Above: MGCCC nursing student Zully Rodriguez practices her skills at the college’s Healthcare Simulation Center in Gulfport.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Nursing program has been ranked as one of the top five registered nursing programs in the state. The programs were rated by RegisteredNursing.org.

“Our nursing program is challenging with high standards and expectations,” said Dr. Joan Hendrix, dean of Nursing and Allied Health, “Students know the rigor is important, as are the clinical rotations, both preparing our graduates with the competences required to pass the national exam on the first attempt and care for patients in a confident and caring way. We are very proud of what we are accomplishing at Gulf Coast with this program and all of our other Allied Health programs.”

Hendrix said the program, which currently has more than 425 students, is expected to grow to over 700 students when the new Nursing and Simulation Center at Tradition welcomes its first class in January of 2018. “Nurses are always in demand and we want to make sure the hospitals and clinics in South Mississippi have safe and competent caregivers,” she said. “Our programs work very closely with industry partners to ensure we are meeting their needs with our training.  And our students know they can get good jobs because the MGCCC reputation means something.”

Mississippi’s 2016 National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) scores for practical nursing (PN) and registered nursing (RN) students were recently released, with MGCCC receiving a 94 percent pass rate for RNs and 100 percent for PNs. All boards of nursing in states and territories of the United States require candidates to pass this exam for licensure

In the RegisteredNursing.org ranking, nursing programs in the state were assessed on several factors, including the NCLEX pass rate, which represent how well a program supports students towards licensure and beyond. Click here for more information about the methodology.