Help. Is my outrage justified?

[fairandbalanced]

Is my rage justified. My friend just flunked out of her first semester at Charity with a 76 average. 77 is the cut. The failing question (and I don't know it word for word, but here is the general gist of it): An african woman who lives in Africa has an intestinal bug. She believes that by eating pumpkin seeds, the bug will be eliminated. Is this a : religious belief, a cultural belief, is she correct, and few other choices. My friend answered, a cultural belief. As per the teacher: WRONG. First of all, regardless of the question or answer, how is this question even relevant to Nursing? Upon doing her homework and research, she could prove it very much IS a cultural thing. She appealed the question. The woman who wrote the question refused to budge and the committee sided with her. So boom. My freind is out. Never mind she is an excellent student. I am outraged. 44 people apparently missed that stupid, trick, unfair, irrelevant question. When teachers result to trickery on exams, it is so unfair and the students will never win. What can be done about this? This is a power issue and the teacher is getting off on it. People like that have got to go. I am beginning Charity in January. If I wasn't sufficiently terrified before, I certainly am now. Feedback, please.

[CanuckLPN73]

Is my rage justified. My friend just flunked out of her first semester of Nursing School with a 76 average. 77 is the cut. The failing question (and I don't know it word for word, but here is the general gist of it): An african woman who lives in Africa has an intestinal bug. She believes that by eating pumpkin seeds, the bug will be eliminated. Is this a : religious belief, a cultural belief, is she correct, and few other choices. My friend answered, a cultural belief. As per the teacher: WRONG. First of all, regardless of the question or answer, how is this question even relevant to Nursing? Upon doing her homework and research, my friend could argue it very much IS a cultural thing. She appealed the question. The woman who wrote the question refused to budge and the appeals committee sided with her. So boom. My freind is out. Never mind she is an excellent student. I am outraged. 44 people apparently missed this question. When teachers result to trickery on exams, it is so unfair and the students will never win. What can be done about this? This is, no doubt, a power issue and the teacher is getting off on it. People like that have got to go. BTW, she is a mean and unhappy woman who has been teaching at the school forever. I am beginning in January at the same institution. If I wasn't sufficiently terrified before, I certainly am now. Feedback, please.

Im really interested in knowing the correct answer as I would have put Cultural as well.

And yes those questions are relevant...

We learn Culture and Religion in Nrsg theory as we are dealing with many people from various culture and religious backgrounds whose beliefs we need to respect :)

[klone, MSN, RN]

Like others, I question the assertion that someone flunked out of nursing school due to one tricky question on an exam. I just don't buy it.

I am also skeptical that ONE wrong question on an exam would have brought her entire semester grade up an entire percentage point.

Even if that were the case, it would seem that her grade was really teetering precariously on the edge of failing anyway. Every semester of nursing school is progressively harder. Perhaps they did her a favor by flunking her out of the first semester when her grades in this semester (arguably the easiest of all of them) were so marginal.

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

Well frankly, I think a standard of 77 being considered satisfactory is pathetic. I took a class in grad school that was pass/fail. Know what passing was? 95%. Now that might be a little high, but I don't think demanding a 85 for passing is asking too much. 85 is really mediocre as it is. In any event, I am comfortable with someone averaging less than 80 being told they just aren't making the cut. NS standards are just way too low. It;s an embarrassment.

[nedlloyd]

personally i dont understand why YOU would be outraged. yes be sad for your friend, but as others have said, it's not just that single question that broke her. Nursing school is full of tricky questions. i remember when i was in everyone would argue about the "multiple multiple" choice questions and how they were unfair. guess what, we kept getting them. It is not the instructors job to make things easy for you.

for what its worth, i had a couple instructors in school that i had been warned were really strict/mean. They ended up being my favorites! I learned WAY more from them than I did from some of the 'easier' ones. If you can do well with them, it will give you a huge confidence boost. and if you cant, just suck it up and get by...

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

How do you know that its was THIS specific question that caused her to fail?

