middle TN nursing schools

[Laila96]

I've decided to put this out there for anybody looking for a nursing program or curious about others. I left Lipscomb University (Nashville) because I just wasn't hearing good things about their nursing program, and at the time they had very low NCLEX pass rates. I wish so badly I would have researched more nursing programs before choosing a college after high school, but Lipscomb sold themselves to me. From what I've seen in the boost of their NCLEX scores, they are doing okay now. Anyway, I left there and transferred to MTSU, because it is such a great nursing program and because it's so cheap. It didn't work out. This is by no means to put them down, because I learned a lot there and I had some growing up to do. I honestly wasn't ready to work so hard at studying when I first got in, and I didn't expect the tests and course load to be so so hard. I didn't realize that nursing tests were not like any other I had taken before (been an A and B student all my life). Every answer looks correct and the questions were hard to decipher at first. By the time I fixed my study habits, it was too late in the semester to pick my average up and I failed Pathophysiology. So i did a 360 the next semester, because I had to pass Patho before I could move on in the program. I started working as a CNA and studying more, asking my teacher for help. (His help was ehh). I felt like I had to figure out a lot of stuff on my own. Then I progressed to 2nd semester and did really well, all B's and started working at a hospital. Well that's when they started making us pass a math dosage test each semester with a 100. You get 2 tries and after that you fail the clinical the dosage test goes along with. I passed it in 2nd semester. When I got to 3rd semester (there's 5 total), I didn't round correctly and missed it by just a bit. So i went haywire and started practicing dosage like crazy until it was time for my 2nd try. Meanwhile, class was going really well, I actually achieved A's. On the 2nd try, the question was worded and set up so oddly I hesitated. After 15 mins of trying to figure out what this question was asking me, I went into panic mode as people were leaving the room. Well I calculated the wrong thing (distractor question) and failed it again. This 2nd fail in the program caused me to be dismissed from MT nursing school. I was given the opportunity to look at my mistake and it wasn't a calculation error. I had calculated everything just right, only this time I calculated the wrong thing. About 20 ppl (or more) failed that dosage test that semester alone. That's how MT nursing weeds people out. The clinical instructors are hit or miss, honestly snobby. Very, very strict. They will fail you for bringing your cell phone onto the clinical site, you have to leave it in your car. (Even if it is in your backpack) They will test you constantly and have even gone so far to tell students they are not good enough to be nurses. It's disheartening. Some have been known to send you home for wearing the wrong color socks. If you miss a single clinical day you have to repeat the clinical in the next semester before you can move on. I'm a very stubborn and determined person, so I transferred to another nursing school, Cumberland University in Lebanon. It's one of the few schools that will consider letting you in after being unsuccessful in another program, besides community college. (Not to talk down on community colleges, they are really great!).

Anyway, Cumberland has been good to me. The teachers are so helpful (for the most part) and tutoring is offered for free in your nursing courses. They are no where near as strict as MTSU and I feel confident enough to ask my instructors questions without fear of being belittled. It IS super expensive though, and you have to pay for all of your own supplies. There is no scary dosage test, but they do put it on your exams and if you miss too many, you get referred to tutoring. There's a student success center where you go if you need help with anything at all in any subject. I've done well overall. No, the courses I took at MTSU don't really help me. It's not the same and the curriculum is different. I just know how to study better now and my teachers are helpful. I'm not afraid of getting kicked out around every corner I turn because it's not a constant threat like it was at MT. I love my job as a CNA and I know this is a field I should be in.

I had a coworker tell me UTK requires a 100% pass for a dosage test each semester as well. South College requires a 90%, but my coworker told me the questions on hers were not tricky at all. They made it clear what they wanted. Some community colleges also do this but I'm not sure what score you have to get.

I didn't write this to bash anyone. Just wanted to open some people's eyes before they start looking at various programs. Also, the grading scale in nursing school is different. You have to work a lot harder to earn your B or A or even C. At MT and South college, you have to have a 80 to pass. At UTK, the benchmark to pass is 74. Here at Cumberland it is 77, however I hear they are bumping it up to 80 really soon.

Good luck to those pursuing this difficult profession.