Benchworks Expands Assessment and Impact Award into Nursing Education, Announces Winners

Springfield, MO. October 21, 2019 --  Skyfactor Benchworks, a Macmillan Learning Company that provides research-based program benchmarking and assessments to help colleges identify areas of improvement, announced today the winners of its first, annual Assessment and Impact Awards for Nursing Education. The award was created to highlight schools of nursing that are successfully using data to improve their programs, helping to retain students and developing more practice-ready nursing professionals.

Increasing the pipeline of practice-ready nurses is critical as the threat of a substantial nursing shortage persists. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of Registered Nurses (RN) positions is expected to grow 15%, from 2.9 million in 2016 to 3.4 million in 2026. The Bureau also projects that an additional 203,700 new RNs will be needed each year through 2026 to fill newly created positions and to replace retiring nurses. In addition to first-time pass rates on the national board exam, employer, student and alumni satisfaction are key indicators for quality nursing programs, which is why Macmillan Learning has partnered with the Association of American Colleges of Nursing (AACN) for two decades to offer benchmarking assessments that empower nursing administrators to better understand the program components that most significantly impact these important stakeholders. 

The four institutions selected to be the inaugural Assessment and Impact Award for Nursing were: Bloomfield College, Colorado Technical University, Rowan University and Seton Hall University. The winners were selected using Benchworks multi-step evaluation process that included an analysis of multi-year assessment data that identified programs that either had the best results or best increases in performance in areas like course interactions and quality of instruction, as well as interviews and with nursing program administrators by members of the Benchworks Analytics and Research Team. 

“With such a sustained demand for practice-ready nurses, the work that nursing programs are doing is critical. As the preferred program assessment solution for nursing education for more than 20 years, we’ve been fortunate to amass keen insights into the characteristics that improve student satisfaction and experience. The award recognizes colleges that are successfully using assessment data to improve programs benefit both students and local employers,” said Craig Bleyer, General Manager of Skyfactor. 

The Benchworks assessments are the most widely used programs in nursing education, and have been available for 20 years. The various Benchworks Nursing assessments are used by more than 250 nursing programs each year, and is one of more than 50 different assessments from Benchworks on topics important to college success, including housing, orientation, and student affairs and service. The survey includes questions about student happiness, safety, diversity and inclusion, facilities, costs, sense of community, and time management, among others. 

Assessment and Impact Award for Nursing winners were acknowledged during a luncheon at AACN’s Academic Nursing Leadership Conference held in Washington, DC, last weekend. 

To learn more about how assessment and benchmarking can help guide program initiatives, join this free webinar, “Seeing the Possibilities: How Benchmarking Can Improve Our Work”. 

About Skyfactor 

Formerly known as EBI, Skyfactor Benchworks is a Macmillan Learning company that provides research-based program assessments and benchmarking for a variety of Student Affairs programs, as well as Business Education, Engineering, Nursing, and Teacher Education. The robust analytics Benchworks provides empowers programs to identify areas of improvement for maximum impact on program success. Benchworks assessments are rooted in research and mapped to accreditation and professional standards.

About Macmillan Learning

Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best authors researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. Visit macmillanlearning.com, see us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or join our Macmillan Community.