dover business college fails whole class

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2011

I went to a for-profit LPN school. We were told from the very first day that there was an "exit exam" that we had to pass or we did not graduate. The exit exam was given in the last mod (comparable to a semester but just a bit longer) on the last day of school. It was considered the final exam for all the classes you took. I can't remember what the test was but I want to say it was the HESI. We needed a certain score. If you did not obtain that score, you were given remediation, help in the areas you did poorly in and you were then allowed to take the test again. If you passed, you graduated with the class. If you failed the 2nd time, you had to repeat the last mod of school. I don't recall hearing that anyone failed the exit exam the 2nd time.

Our school boasted a 100% pass rate on 1st time test takers. The exit exam was a way they made sure their pass rate remained there.

mama_d, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2011

Unfortunately you may be screwed, pardon the language.

Certainly if a majority cannot pass an exit exam, something is not right with the school. However, every single nursing school I've looked into...and there have been a ton, trying to figure out where to bridge for my RN...has a disclaimer that completion of the program does not guarantee that you'll be able to sit for boards.

I went to a for-profit for my LPN b/c I didn't know any better. They let anyone into the program regardless of ability (I'm talking about people who couldn't add basic fractions 6 months into the program despite doing remedial math three times), and just kept letting them retake classes over and over till they either gave up or made it to the end and couldn't pass the exit exam. They had to have known what they were doing, as they were on the edge of losing accredidation with the state board due to low pass rates. Only the best got to go throgh the program in one go and get permission to take boards...the rest were stuck on an insane gerbil wheel of classes/tests/repeat ad infinitum, racking up bigger and bigger student loans the whole time. Seriously, I met some of the stupidest people in my life there (there's just no way to be politically correct about it, sorry). I'm sure that they were banking on them being too dumb to realize what a waste of time, energy, and money it was. There were some who had been in the program for two years and only made it through the first three sets of classes; if you passed on the first try it took less than six months to get that far.

I'm not saying that you and your classmates were/are less intelligent, just giving an example of how henious for-profits can be. To take all comers with no standards and string them along for as much money as they're willing to put out is what I got from my stint at a for-profit...it just doesn't benefit them to have people who are able to fly through and pass on one go, and they'll manipulate it however they can to get the most out of you. I had a 4.0 and they tried to make me repeat an entire 8-week group of classes b/c of absences...I missed one clinical day b/c my son was having surgery, and they tried to say that I was absent a second day. I was, b/c the college was closed that day due to inclement weather. They couldn't bilk me for more money b/c of grades so they tried to come up with a bogus reason to.

Obviously my experiences left me a little bitter to say the least about for-profits, so that colors my opinion a little. Best wishes for you and your classmates in trying to work out a solution.

Altra, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2011

The NLN exam and HESI exam are commonly used by many nursing programs - LPN, diploma-RN, ADN/ASN-RN and BSN-RN to evaluate the readiness of about-to-graduate students to take NCLEX-PN or NCLEX-RN. This is not new.

Schools/colleges/universities vary widely on what they do with these results -- whether or not they use them as required, graded course content in a senior/capstone course, for example. That is their right. I'm perplexed by these threads that I see asserting that schools have some legal requirement to graduate students. They do not.

I suspect the OP's class will be offered some type of remediation.

caliotter3 · Sep 17, 2011

Around 20 years ago my class took NLN exit exams but our graduation was not dependent upon getting a certain score. That was a good thing, because almost all people taking the test failed it miserably. Unfortunate, but the school set the standards and it was up to the students to meet the standards. I doubt that the school will continue with this policy as it will quickly become known in the community and their 'business' will suffer for the news.

dancinglamb · Sep 17, 2011

Hi,
I'm currently a senior LPN student at dover business college. My pinning is October 22nd but today my class of ten took a NLN exit exam and not one of us passed. We were told an 85 percent was needed to pass and it has supposedly been like this since 2008. But we were also told this exam was harder than last years. All of us have gotten grades ranging from 80 to 84. Please can someone from previous classes tell me what the requirement was for there NLN. We as a group have tried to contact NLN and the board of nursing and have only been told the school sets the standards. Please someone help us out!

