Hesi Scandal at my School!

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Specializes in IMU.

At the end of my last semester in school we were required to take and pass the Hesi exam with a score of 850 in order to graduate. This exam and the review course we were required to take cost us $275. If you scored below an 850 you had to reschedule and pay another $30. If you failed yet again, another $30. After that you failed the course and had to repeat the semester the following year.

Our school's syllabus clearly states, "Students are required to pass the Hesi exam with a score of at least 850 or a 'F' will be recorded for the semester and the student will have to retake the course."

I, like many others in our class, failed the Hesi the first time around because of an incompetent OB instructor who thankfully was fired at the end of the semester (but that's another horror story for another time). I passed after the second time and went on with my life and my studying for boards.

Last week I recieved a call from another student that several people had taken the Hesi for the fourth time and that two students had failed it yet again. The twist though is that the school decided to go ahead and graduate those two students anyway.

To make a way too long post short... Do I have any right to be as angry as I am right now? I feel like all the hard work I put in to not only pass the course but to pass the Hesi was completely invalidated by this decision.

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Well, whether you have a "right" to feel as you do is really not the issue. You feel how you feel, and that's that.

However, you might want to look at the bottom line for you: that is, what does it REALLY matter? Yes, I know you're angry because it wasn't "fair". I get that. But YOU did fine, you passed, you're now studying for the NCLEX. They have to still do all that, and THAT doesn't impact on you one iota.

Let it go, move on, and be the best nurse YOU can be :)

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Specializes in IMU.
Well, whether you have a "right" to feel as you do is really not the issue. You feel how you feel, and that's that.

However, you might want to look at the bottom line for you: that is, what does it REALLY matter? Yes, I know you're angry because it wasn't "fair". I get that. But YOU did fine, you passed, you're now studying for the NCLEX. They have to still do all that, and THAT doesn't impact on you one iota.

Let it go, move on, and be the best nurse YOU can be :)

Exactly! That's the problem, I've said all that to myself already. In the end, it doesn't matter. Buuuuuut. It not only sets a bad precedent, when the word gets out to the community about this it's going to make the entire graduating class look suspect.

There's a lot more to this story that I can't go into for various reasons that makes this issue more important that it might seem to the casual reader. Just know this is just the latest thing in a long line of very shady things that went on during my last year of school.

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Exactly! That's the problem, I've said all that to myself already. In the end, it doesn't matter. Buuuuuut. It not only sets a bad precedent, when the word gets out to the community about this it's going to make the entire graduating class look suspect.

I really hope this doesn't come out as flip, but I'm tired, so I may be blunter than usual, LOL! Anyway, this isn't something that "gets out into the community, making the entire class look suspect". I'll let you in on a secret: no one in the community has a CLUE what nursing school was about, what kind of testing you did, what the heck a HESI looks like or means. No one has any idea why it's difficult to get in OR out. They just smile when you tell them you've graduated, and offer congrats. They don't think one way or the other about the rest!

I used to think they did, because I went to the "hard, good" school, as opposed to the "easier, more passed graduation but failed the boards" school. Know what the general population knows? That they both have nursing programs! Period.

There's a lot more to this story that I can't go into for various reasons that makes this issue more important that it might seem to the casual reader. Just know this is just the latest thing in a long line of very shady things that went on during my last year of school.

Well, all I can say is that you should be even happier you're out NOW, and on your way to licensing! If there's trouble looming for your school, you can avoid anything reflecting on you by passing the NCLEX, being an attentive and enthusiastic new nurse, and becoming an asset to our profession :D

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Specializes in IMU.
I really hope this doesn't come out as flip, but I'm tired, so I may be blunter than usual, LOL! Anyway, this isn't something that "gets out into the community, making the entire class look suspect". I'll let you in on a secret: no one in the community has a CLUE what nursing school was about, what kind of testing you did, what the heck a HESI looks like or means. No one has any idea why it's difficult to get in OR out. They just smile when you tell them you've graduated, and offer congrats. They don't think one way or the other about the rest!

I used to think they did, because I went to the "hard, good" school, as opposed to the "easier, more passed graduation but failed the boards" school. Know what the general population knows? That they both have nursing programs! Period.

I meant that it gets out to the other nurses that we have to work with. A nurse just asked a classmate of mine last week what was the real story on the reason the class president (me) skipped graduation in protest. This is a nurse that should have had no connection to me or my school...but she knew what was going on. I'm not worried about the community as much as I am about the nurses in the community. I should have been more clear when I said that. Around here a bad rep will follow you wherever you go.