Maybe it was the question about the purpose of digoxin. Or the one about the normal ranges of blood sugars. or...

Well, I think you see my point.

yes, this question might have been unfair/unclear/poorly worded/ whatever. But is was not just this question that caused failure.

I would also want to know - was this specific scenario discussed in class, so the professor was really just seeing if people were paying attention in class or not?

Additionally - I am always amazed by the people who are so outraged that they failed by 1%! How unfair! Should be counted as a pass because it's only 1%! Does that mean than those that PASS by 1% should be considered as failing? Because, after all, it was only 1%!

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Well frankly, I think a standard of 77 being considered satisfactory is pathetic. I took a class in grad school that was pass/fail. Know what passing was? 95%. Now that might be a little high, but I don't think demanding a 85 for passing is asking too much. 85 is really mediocre as it is. In any event, I am comfortable with someone averaging less than 80 being told they just aren't making the cut. NS standards are just way too low. It;s an embarrassment.

Pffft, a passing score at my school was no less than a 99.9999999%. Now THOSE are standards.

[CanuckLPN73]

I see both sides of the coin. I do agree that one cannot blame anyone for a failure, however a failure shouldnt be looked at as the end of the world. Our instructor told us that we should look at a failure as a learning experience and to keep trucking.

We were also told that some of the lower students and middle of the road students are the ones who end up shining at clinical whereas some of the ones who make 90s and higher may shine in class yet flunk in clinical.

Just a thought...its not all about grades, nor should it be :)

[lpnstudentin2010, LPN]

Actually I completely belive that this is relevant to nursing. I think that as nurses we have to be aware of alternative health measures/practices and need to ask about them.

I am just finishing my first semester of my pn program and we just learned about some of this stuff it is about becoming culturally competent.

[Jolie, BSN]

I feel very sorry for the student who is caught up in this problem - but more than her problem, I am astonished at the judgement of members without the input of this student. What gives??

I did not judge the student. I gave feedback to the OP based upon the objective information she provided (that her friend ended the semester with a 76 average, needing a 77 to pass).

I have no idea why she struggled, nor did I imply that her failure was due to a lack of hard work or intelligence.

I merely pointed out the obvious that no one single question on a final exam cost her a passing grade. If she went into the final with an average somewhere in the ballpark of 76, she was in trouble long before she encountered the question about a client eating pumpkin seeds.

Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that this is the only question she missed on the final. The others may have been more straightforward and not subject to argument with the instructor, but to ignore their effect on her final grade is a bit disingenuous.

[deluded]

be prepared; you will have teachers who write very bad questions and refuse to give rationales for their answers. that is a fact. having been a nurse does not necessarily make these people decent teachers. you will have teachers who were not particularly good nurses, either. your job is to negotiate this gauntlet knowing that the best revenge is to graduate and begin a career that is so rewarding that the few educators who stood in your path were marginally important and definitely not worth remembering.

on the other hand, you will have teachers who will change your views and motivate your thinking in positive ways that never would have grown without them. be thankful for them and shine the rest!

nursing school is difficult, so study hard and know every single test question is as important as the one that came before it. do not protest questions and don't be vocal about your disagreement with the teacher... you will not win, and you could lose a lot more once that teacher recognizes a personal issue with you.

best of luck!

[lpnstudentin2010, LPN]

Im currently in the PN program and part of the nrsg program is studying cultures and religion as we need to be culturally sensitive. We take a few weeks of Culture and Religion in Nrsg Theory however the BN program takes 4 months. So either way whether someone is taking the PN or BN then yes Culture and Religion is part of the Nrsg Program :)

we are being taught the literature is talking about moving from culturally sensitive to culturally competent

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Well, now it is up to you to decide if you want to run the gauntlet.

Nursing school is a joke.

You will learn nothing that will prepare you for nursing while in school. Thing is, you have to just do it and hope you are a good and fast learner once you get to real life nursing.

Just being real for you. Best you know these things before going in, as you can always change your mind. But if you want in, this is how it is going to be.