Something similar happened where I went to school, although for an AAS-RN program. We were all under the assumption that we needed to hit a 75 on the NLN, only to be told that it had to be a 90 after we completed the test. There were several students that were in the high 80s and we fought it.

There are two pages on the NLN site that were helpful:

http://www.nln.org/testingservices/son/ts_son_testPolProc.htm

http://www.nln.org/testingservices/son/ts_son_scoreReport.htm

But most important, was the Student Handbook, which we were all required to sign when we started the Nursing Program. This was considered an actual contractual agreement -- we couldn't stay in the program unless we agreed to all of it. In it, there was a specific guideline stating that we had to pass whatever exit test the faculty chose (they keep it a surprise -- could be HESI, NLN, ATI, etc.). And whatever the passing grade we needed to meet would have to be in keeping with the standards of the SCHOOL.

So, the big question is, what is the minimum passing grade at Dover and do you have it in writing?

Ultimately, the school had to flip on their '90 is passing' stance and allowed probably about 10-12 students through without having to re-test. Needless to say, they probably changed their Nursing Handbook and won't be using the NLN after our class.

Best of luck to you.

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Sep 17, 2011

We had them in the early-mid 80s when I was in school. You had to pass them in order to graduate. I did not go to a for-profit school.

yup, ditto. Only to the best of my recollection, no one in my class failed. We began with 90 students. At the end there were 32 of us left and all 32 of us passed the exam, and boards. I think they were very conscious of weeding people out along the way instead of waiting to the end, lol.

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Sep 18, 2011

What really ticks me off about this thread is the fact the school is using the exam as a determining factor as to whether or not students graduate. Our school uses ATI and it is highly suggested by ATI to not use the assessment as a means of passing or failing students. Rather, the assessment should be used to determine student's areas of strengths and weaknesses so that they can adequately prepare themselves to sit for NCLEX.

A school's performance should be based upon first-time pass rates and student retention rates. This will put a stop to schools from failing marginal students AND reduce unnecessary stress on the nursing students, who without additional stress may perform better. It has been my experience that straight A students are often not as clinically competent as those who are not straight A students. As always, there are exceptions. I think nursing programs should incorporate clinical exams that weigh equally to written exams. I am sure we will see significant differences in competencies.

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Sep 18, 2011

Well I wouldn't get as upset as all that, lol. I assume the students knew all along they were going to have to take this exam and that it wasn't sprung on them a the last minute... I don't see maleficence on the school's part, but I do see what is apparently some substandard education.

WillowNMe · Sep 18, 2011

Same thing happened at my school, but with a different test. We had 82 graduates, only 20 some passed. There are some who have not be able to get their grades released to take NCLEX, and we graduated in May. I passed the second time.

Lifeofanurse · Sep 18, 2011

I don't believe in these predictor type tests. I did by the way do very well on my exit exam but I still think it's a way to keep those who may damage a schools pass rate on their Nclex stats from taking it. A school can say "we have a 99% pass rate on the nclex" but what they don't say is that they began with 60 students. Half of which didn't even make it to take the exit exam. the 30 who did, say 10 passed...well as long as those 10, the ONLY 10 eligible to take the Nclex...passes it they can still say they have a 100% pass rate. It's based on number of students eligible to take the nclex and how many of those pass it.

I can say that having taken the exit Hesi...and the Nclex-PN. they are NOTHING alike. I would say it's good practice but surely not a predictor considering that my Hesi was very concentrated on just a few areas of study..it was far from getting a broad spectrum of your basic knowledge.

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Sep 18, 2011

My grad school claims they have 100% pass rate on all the NP board exams. I have always wanted to ask if this means on the first attempt, lol. Statistically speaking, I doubt it.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Sep 18, 2011

Our school used the NLN and HESI but it did not affect our grades until last semester and it was a very very small fraction of our grade. They used the test to just see how we were progressing and if someone didn't do well on them they did not keep them from graduating.

My school has had a consist 98-100% NCLEX pass rate on the first attempt for the past 2.5 years now.