduated in 2002-03. Thirteen CUNY schools offer nursing programs, ranging from LPN’s to Doctorates in Nursing Science.
The average annual income of 1997-2007 graduates currently working as licensed RNs is $73,747.
“With a continuing shortage of registered nurses in New York over the next several years, CUNY is dedicated to a large, culturally diverse pool of qualified nurses,” said Chancellor Goldstein. “Graduation from a respected CUNY nursing program represents their best chance to fulfill a cherished dream and establish a career in an essential profession.”
Government analysts project that more than 587,000 new nursing positions will be created through 2016 (a 23.5% increase), making nursing the nation’s top profession in terms of projected job growth. According to the New York State Center for Health Workforce Studies, there are over 400,000 health care jobs in New York City alone, representing 11% of all jobs. Registered nurses are the largest single occupation in the health sector, comprising 15% of all jobs in the healthcare industry.
Many CUNY nursing students have worked their way up the career ladder from jobs such as home care worker or nurse assistant. They come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and frequently live in the same urban neighborhoods as the patients they now serve.
CUNY graduates comprised 51% of Hispanic, 47% of Asian and 70% of black licensed RNs who graduated from New York State nursing programs from 1998 through 2004.
Workforce shortages have encouraged regional alliances among key stakeholders in the healthcare field. CUNY has developed a university-labor-management model of workforce development that includes partnerships with the healthcare industry and its unions. The continuum of CUNY nursing programs provides career ladder opportunities for workers employed in front-line positions. Over half of CUNY nursing graduates worked in healthcare before earning their initial RN degree, and close to half were employed in healthcare while enrolled in their initial RN degree program.
Bucking a worrisome trend of new nurses leaving the nursing field, over 90% of nursing graduates who earned their initial nursing degree from CUNY in the last 10 years and then received the RN license are currently working as a nurse—80% of them in hospitals.
Four CUNY colleges offer a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) certificate program—Bronx Community College, Hostos Community College, LaGuardia Community College, and Medgar Evers College.
Nine CUNY colleges offer an Associate of Science (AAS) degree in nursing—Borough of Manhattan Community College, Bronx Community College, Hostos Community College, Kingsborough Community College, LaGuardia Community College, Medgar Evers College, New York City College of Technology, the College of Staten Island, and Queensborough Community College.
Six offer the Bachelor of Science in nursing degree—Hunter College, Lehman College, Medgar Evers College, New York City College of Technology, the College of Staten Island, and York College.
Three offer the Master of Science in nursing degree, with various clinical specializations—Hunter College, Lehman College, and the College of Staten Island.
The CUNY Graduate Center offers the Doctorate in Nursing Science. For additional information, please visit http://web.gc.cuny.edu/ClinicalDoctoral/ns-overview.asp.
