HARLINGEN, Texas, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The National
Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), Texas Board of Nursing and Pearson VUE today
celebrated the opening of a Pearson Professional Center in
Harlingen, Texas. The test center,
located in the Bank of America building at 222 East Van Buren, will
serve nursing candidates from the surrounding communities as well
as other individuals taking high-stakes exams. State and local
public officials, faculty from local nursing programs, board
members and staff of the Texas
Board of Nursing, as well as staff from NCSBN attended the
dedication ceremony held June
19th.
"South Texas is an important
location in the preparation of future nurses, but many nursing
candidates have had to drive from as far away as Corpus Christi or San Antonio to take their nursing exam," said
Kathy Thomas, MN, RN, Executive Director, Texas Board of Nursing. "We're thrilled that
Pearson VUE is opening a center here, because it not only
underscores the importance of this region to the nursing
profession, it also brings greater convenience to the residents of
Rio Grande Valley."
The new center represents several years of work in the making.
The initiative started when NCSBN, in an effort to better serve
U.S. nursing communities, surveyed its member boards of nursing to
determine where there was need for a Pearson Professional Center to
administer the National Council Licensure Examinations (NCLEX). The
valley area of South Texas was
identified as one of the most underserved areas. Over the last five
years, this area has seen a steady increase in students graduating
from the local nursing programs. So, in conjunction with Pearson
VUE and the Texas Board of
Nursing, NCSBN chose Harlingen,
Texas, as the site for a new test center designed to serve
the local community of nursing programs and students.
"This was an important decision," said Casey Marks, Chief Operating Officer, NCSBN.
"Both NCSBN and Pearson VUE wanted to ensure that the location
chosen would maximize our ability to test nursing candidates. The
demand for licensed nurses continues to increase—not just in
South Texas, but everywhere. We're
confident that the growing number of nursing students in and around
Harlingen should keep this test
center busy for years to come."
"An important tenet of our test delivery model is having test
centers in the right locations," said Bob
Whelan, president and CEO of Pearson VUE. "With more than
260 Pearson Professional Centers globally, we pride ourselves on
providing exceptional coverage for NCLEX candidates. So, as we
learned of the need for nursing students in South Texas to have more convenient access to
testing, we agreed that adding a Pearson Professional Center in
Harlingen would not only benefit
those aspiring nurses but also the general population."
About NCSBN
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) is a
not-for-profit organization whose members include the boards of
nursing in the 50 states, the District of
Columbia and four U.S. territories — American Samoa, Guam, Northern
Mariana Islands and the Virgin
Islands. There are also seven associate members. NCSBN's
mission is to provide leadership to advance regulatory excellence
for public protection.
About the Texas Board of
Nursing
Formed in 1909, the mission of the Texas Board of Nursing is to protect and
promote the welfare of the people of Texas by ensuring that each person holding a
license as a nurse in the State of
Texas is competent to practice safely. The Board fulfills
its mission through the regulation of the practice of nursing and
the approval of nursing education programs.
About Pearson VUE
Pearson VUE (www.pearsonvue.com) is the global leader in
computer-based testing for information technology, academic,
government and professional testing programs around the world.
Pearson VUE provides a full suite of services from test development
to data management, and delivers exams through the world's most
comprehensive and secure network of test centers in 165 countries.
Pearson VUE is a business of Pearson (NYSE: PSO; LSE: PSON), the
international education and information company, whose businesses
include the Financial Times Group, Pearson Education and the
Penguin Group.
SOURCE Pearson VUE