You're not coming off as flip. I appreciate the advice. I just wanted opinions from people that weren't connected to the situation. So Thanks! :)

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You're very welcome :)

I see what you mean about the reputation in the nursing community, but that can be put to rest too, and fast, I swear. And it WILL come from you to change that! See, while my school had the better reputation than another nearby school, there was one classmate that makes me shake my head (we're now co-workers). Other nurses know she was part of the rest of my class (where several of us are now employed together). But they don't hold it against the rest of us that she's not the same.....quality. By the same token, there IS a really good nurse from that "other" school ; it didn't shake their opinion of the school as a whole , but SHE is known to be good, so, no worries about her :)

Hang in there....I hope this doesn't dog you too long, even if it was a nightmare situation at that school, because there's SO MUCH good stuff on the horizon! :D

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

one of our schools in NC had this issue, less than 7 of 40 passed, many initially received failing grades and did not graduate. (graduation depended upon this test). There is a whole bunch more to that story as well. It was well publiced in the paper so YES, the community does become aware. This doesn't seem to be a fault of the students when less than 1/4 can pass. It seems a flaw in the school system:nono:

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

I agree, you passed dont worry about the others. They did noone any favors by not holding true to their own policies. The next class up will not take it seriously and as many or more will fail because of the schools overlooking their own policy. these people that graduated without passing will show their true colors when test time rolls around anyway and they will be the ones calling people about why they didnt pass. If you get that call, direct them to the school administrators that let the policy slip for them.

I had a fellow student that raised all kinds of heck because the school wasnt going to let her graduate after falling a half point below their passing score. They let her graduate after many hours of bickering with her (yes we all had to hear about it). She never did pass her boards. What a waste of time.

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Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.

I didn't have to take the Hesi exam but I did have to take an NLN day long exam. It did not impact on my graduation. We had to take it to get some idea of where we needed to brush up for our two day state boards.

I understand your anger. I think I would be angry too if I had to pass the NLN exam in order to graduate. At one time these exam existed to point you in the direction you need to review more closely. Now they are being used for everything else.

Woody:balloons:

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Psych.

There is SO much drama in nursing school. At my school, we had a similar situation.

My feelings are, there is going to be scandal whereever you go and - in a year or two - know one will even remember what happened. Try not to get caught up in it. I know that it stinks when you feel like you have sacrificed and others haven't had to. Trust me, if those people who didn't pass the HESI are not qualified, it will show up on the NCLEX. If they are, it, too, will show up on the NCLEX. Save your energy for your journey. You'll (actually, all of us) need it.

CrazyPremed

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Yes. The school had an incompetent instructor....which it acknowledged by terminating her. That is why they most likely graduated the two students, because once that happened, every student that had that instructor the last semester could have had a clear avenue for legal action. You are entitled to competent instruction. The school really didn't have a choice, and in fact, did some serious damage control.

Yes, you have a right to be furious. However, be thankful that you didn't have to go through the stress and anguish of those two students and passed your second time.

I am highly against the HESI exams. :devil: I think they are a great tool for a school to use as a predictor for the NCLEX and as a self-evaluation tool for it's program, but schools that are using it as a determiner for graduation are abusing it.

It provides the BON of each state a skewed report of the success or failure of the actual program. If ONLY the students passing the HESI are allowed to take the NCLEX (and we have all heard stories about students who have high GPA's that fail HESI), then there are alot of students that are not factored into that equation.

Many students, where it's not a requirement, go on to pass the NCLEX that fail the HESI, in the schools were passing it is not required, but just used for their own evaluation purposes.

It's a cop-out for the school to blame the students instead of taking a good hard look at it's own instructors and curriculum...which is the purpose of the pass-rate statistics maintained by each BON, and this gives the general public a false sense of a security that a program may be more successful than it is in actuality.

Can you imagine if every discipline did that? If law schools had a similar exam at graduation, and only allowed those students to sit for the Bar exam? OF COURSE the pass-rate would increase dramatically....but is that an accurate picture of the quality of the program. Heck no it's not!

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Tele, ER.

The nurse you mentioned sounds like a bit of a gossip hound. I'm sure for most nurses this barely registered as a blip on the radar. Frankly, I don't care how anyone did on any test in nursing school, or even the NCLEX. What I care about is if the nurse does a good job caring and advocating for their patients, and is overall good to work with.

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