Need your help - trying to change school policy

I went to a 2yr. ASN Degree College in South Georgia. They require a minimum of 74.5 each semester or you fail and you can only fail 2 times and drop two times during the 5 semester course. After that you can't take the program at that school anymore. We also had a calculation test from the 2nd- 5th semester with a required grade of 100. They gave 3 chances to take it. If you don't make a 100 by then, you fail that whole semester.

I recently graduated from an ADN program in which the college required a solid 80% in order to pass. This was the standard basicaly through all the nursing classes. the over-all sucess rate for graduates that pass the state boards is somewhere around 97% from this particular college. It is for that reason that I believe the required passing percentage for the nursing program is quite adequate.

I am part of a transition program (1 year) for LPNs, medics, and RTs. I am a medic. We have to achieve a 78% by the end of the semester to go on. If you fall below that, you are on academic probation which means you get an IEP done by the teacher (Individual Education Plan). We have to pass our med comp with a 100% each semester with 3 tries each. If you fail the first time, mandatory tutoring with drug dosage coach (a doctor on staff). We have clinicals like everyone else and we have to pass with 100% each semester (basically this is achieved with no med errors, not being late, etc.) If you fail an exam, mandatory test review with the instructor. Skills pass with 100% each time, one retake allowed. We also have NCLEX prep with ATI with a mandatory Level II required to pass to the next semester. We are given practice ATI all during the semester to do at home and I find it very beneficial.

Our grading scale is 78-83 (C), 84-89 (B), 90-100 (A). We also have online quizzes and discussions which are pretty easy to pass with a high score, but they ONLY apply to your overall grade if you have a 78% in the class at the end of the semester. So, you can make 100s on those all semester long, but if you don't have a 78 by the end, none of them count. They round only to the nearest 10th, i.e. 77.6 will become a 78; 77.59 will remain a 77%. Our NCLEX pass rate is 98% first try.

For those people who say lowering the standard means worse nurses...who are you to say that only A or B nurses will make good nurses? Do you think this is done in medical school??? If everyone in a program makes A's, the program is too easy. If everyone is making C's or failing, there is something wrong. I am a straight A student and always have been in my ADULT life As a young person, well, we won't go there! I am now 40 y/o, have a family, work FT, and go to school FT. I have quite a bit about responsibility, and about earning what you put in.

82% is rather high, I believe. But, to the person earlier who said it's all 'relative' is absolutely right. One person's 70% may be another's 80%.

For the person who said she didn't want an RN to take care of her who only knew 82% of the material...really? So it's okay to have an RN who knew 83% of the material? Do you want the RN who knew 100% of the material? Who is that? Is that you? Impressive if it is. You probably won't have an RN to take care of you.

It may not be the passing rate that is the problem. Is there enough support for students? Tutoring? Mandatory reviews? Good teachers? I think it's good what you are doing. I would try not to focus so much on the percentage, but on the whole picture of your program. Good luck!

First, I'd like to thank gamma for posting almost exactly whay was on my mind. With particular emphasis on "not being ready for nursing school" and the 50/50 responsibility of students and faculty.


To the OP: I know you were not looking for things like this, you were looking for stats. I'll give you the details of my school.

Used to be C+ to pass a nursing course (77-79). 2 years ago, our NCLEX rates were dismal, and almost every student who snuck through with a C+ Failed NCLEX on the first try. Our school just revised our curriculum (after over 20 years of it being the same), and raised our pass rate to a B (which is 80-84). Non nursing courses require a C to pass. Our new curriculum studetns have not sat for NCLEX yet, so only time will tell. We last about 10 in the first semester. We let our students retake one nursing course (basically, after you fail 2 nursing courses: either the same one twice, or two different ones) you are out of the program).

Unfortunatley, there is only one objective way to measure students progress/success, and that is exams. This is the way it's been forever, and it is unlikely to change.

Lowering the bar only sets up students for failure in the end.

Okay, so here's the scoop on my school:

Trinitas School of Nursing, NJ, Co-op program with Union County College, Assoc. in Science with a diploma in registered nursing. An NLN Center of Excellence (the first school ever in NJ, and the only 2 year program in the country).

