Kaua‘i Community College nursing program among top in nation

University of Hawaiʻi community colleges – including Kaua‘i Community College – are doing nation-leading work to reduce the state’s critical healthcare worker shortage and meet the need for licensed practical nurses.

Three University of Hawaiʻi community colleges – Kaua‘i Community College, Kapi‘olani Community College in Honolulu and the University of Hawai‘i Maui College – had 100% of their practical nursing program students pass the National Council Licensure Examination on their first attempt in 2023.

According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, there were 47,552 first-time, US-educated practical nursing candidates taking the examination, with an overall pass rate of 86.67%.

“The 100% pass rates among all of the UH community colleges with active practical nursing programs demonstrate the tremendous value of these programs, the high-quality education that nursing faculty deliver, and indicate bright futures for their graduates,” said Laura Reichhardt, director of the Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing. “The practical nursing programs, and the students who graduate from them are supporting and sustaining a dwindling but much-needed workforce.”

The workforce shortage is well documented. In 2022, 211 out of 634 licensed practical nursing positions in Hawaiʻi (30%) were open, according to a report from the Healthcare Association of Hawai‘i.

Of the three programs, Kapiʻolani Community College had the most – 23 students – who took and passed the licensure exam on their first try. The University of Hawai‘i Maui College had 11 and Kauaʻi Community College had five.

The National Council Licensure Examination test results were announced at the March 7 meeting of the Hawaiʻi Board of Nursing.