BCC Students in Nursing Programs Maintain High Pass Rate for Licensure Exam

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PITTSFIELD, Mass —?Berkshire Community College (BCC) reports that its Practical Nursing (PN) students had a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the National Council Licensure  Examination (NCLEX) licensure exam in the 2023 calendar year, while Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) students had a 91.43 percent pass rate for first-time test takers. 
 
All 17 PN students passed, and 64 out of 70 ADN students passed. 
 
NCLEX uses computerized adaptive testing (CAT) technology to deliver the exam, ensuring a valid and reliable measurement of nursing competence. The passing standard for the NCLEX is the cut point at which the minimum ability is determined to require safe and effective practice nursing at the entry level. 
 
"Our nursing students continue to maintain impressively high pass rates, which are consistently on par or higher than the average pass rates statewide," said Lori Moon, BCC Dean of Nursing. "It's a competitive program, and our students work hard. I'm very proud of their accomplishments." 
 

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DA Provides Updates on 4 Pittsfield Summer Shootings

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— District Attorney Timothy Shugrue delivered updates on a string of gun violence incidents over the summer and said even one is too much.

"This summer was extremely upsetting to people living in Pittsfield and our entire Berkshire community. While we live in a safe community, it is always disheartening to hear these gunshots. In the past four years, there has been a remarkable reduction in gun violence," he said during a press conference at the Berkshire DA's office on Thursday. 

"Since January 2023, there has been a 62 percent reduction of validated shootings in the City of Pittsfield." 

There were four separate incidents involving gunfire in Pittsfield this past summer.   Some suspects were charged, and some are still being sought by police. 

On June 18, a person died after being shot in the area of Tyler Street and Pleasure Avenue, and another person was injured. Following an extensive investigation, the Pittsfield Police Department applied for and was granted an arrest warrant for Terry Martizna, wanted for murder. 

Shugrue reported that his office is working with various authorities, including federal, to secure Martizna's return to the Berkshires. He said he was involved the whole weekend of the incident after being "immediately" contacted by the PPD. 

"My office was on notice, and we continued to work with them throughout the night. I can tell you that they worked all night long; they never stopped working. I was really pleased with the amount of effort that was going into it, and by the next day, we had a pretty good clue of where we were going. But the amount of surveillance that they had to go through was incredible, and it was just commendable," he added. 

"The amount of support we got from the community, from the Pittsfield residents, and from the work that these officers put in all weekend long, they were able to identify certain locations where this individual was, and that continued all the way in through Monday morning. By that Saturday, I was informed that we had a suspect that we were just producing the probable cause reports, and that was all which led to the warrant coming out."

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