Mom needs advice please!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello,

Any advice would be helpful. My daughter is 17 years old and was homeschooled. She went ahead and took her GED and did well. She has wanted to be a nurse for many many years. She was unable at this age to enter an RN program and to be honest as her parent did I feel she was ready. We instead allowed her to enter a LPN program. There were 3 in our area to choose from. We decided to choose the smaller program feeling she would be better off. I wish I had done my homework on the programs but I had no idea each had its own rules. My husband and I are paying cash for her program. This has been hard but we do whatever it takes to help our children. The first payment was 2500.00 dollars. We have another payment due in December and the last one in June. I felt the need to explain all of this before I explained the problem. Our daughter Laura performs well on fill in the blank tests but struggles with Multiple Choice. She said something happens to her and she just goes blank. She knows the material believe me. She has pulled all A's on the fill in the blank but pulled low 70's on the Multiple Choice. Passing is 75. What we found out after we had enrolled and paid was that this particular program will expel you after the fail of the 6th exam. It does not matter if you got all A's in the unit these are not averaged in its only the final exam that counts and these are multiple choice. I found out after the fact that another program in the area does not kick you out but works with you. They also average ALL your grades in the unit so even if you score below on a final your quizzes and tests can pull your average right back up. My daughter asked for help in her present school and was told to buy a book. I am so discouraged for her. She would be a wonderful nurse. My husband and I will be out the 2500.00 if we take her out of the program but the next payment is due in December. She could get to a month before graduation and fail the final and be gone. We don't know what to do??? She has been in school for 6 weeks and right now carries and average of 86. But the MC tests pull her down. She has failed one exam with a 73(only missed it by 2 pts) and so she has one strike. If she fails 5 more she is gone. What do you suggest?

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Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

See id her school offers tutoring in test taking skills. If not at her school then check out some of the tutoring programs like Sylvan etc.

Good luck to her.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I suggest you or her find help such as a tutor or something--don't rely on the school to do it, they get thier money either way.

The NCLEX that she will have to pass is mostly multiple choice, she needs to work on multiple choice questions until she figures out what the problem is. There are several online tests related to the LPN course. Even if she goes through the other program she will not get her license unless she passes the NCLEX.

It would be good for her to practice, practice, practice multiple choice tests at home until she feels comfortable. Usually there are 4 answers--and usually you can almost immediatly narrow the answer down to two choices and go from there--it helped me to do it this way.

Best of luck to your daughter!

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We can not afford tutors. And she has asked for help and they told her to buy a book. I do have a book ordered for her. It just baffels me as to how schools can vary so much. The school that she is in now bases all their weight on finals and I found out has about 50 % grad rate but the other school takes all tests into consideration and has a 99 % grad rate. I wish I had dug deeper. I know she has to take a State Exam but there are plenty of online prep courses and books for that and she can retake it. I had just heard that it took a women 5 times to pass. Why do programs vary so much?

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Specializes in Case Management, Home Health, UM.

This is a tough situation, isn't it? 25% of my LPN classmates dropped out during the first two weeks of class, because they were having the same difficulties as your daughter, being able to pass objective exams. Unfortunately this is the nature of the beast, for as Janlynn has already stated, this is how she will be tested when she takes the Boards. She might want to check out this book on test-taking techniques for beginning nursing students: http://www.amazon.com/Test-Success-Test-Taking-Techniques-Beginning/dp/0803611625/sr=1-2/qid=1160072502/ref=sr_1_2/104-6366262-3491968?ie=UTF8&s=books.

Hope this helps!

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Home School Mom,

In most neighborhoods there are Adult Ed Learning Centers. Now, I know these are for getting the GED but...they may can offer you assistance with problems such as taking these kinds of tests (it NEVER hurts to ask! :) ). Also, these are qualified teachers that may at the very least help you figure out why she's having this problem and what can be done to help her. USUALLY they are free services. Also, the NCLEX has tools along with them and online on test taking hints that might be helpful so don't count that out. When I was in Nursing School some of the questions actually came directly out of the old NCLEX books!

Now, I really don't know if this will apply to LPNs but:

The only other suggestion I might offer is checking into financial aide for your daughter...obviously since she's still at home Federal Grants are out but most loans,etc offer a one time tutoring option and there is plenty of time for her to repay 6 months after graduation.; that is if you're interested.

Hope something I've said help

Best of Luck!

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She is taking the LPN course through a Learning Center now. Before she enrolled and I paid I explained to them that she had some MC test taking problems. They told me No Worries, they had seen this before and were equppied to help. But so far no real help as come. I really want to schedule an appt with her instructor but my daughter fears because she is the youngest in the class the teacher may take it that my daughter can not handle her own problems. I talked to the instrcutor in the beginning on the phone and she said she was reluntact to talk to me because of privacy laws. I am really confused on that one. My daughter took the Microbiology section and scored all A's on her tests and quizzes. Fill in the blank but she got the 73 on the final. She is bright. I thought about pulling her and re-enrolling her i the other school in December but I don't know if thats the best course of action. If you met my daughter you would know she is just so meant for nursing. She has volunteered at a local hospital and gone on 4 missions trip. She loves to help people. Should I go ahead and schedule a meeting with the instructor or will this make my daughter look bad?

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.

What does your daughter want to do? It sounds like you and your husband are getting a little too involved. Providing guidance is one thing, but you're talking about pulling her out of programs, meeting with the instructors, etc. They are your daughter's grades. She needs to be more proactive about the situation. It is she who should have done the homework about different programs, etc.

You're not going to be able to run interference for her when it comes time to take NCLEX, and certainly not when she's working. Now is the time for her to develop more effective test taking skills and learning how to seek advice from others, not her parents. We're talking about a career that can mean life or death to a pt. People in this job need to know how to think critically and problem solve for themselves. You may think you're helping her, but you're really not when you get this overinvolved.

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Specializes in Trauma/ED.

When you get a NCLEX-PN prep book go over the MC questions with her...see what her brain is doing with them...it might just be a simple problem (ie not reading all the answers before answering)...or I suppose it could just be a brain block where she gets all nervous because she has it in her mind that she is not good at these types of questions.

Do you know any nurses that could help her with this? If you were a friend of mine I would be happy to spend some time helping your daughter become a nurse for nothing.

I would have taken a MC test over the fill in's any day...:)

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there are books loaded with MC questions she could use to practice. The good ones provide rationales for correct answers, and explain why the other choices were incorrect. Answering MC questions is like solving a puzzle, there are often two correct answers, and one of the two is MORE correct. It takes practice. I found questions on nursing school tests to be unlike any other MC tests I had ever taken. It takes tenacity and practice to figure it out, give her time and the right tools.

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Do you think I should schedule a meeting with her instructor ?

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Personally, I think your daughter might be right on that one.

Let HER schedule an appt (maybe with her adviser first though?)-I see no problem in you guys going together ...afterall you are footing the bill. Careful, though you wouldn't want her to get frustrated and want out. She's very young and these difficulties can affect her ideas and feelings about nursing.

Strangely enough, as I recall, my nursing tests were tests that were already made prior to any lectures so, talking to her teacher may not help any at all.

Since the boards are all MC it's likely that the only solution is to help your daughter figure out why this type of test is so difficult for her and then fix the problem.

SMILE though...I know this is a tough situation but, consider yourself soo blessed she's bright and loving and as long as YOU don't let this situation frustrate then she will hopefully follow the example and learn that taking MC tests are not as hard as she thinks.

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