<p>hmm, this came out on Mar-15th i believe. some changes since previous rankings in 2007.</p>
<p>Best</a> Nursing Programs | Top Nursing Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools</p>
<p>Aaargh… I find this so frustrating. Why can’t USWR be more user friendly? </p>
<p>Reading the fine print, it says that the nursing schools rankings are “based solely on the results of peer assessment”. This to me is very unreliable. There were 467 nursing schools ranked (and only graduate programs, no undergrad). How many other schools can a faculty member at one school really know about? How much of their info is based on concrete criteria and not just reputation? Reputation and rankings tend to enforce each other, quickly leaving objective criteria behind.</p>
<p>For the graduate specialties (nurse anesthetist, nurse-midwife, etc.), the rankings seem even shakier. “Educators at peer nursing institutions” were told to vote for up to 10 programs in a certain specialty that they considered excellent. “Schools with the most votes are listed”. Dear heaven that sounds like a popularity contest! Were these peers allowed to vote for their own institution? If so, what if they only cast that one vote to tip the odds of their institutions being a winner? They don’t tell us, so we don’t know. There were only 38 schools surveyed for Nurse Midwifery. A few people withholding votes strategically could definitely effect the results.</p>
<p>And my final vent… “Respondents rated the academic quality of programs on a 5-point scale: outstanding (5), strong (4), good (3), adequate (2), or marginal (1).” What they then show is the final score - from 2.0 to 4.6. The ranking is based on this number so if you received a 3.4 you are ranked #79 and if you received a 3.3 you are ranked #99 because there are so many damn ties! </p>
<p>Why not just show the 3.3 or 3.4? And what is this number based on anyway? “Rated the academic quality of programs…” was there more than one factor that made up this score? Were people (unbelievably!) just asked to rate other institutions from 1 - 5? </p>
<p>It boggles my mind that their methodology is so shaky. I wish they could at least be like Consumer Reports and show the little red and black circles, letting us know how well something performs in different areas. Oh, but then they might have to do some actual research.</p>
<p>I agree. It makes little sense that they can’t come up with valid, objective criteria. The idea of sing the little red and black circles is wonderful, especially to rank the different tracks for the MS programs. UCONN just issued an article in their alumni magazine that mentioned an increased trend for doctorates instead of MS in nursing too. As someone who is just learning about this field because of D’s commitment to it, I find it all very confusing.</p>