You must have at least a 2.85 cumulative GPA to be invited to the program, and this GPA must be maintained throughout, with no grade lower than a C+ (75).

100% pass rate on the NCLEX every year. Up until this semester, about 30 students per year would graduate, out of an original 240 students (from the beginning of 5 nursing courses - 1 theory, 4 clinical). This year, we began our last nursing course with the most students ever - 80! We are 3 1/2 weeks from graduation, and still have about 60 students. HOWEVER: We have both a course final that is worth 20% of our final grade, as well as a cumulative exam which covers all 5 semesters of the nursing program that is worth 25% of our final grade. SO if you go into these exams with a borderline grade, or even a low B and fail them, you are at very high risk of failing the course, because SO MUCH rides on these last two exams.

We get ATI exams in our 3rd, 4th, and 5th semesters, which count as part of our overall course grade, so you must do well on them to keep your grade up.

Our course exams are absolute killers! You cannot even utilize "test-taking skills" on them, because the question asked is not the answer they are looking for, and ALL of the answer choices are right, so you really have to know your stuff and be able to play their "mind game".

We just took the NLN pre-NCLEX licensure exam, which was 141 questions, and I flew through it in like 45 minutes flat because it was SO EASY in comparison to the exams I am used to.

There is something to be said for having high standards, but with the nursing shortage, I truly feel that these programs make it almost impossible to make it through school. Instead of exams testing your knowledge about nursing skills, theory, etc..., they are more like IQ tests. In my program, we have lost some incredibly smart, compassionate, dedicated people who would make AMAZING nurses, and yet there are some real dum-dums still in the program - my guess is that they just "get lucky" on the exams, but if you ask them something that they SHOULD DEFINITELY KNOW BY NOW, THEY LOOK AT YOU LIKE YOU HAVE 12 HEADS! It ain't fair, but if there weren't high standards, even more dumb-as-toast people would get through. Personally that thought scares the heck out of me, because there are some really STUPID nurses out there that are a menace to society. I see it every day in clinical... No wonder the exams are so hard - they are trying to protect the public from stupidity and carelessness, and outright negligent nurses who neither care about what they do or what will happen to their patients because of it.

So, in my opinion: The higher the standards, the better. Bring it on! I will take whatever you throw at me and keep on smiling, because I know that in the end when I am walking across that stage to get my diploma, and when I get my license in the mail, and when I walk onto my first nursing job - that I will be the most prepared graduate nurse out there. It may sound snotty or stuck up, but that is just the way it is. My school is hard as he**, but they turn out top-notch nurses.

good luck to all!

I teach at LMH/Regis College School of Nursing- and we are the only NLN Center of Excellence in New England. BTW, there are only 14 colleges/universities in the country that have this designation. Since I've been teaching, we raised our pass score to 78. Final grade <78- you fail. Over 78- you pass. We have had very high 96-100% NCLEX pass rates among our grads. However, if a student does fail a course, they may repeat it once. If they fail a second time- they're out and have to petition to get back in. I think it's very fair. Some students who fail and go on to repeat are often stronger and more confident and generally go on to do very well. Hope this helps....

Our school required an 80!% avg in every class..no chance to retake class. Only option was to start the program all over again (for LPN in state of PA)

pass rates are not as arbitrary as you might think. The school may be required to have a higher rate in order to meet Board or state criteria. I think your energies would be better served trying to keep everyone at a higher rate and concentrating on being a success. You can always go back to this topic after you graduate.

For my school the grade scale is:

A - 92-100%
B - 85-91%
C- Don't even know because at this point you are out of the program.

I'd rather have a nurse that knows his/her stuff and passed school with high academic standards I think.

My school has a 98-100% pass rate over the past few years

Not true. Our school, Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston, Georgia, ADN Program has a pass rate for classes of 75% before you are dropped (with a possible option of retaking the following semester the class is offered) and our NCLEX pass rate has been 100% for many years. I do believe that 82% is a little high for the standards of dropping a potential RN from a program and believe that the students should seek to have it changed. Remember the old saying of...A "C" = RN. It is very true. I know many great nurses out there today who are practicing safely, competently, and with great confidence who didn't have to pass all of their courses with a "B" average. Good luck to you and all of your fellow students. I will pray your proposal is a success!