Need Help on an instructor who helped me fail Hesi

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Hello all.

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on how to handle this situation.

I took the Hesi exam yesterday. As I was answering questions, the instructor was constantly looking over my shoulder. She then started telling me which answers to pick. I questioned her, because there were 6 questions that I just felt that were right and she told me to change them. In all, she ended up making me change 10 of my answers and I ended up failing the exam. I scored an 827 and needed a 900 to pass. I feel that those 10 questions could have pushed me over the passing threshold. Now, they are requring that I take another bridge class that will cost me $1100 in order to take the Hesi one last time. I'm sooooo upset right now and I don't know what to do. Should I go to the Chairperson and report this? If I do, I'm thinking this instructor will reallly make my life a living, you know what. Should I bite the bullet and sell my blood to pay for this bridge class?

Please any advice is welcomed.

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WOW! what school is this? I never heard of an instructor giving away answers & forcing students to change their answers b4! I really don't think I would tell b/c that instructor my come back and retaliate on ur next attempt!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Yes. You should probably schedule a meeting with the Chairperson ... but be prepared for this possibility: The answers she told you to pick may have been the correct ones. Without her help, your score may have been lower.

What evidence do you have that the answers she told you were the wrong ones? Be prepared to have her side of the story be that you would have been nowhere near passing if she had not given you some help. She may say that she gave you correct answers in an effort to help you out.

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Yes. You should probably schedule a meeting with the Chairperson ... but be prepared for this possibility: The answers she told you to pick may have been the correct ones. Without her help, your score may have been lower.

What evidence do you have that the answers she told you were the wrong ones? Be prepared to have her side of the story be that you would have been nowhere near passing if she had not given you some help. She may say that she gave you correct answers in an effort to help you out.

Either way, what do you say? My instructor was helping me cheat incorrectly....?

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Specializes in SICU.

You don't know what your score would have been without her interference. It could have been better, or worse or about the same. The only way for you to be sure that the result is correct is for it to have been your own work. Therefor in the future make sure that it is YOUR answers that are put down.

You said that she made you change 10 answers. I don't understand how? Was she going to take the test paper out of your hands and change the answers her self if you didn't? The time to complain was right then. You should have said NO to her "help", that this was your test and you wanted to do it yourself. Live and learn.

There is no way for you to prove to anyone that you would have passed if only you hadn't listened to this teacher. Therefor I see nothing good happening if you complain now. In fact the school could come down really hard on you if they decide that this means to them that you were cheating. So bite the bullet, do the class.

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It seems that your choice is to take this supplemental class or get kicked out of school for cheating.....because unless the teacher had a gun to your head...you weren't forced to change your answers...and putting anyone's answers down but yours is cheating....as this wasn't a "group" project.

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WOW! what school is this? I never heard of an instructor giving away answers & forcing students to change their answers b4! I really don't think I would tell b/c that instructor my come back and retaliate on ur next attempt!

I don't want to say which school it was for now, b/c this just happened yesterday but it's located in Chicago. I am afraid that she may retaliate though.

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Yes. You should probably schedule a meeting with the Chairperson ... but be prepared for this possibility: The answers she told you to pick may have been the correct ones. Without her help, your score may have been lower.

What evidence do you have that the answers she told you were the wrong ones? Be prepared to have her side of the story be that you would have been nowhere near passing if she had not given you some help. She may say that she gave you correct answers in an effort to help you out.

I do know which answers they were. After I completed the exam, the computer brought up all the answers that I missed with the correct ones (which is why I know the ones they were) and the rationales.

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You don't know what your score would have been without her interference. It could have been better, or worse or about the same. The only way for you to be sure that the result is correct is for it to have been your own work. Therefor in the future make sure that it is YOUR answers that are put down.

You said that she made you change 10 answers. I don't understand how? Was she going to take the test paper out of your hands and change the answers her self if you didn't? The time to complain was right then. You should have said NO to her "help", that this was your test and you wanted to do it yourself. Live and learn.

There is no way for you to prove to anyone that you would have passed if only you hadn't listened to this teacher. Therefor I see nothing good happening if you complain now. In fact the school could come down really hard on you if they decide that this means to them that you were cheating. So bite the bullet, do the class.

This was a computer exam. She hovered over my shoulder as I was taking it. I felt very intimidated and nervous with her standing over me (as I think anyone in my position taking an exit exam would) and when she saw the answers I picked, she kept telling me "no, that's the wrong answer, choose this one" I didn't ask her for her help.

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Specializes in IMCU.

I would go with taking your lumps. You could report it but it will likely backfire. If you had reported it when you walked out the door of the test...maybe. But you are on the back foot.

Suck it up and do what you have to do to get another chance (retake the course etc.).

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Specializes in SICU.
This was a computer exam. She hovered over my shoulder as I was taking it. I felt very intimidated and nervous with her standing over me (as I think anyone in my position taking an exit exam would) and when she saw the answers I picked, she kept telling me "no, that's the wrong answer, choose this one" I didn't ask her for her help.

Even if you now know that you would have passed without the teachers "help" you still can't prove it. And just because you didn't ask for the help, the school could still view it as cheating and kick you out of the program entirely.

Part of being a nurse is standing up for what is right and not being intimidated. You have to be able to say no when a Doctor is giving you orders for something that is either outside your scope of practice or dangerous for your patient. And both WILL happen. In this case think of it as you would have passed the Hesi but you failed the ethics test. Take the class, retake the hesi. Graduate and be a stronger nurse for it.

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Even if you now know that you would have passed without the teachers "help" you still can't prove it. And just because you didn't ask for the help, the school could still view it as cheating and kick you out of the program entirely.

Part of being a nurse is standing up for what is right and not being intimidated. You have to be able to say no when a Doctor is giving you orders for something that is either outside your scope of practice or dangerous for your patient. And both WILL happen. In this case think of it as you would have passed the Hesi but you failed the ethics test. Take the class, retake the hesi. Graduate and be a stronger nurse for it.

Scenario: You are being precepted as a new grad. You are under the supervision of an experienced nurse and this nurse tells you to do X. You wonder in the back of your mind if doing X is the right thing, but you defer to the senior nurses judgment. Turns out the preceptor was wrong and your gut instinct was correct. You are being written up for the error. Should you "take your lumps" or should you be your own advocate and explain the situation to someone higher up on the food chain?

I understand the OP. 95% of my class would have done the same as the OP. I'm an agitator so I'd be in the 5% who would balk about answering the question in a way that I didn't think was correct....but it's understandable that the OP probably assumed that the instructor was trying to help her pass (had good intentions but was wrong about the questions).

You'll be a "stronger nurse" if you learn NOW how to advocate for yourself. You fear retaliation, but just because you fear it does not make it an absolute. If I were Queen of the world, I'd let you re-take the HESI and you'd pass or fail on your own merits. I wouldn't make you pay to retake the whole class. But I have to keep reminding myself....I'm not the Queen. :lol2:

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