How is this fair?????????

nurz2be · Dec 21, 2007

Yes, our school is much the same except that our ours has went from a previous 76 to a now 84 or you fail. We get 2 shots or no graduation.

FA to CRNA2b · Dec 21, 2007

My school just started this and it caused a third of the senior class to get incompletes for their Fall grades. Some also have to retake classes in the Spring and Summer if the professor decided to make the ATI a part of the class grade. There was a lot of tears and frustration from students who are used to getting mostly A's. The SNA got a long list of names for the petition but to no avail...so, I'm sorry that you experienced this too.

S.T.A.C.E.Y, LPN · Dec 22, 2007

Fair? It isn't.

jg11785 · Dec 22, 2007

I am glad someone agrees with me! But, what can be done about it?????

Jolie, BSN · Dec 22, 2007

It isn't fair. But fairness is not the issue. Legality is.

You need to get a legal opinion as to whether or not your school can unilaterally change the graduation standards for students who are already admitted and making satisfactory progress thru the program.

At my university, they could not. The college catalog in effect at the time we were admitted to the nursing program set the standards for graduation. Any changes made to the program or graduation standards were applied to subsequent classes, but not those already underway.

Good luck.

jg11785 · Dec 22, 2007

They also changed the test as of last year. My school use to have the HESI and in the middle of my second semester they switched tests to the ATI. My friend had to take it. She only had one semester to go when she got told they were switching tests and she had no time to prepare for this other test. This school is so inconsistent. They change things all the time and the dean won't give you the time of day because she is retiring. WE all don't know what to do.

MIM_RN · Dec 22, 2007

i attend a private nursing school and they make us take the nln our fall semester (senior year). if you pass this test, you have met the exit examination requirements for the school. if not, you have to go through remediation in the spring semester for the areas you showed a weakness in and then take caps examinations in those areas. you then have to take another exit examination and, even if you are an "a" student and do not pass this exam, you will not "graduate". (they'll let you walk the stage, but you don't get your diploma and do not even get to wear the honor cords you worked so hard for all four years.) stinks, doesn't it? :uhoh3:

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Dec 22, 2007

Same thing in my school. You have 2 attempts to pass the Exit Exam. If after 2 attempts you still don't pass w/the required minimum score you have to repeat the last 2 Mods of school. (Mod comparable to a semester)

Its their way of keeping their 100% first time NCLEX takers passing rate. If you can't pass the exit exam, there is probaby no way you'd pass the NCLEX since all prior students have said that the schools exit exam is much much harder than the NCLEX.

Fair..nope. But nothing can be done about it with us, we are told ahead of time what the deal is. I don't recall them ever changing the pass rate in the end of the last Mod for students. I do know that the pass rate has been increased for my class from the class ahead of us. They cover themselves by never stating the "exact" passing score.

love-d-OR · Dec 22, 2007

My school does the something similar to that. Only we started integrating the ATI scores to our class grades at the end of our second year. I hated it, but what can you do.

We also have to pass an exit ATI exam, but instead of taking it only in the last year they have us taking it the whole senior year. The first and second quarter of the senior year (3rd) we take the comprehensive ATI, but it does not affect our grade. But the last quarter it does and if you fail, you dont graduate. The ATI exam is an actual class in itself during the last quarter (its called senior seminar), so it just appears as if you fail a class. They do it this way so that you can start working on your weaknesses before the last quarter. You are assessed the first quarter of senior year and if you fail it you go bcak and work on your weakness, and same is for the second quarter. By the final quarter the seminar class (ATI) consists of a professor reviewing everyones weaknesses and making a lecture out of it.

I understand that schools do this to keep their national pass rate at an acceptable level, and that might soud unfair but I like it becasue it gets me ready for the NCLEX. From the start of senior year I am aware of what I need to work on, then its up to me to improve.

From other posts I understand that other schools are not as generous as mine :nono: , and I sympathise with you. Take it easy, you will pass. Try to start working on NCLEX review questions now, good luck!

TNmsn2be · Dec 22, 2007

I hear you! We just found out about the HESI's. We have to take one now during break (for semester 1 material) and one in April (for semester 2 material) but those two "don't count". We have to take our final one in August for graduation. We have to pass with an 850 (I'm assuming that's equivalent to an 85%) in order to sit for the NCLEX. We also can only repeat it one other time. There was nothing that had been mentioned about this test up until about two weeks prior to our first semester ending just a couple of weeks ago.

We are paying 40k a year for this two year MSN program and certainly no one wants to have to repeat anything at that price!

Also, we have to maintain an overall 80% average of all coursework. They also make us sit through an in-school NCLEX review at the end of the summer semester as well. I guess it's all okay and is how they keep their 97 or 98% NCLEX pass rate..but it would have been nice to not have it sprung on us right before Christmas break!

beachbum3 · Dec 22, 2007

I was wondering how many of you had to or have to take an exit exam (HESI,ATI, ect) In order to graduate from nursing school??? Me as well as many other students in my class right now have known this was the protocal now since we started nursing school. I am a straight A student and I am gearing to graduate in May. Now..... The problem with the school comes in when we are one month from graduating and we get an email from the school saying they changed the percentage required to pass the ATI exit in order to graduate. It went from a 64% to a 74%. How is that fair??? According to the administration the state boards have changed as of March of 2008 and therefore the ATI had to be changed to????? I don't understand how one month from graduation this can happen???? Oh yea and you can only fail one class. If you fail two you are permnantly kicked out of school!!! The exit ATI is linked to a class so if you fail it and retake the class it is attached to then you fail again you are permanantly out of the program and done forever!!!!! That means 15,000 dollars down the drain. How is that fair if you pass all the classes with an "A" average????? Some of us are raising a coniption and before we do this, we just want to see if we are alone in this????? Please respond. Does your school require an exit score to graduate or are you permnantly kicked out if you fail?????

We have to take it at the end of our 4th semester before we can graduate. We have to pass with an 80. We have 3 attempts. It is tied to our Med/Surg class. If you don't pass with an 80 by attempt #3, you fail the class, and have to take the entire 4th semester Med Surg class over.

I don't really see how its unfair, to be honest. It is in the school's, and instructor's interest to graduate safe nurses with basic knowledge. If you can't pass the exit exam you are not ready to be a nurse. Also, the odds are that if you can't pass the exit exam you probably won't pass the NCLEX. It actually can be a pretty beneficial thing for the student.

You mentioned you don't graduate until May. That leaves you plenty of time to study.. practice your questions. Our school has computerized NCLEX review exams tied to each course that you have to pass with an 80 in order to pass the course. This past semester there were a total of 400 questions. (8 tests with 50 questions each). They are a pain, but a valuable tool. They have them for each semester as part of the course requirements.

I don't know.. IMHO I think its a waste of energy to fight a battle with your director that you are most likely to lose. Also, from my understanding an exit exam is a requirement of most nursing programs. I feel my time and energy are better spent preparing for it, rather than fighting the inevitable.