MPCC nursing program receives Outstanding Technical Program award

The nursing program at Mid-Plains Community College has been honored with an Outstanding Technical Program award from the American Technical Education Association.

The recognition came Thursday afternoon during the 61st ATEA National Conference in Wichita, Kan.

The selection was based on the nursing program’s many accomplishments in 2023. Those included a 100 percent pass rate by MPCC’s Associate Degree Nursing students on their NCLEX-RN exams and a 100 percent pass rate on the NCLEX-PN exams by the Licensed Practical Nursing students.

The achievements marked the first time in Mid-Plains’ history that both ADN and LPN students had received a 100 percent pass rate in the same year. 

“As an employer, I look for well-educated and skilled nurses, which is exactly what MPCC produces,” said Linda Baldwin, chief nursing officer for Banner Health Ogallala Community Hospital in her endorsement letter of the MPCC nursing program for the ATEA award. “The new grads from this program are prepared with skills and knowledge that I have noted is far greater than from other nursing programs. The 2023 pass rate of 100 percent is a testament to the educators and the level of expectation they have for their students.”

Another factor that played a part in the ATEA selection was MPCC’s expansion of its Health and Science Center to meet an increased demand for more nurses and health care professionals throughout the college’s 18-county service area and beyond.

The expansion provided more space to train those professionals and included, among other amenities, a large, dividable nursing classroom, group study rooms, an EMS lab outfitted with an ambulance simulator, three nursing simulation rooms and an immersion room for training students in a variety of virtual reality simulated environments.

“Without MPCC, we would lose nursing students to larger cities,” said Tina Pate, chief nursing officer for Great Plains Health, in her endorsement of MPCC for the ATEA award. “While many community colleges will tout the same benefit of training local people to perform local jobs, the piece that sets Mid-Plains apart from other community colleges is their dedicated faculty. The faculty advocate for students, ensuring students graduate with the skills needed to professionally contribute to the nursing workforce.”

More information about the nursing program at Mid-Plains can be found on the college’s website at mpcc.edu.