Does your school separate didactic classes from clinical?

Specialties Educators

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Specializes in Pediatric Heme/Onc and Pulmonary.

We are in the process of revising our BSN curriculum. Our theory/didactic courses are currently combined with a clinical component. Our dean would like us to separate our courses. We currently don't give a letter grade for the clinical portion. It is pass/fail. I'm interested in what other nursing schools are doing. Do you have separate didactic and clinical courses? Do you give a letter grade for clinical or is it pass/fail? How are pass/fail courses calculated when you have a student apply to your graduate program? We have heard that some schools consider a "pass" as a C so this could really affect a student's GPA when applying for graduate school. Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. If you could let me know what school you teach at I would appreciate it. We are doing a survey and I don't want to duplicate results.

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

Where I teach didactic and clinical courses are separate, although it's expected that they be taken at the same time. Clinical courses are graded S/F. S means satisfactory or better than C- quality. There are lists of things that must be accomplished in order to get an S. Clinical courses don't count toward grade average at all.

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With our new curriculum we went from pass/fail to giving grades. Students have to get a C or better to pass the course.

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Specializes in Pediatric Heme/Onc and Pulmonary.

What schools do you teach at?

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Specializes in ICU, Education.

Our clinical portion takes place during the same time frame as the didactic portion, but is separate in grade. Didactic is taught by one instructor to the entire cohort and letter graded (must receive >= 76%). Clinical for the entire cohort (ie. M/S one, Block 2) is divided between several instructors and is graded as pass/fail. If you fail the clinical you fail the entire class even if you scored 99% in didactic.

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

I teach at Indiana University.

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

Our clinical and didactic courses are combined. In the state of NC, our board dictates that clinical courses must be graded on a pass/fail basis (no letter grades). The student must pass both portions in order to receive credit for the course. If a student does not pass clinical, then the student will automatically fail the classroom portion (even if the student was making an "A" in the didactic course). Vice-versa also applies, in that the student will be required to repeat the clinical portion, even if he/she received a satisfactory grade. Send me a PM if you wish to know my nursing school.

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Specializes in Educator/ICU/ER.

We are seperating our diadactic and clinical grades. Our students were being counceled regarding theory grades and then ending up with an "A" or "B" in the class because we added the points for clinical to the theory. They now get to see what they have truely earned as a grade.

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Specializes in critical care, med/surg.

Where I teach part-time clinicals at, the pass/fail grade for clinicals is just that. However the clinical is tied into the corresponding didactic class (fundamentals, med/surg 1, 2) so if they made a C in Fundamentals then that is what is shown on their transcript. There are no separations as long as they pass clinicals. This is at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky.

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