Need your help - trying to change school policy

Fermin Hernandez, ADN, ASN, RN · Mar 29, 2009

Don't forget NCLEX pass rate if you are preparing a presentation to your nursing advisory board...

jeanette21 · Mar 29, 2009

82% is absurd. My BSN program requires a 77%.

CrystalShip · Mar 29, 2009

We are contemplating a clause that would require students who fall below a certain percentage (but above the cut off) to enroll in an NCLEX prep class. That way, students who are "at risk of failing" would have a better chance at passing and the school would maintain its rep for a high pass rate. Currently we've lost nearly half our class as have other previous classes. The NCLEX pass rate for the past two years is 100% but with only about 30 students taking it each year.

Thanks for the feedback. If you could leave your schools info though, that would be most appreciated.

truern · Mar 29, 2009

Seriously, why would you want to do that? Do you honestly think lowering standards is beneficial? The high standards are why your school has a high NCLEX pass rate.

J9G2008 · Mar 29, 2009

My school not only has a high percentage required to pass (80%) but they also changed the grading scale so that this represents a "C". I am fine with the percentage, but when someone has gotten an 85% in a class and this is recorded on transcripts as a C, it looks bad, because everyone else operates on the standard 4.0 scale.

CrystalShip · Mar 29, 2009

Because the percentage may be high but the numbers graduating and taking the test are low, we're in an economic crunch and there is a nursing shortage...I could go on. Quite a few of these students have gone on to succeed at other schools and will be fabulous nurses. Losing students costs the school money in lost tuition and the retention rate lends itself to bad publicity. Wouldn't you rather go to a school that has both a high retention AND a high NCLEX success rate? That would speak more highly of a program to me.

Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Mar 29, 2009

Guess it depends where u live, but here in the DC area, they have really cut back on the hiring of new RN graduates. at NVCC, our minimum pass is 78%, with a drug dosage exam each semester which requires a 90% to pass.

Jolie, BSN · Mar 29, 2009

Instead of petitioning to lower the passing standards, how about requesting student assistance programs such as test prep and tutoring?

I doubt that a reputable school would lower its passing score. That will, in the long run, lower the outside opinion of the program.

SpamiKicksAssRN · Mar 29, 2009

West Virginia State Community and Technical College Institute, WV 2 year Associates in Nursing requires an 80% (B) to be your final grade in the class. You can fall below during the class but you must bring it back up before the class ends. You get dropped if you fall below that. You can reenter the program if in one year but you must reapply and you can start where you left off. But you have to audit previous classes. Like if you fail med/surg 3 you must audit 1 and 2. ohh and you must maintain a 2.75 GPA at all times and make a 70% © in all prereq. classes. They also have a high success rate on Boards. Ohh and at the end of every class you have to take a corresponding ATI test and get atleast a tier 2. hope this helps

LaughingRN · Mar 29, 2009

Some food for thought.

It may not help you to question what other school's pass % is.

My school actually has a very low fail (60%) compared to yours, however the school purposely curves marks so that the average student achieves about a high 60 low 70. Does this mean that my University is easier than yours?

I don't know. I know that in my last year of BSN (year 4) we officially have lost 50% of our graduating class. That is a lot of students. I think about it.

I know that our calculation med test is 100% to pass with 3 attempts. Does that make our test easier or harder than yours? Or just different?

I kinda like to think about it like sizes for pants in a store, one store tells me I'm a 3/4 another a 1. They are the same size pant though.

Obviously you are still in the program and that's good! Keep up the hard work, and try not to compare schools....it's apples and oranges. Even with an 80% equivalent to an A in my school, only 3 students out of 400 made Dean's list this year.

Hopefully you understand what I'm trying to say...

CrystalShip · Mar 29, 2009

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm still looking for some solid numbers but I appreciate everyone's input. Yes, all schools are different, we're trying to make ours better. The change we're trying to implement isn't to make school "easier" its to hold teachers accountable for teaching (not just weeding out students) and to give students who may not initially test well a chance. We have to pass our med calculations test with 100%, do clinical lab check offs perfectly, attain a level 2 on ATI evaluations (two of them were given even before we had the class!) and maintain a 2.5 gpa. Losing 50% of every class isn't an efficient use of resources. Clearly there are other issues such as shortages of qualified nursing instructors but to maintain the status quo really isn't getting anyone anywhere so we're trying to at least make some suggestions. To do that we'd like to know what other schools are doing. As I said, I appreciate everyone's input! Just for the record so you all don't think I'm a whiney slacker, I'm not in danger of failing out and never have been. Thanks for your time!