Hello all! I am in a predicament and am not sure what to do. I graduated this month with my BSN. Now my college is forcing my class to take further NCLEX preparation and has told us they will not send my affidavit of graduation (AOG) to the BON until we do so and the earliest they will send it is in June. This new "requirement" was sprung on us right before graduation and not in the School handbook. In previous documents I have from the school, the college was supposed to send our AOG the next business day after graduating.
I passed the HESI exit exam as required... I really wanted to take the NCLEX at the end of this month and am furious that they would do this to their students. Their past published 5 years of NCLEX pass rates have been at or above the necessary 80%, so I'm unsure what the issue is.
Has anyone had a similar experience and if so what did you do? Does anyone have any recommendations?
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Unbelievable and really sad that a majority of us feel it is best to just comply. I can not believe that is even legal.
I'm with Jules on this one. Sounds like a blatant cash grab. Not to mention bait-and-switch. Don't they trust their own program that their grads can't pass NCLEX? I can't believe all the shenanigans going on out there and people thinking they should just go along.
That's exactly what I thought too. And sadly I feel that it says a lot about us as nurses. Just comply, because there's nothing you can do about it... (Perhaps working in hospitals where many of us feel powerless has left us drained of the will to fight? :-/ )
My advice: don't comply if you know it's wrong! Stand up for yourself. Make the points you made here regarding the student handbook. If you have documents that clearly state that you would receive your AOG the next business day, bring those up. Ask why students weren't made aware of this change earlier. Demand answers and keep the school accountable. (And keep written records!) Do this all in a friendly, matter-of-fact manner, and take it from there. No need to jump to lawyers if they say you're right. We as nurses tend to be great for advocating for our patients, but often forget to look out for ourselves. Nurses must start standing up for ourselves more often...so why not start now? :) Good luck to you!
Thank you so much for your inspirational post! You make great points.
Take the course, take your license and get an awesome job.
This is my experience and not legal advice (it was painful experience too):
Usually if you are within 1 year of being at an institution you can lodge a complaint with your State's governing board. You can complain to you Board of Nursing too but holding up of transcripts, proof of attendance and breaching agreements with students is not really their problem.
Make certain you have followed you CON complaint process to the letter. It will be online. If you do not do this I guarantee you will have zero recourse because somewhere there is a document that you signed saying you had to do that first.
Use professional and respectful language when writing your complaints and know what result you want. 1) money 2) apology 3) whatever....
I bet money your school had unsatisfactory NCLEX results and your BON spanked them recently.
Good luck and go rock nursing...YAY you graduated!!!
Thank you!! Unfortunately it's not just a short course (if it were I would probably just knock it out) ... its a 2 week long submission of daily 75 Qs along with proof of remediation, 75-100 question test every other day (both have to be within passing grades- we retake it until we get the desired scores), then another (that makes 3- we had two prep NCLEX prep reviews four days each) four day review, followed by 2 more (we had a total of 4 during the semester) readiness tests. I appreciate your great advice:)
Depending upon which state you live in a college may change the requirements and most colleges have the following verbiage
complete their education with a minimum of disruption.â€...it is something akin to "other duties as assigned" if you will for all us nurses who know this all too well. I agree with what is posted here but again you would need to contact your state department of "College education" to find out if they can do this...by the time it is researched something tells me you will have taken the class. I would however send the college the bill for my class (again not sure how legal). I suspect colleges can do this if it is not a significant change the question is this a significant change or an enhancement for graduation?
It's not just a class it's a month long submission of assignments, then a class, and two readiness tests. I have not received any of this in writing (other than a one page checklist of tests) unfortunately, which further adds to my suspicion that the school is trying to cover themselves. So I am unsure since I already walked across the stage during graduation.
Would the diploma and transcripts from your school not be proof of your graduation from an accredited nursing program? I mean even if they withhold the affidavit, you HAVE already graduated -- and schools don't graduate students who have not met the requirements of said graduation. And as far as I'm aware, you have the right to obtain your transcripts.
Personally I would be VERY unwilling to spend my time and money on a class that I don't require. In this case I would consider legal advice, perhaps even check TAANA for affiliated RN/JDs in my area (since the issue involves the BON) -- and contact the BON myself about my valid proof of graduation.
I would need to be convinced by someone other than this school, which is clearly trying to fix that lousy pass rate, that I really needed to do it. I am not a lawyer, but in my experience with schools the graduation requirements are clearly communicated from the beginning. NOT weeks/months before graduation, and NOT things to be done AFTER graduation.
Most schools require you to do an NCLEX prep class. Just do it.
Uh. No they do not. The NCLEX prep that the OP had to take is the HESI. Requiring someone to take an ADDITIONAL prep class POST GRADUATION and WITHHOLDING the transcripts should be (and I would recommend OP to take a look at the BON) against regulations.
edit: People who are saying this is "normal" are completely wrong. The NCLEX prep = HESI. You did not have HESI 20 years ago. Some schools require ATI. Others require HESI. Some require Kaplan.
My school required an NCLEX prep course BUT we knew about this requirement from day one of semester one, and it was only a 3 day course. And yes we did have to pay for it, $425. I know a lot of other people are saying just do it and get it over with, but honestly if it were me I would speak up. If they were going to do this they should have given you advance notice, and if it is not in the handbook, they cannot force you to do it. If it's not in the handbook and they are still trying to withhold proof of graduation I would take legal action. If you know your grades and you know you met the requirements for graduation, then what does it matter if they get upset over you expecting them to have some standards and do the right thing? They can't keep you from graduating if you've already met all the requirements.
Our school is requiring us to do the Hurst review which is $350 out of pocket. However we found out in advance and we have an option to use financial aid. Good luck!
OP, you come across as articulate and well prepared. Part of me wants to tell you to use those skills to reach out to the Powers that Be in advocacy and call your skool out on this BS. Part of me worries how it could affect your future.
I graduated in 2014 - we had to pass the ATI predictor with 95% or above; ATI was built in to the program from day 1. Then, if you didn't meet that benchmark, you were required to take Kaplan, Hurst, or ATI Live Review before they would issue your degree. The school offset most of the cost of that review for the few students who needed to go that route. We had 100% first time pass rate for NCLEX. The difference was, all this was spelled out way in advance. The other difference was they actual withheld the degree - passing the predictor was passing the program.
I'm with the other posters who are saying this is a last ditch attempt on the school's part to make right with the board for their poor pass rates. I'm so sorry you're going through this!! It sounds criminal. If it's not, it should be. Hang in there.
TriciaJ, RN
4,328 Posts
I'm with Jules on this one. Sounds like a blatant cash grab. Not to mention bait-and-switch. Don't they trust their own program that their grads can't pass NCLEX? I can't believe all the shenanigans going on out there and people thinking they should just go along.