Nursing staff & curriculum being reviewed.

[Raider 3/1]

So I just found out today that the University I'm attending for my pre-nursing course work will be having reviews for the nursing program since it has been failing student left and right. This past year alone only 55% of the nursing students passed and other years passing percentages were far worse. Apparently enough of the current nursing students have been making plenty of fuss about it that its caught the attention of the nursing review board.

Im going to copy and paste the news article about it with names changed.

NEWS ARTICLE

Three advisers are scheduled to come to Montana State University-Northern to take a look at the nursing program to see if they can find issues that need addressing

Dr. Sarah Jordan, the executive director of the Montana State Board of Nursing, will conduct an on-site review of the program Oct. 16 and 17, according to a press release from the university.

Jordan will meet with students, faculty and administrators to come up with recommendations on what the school can do to maintain the quality of their nursing program, the release says.

In addition to Jordan, two outside nursing educators will be coming to do the same thing as Jordan. The two educators are from Angelo State University in Texas; Chancellor Tim's former place of employment. They are scheduled to be on campus Nov. 12-15.

Tim was the vice president of strategy, planning and policy at ASU. He also held positions of interim provost and vice president for academic and student affairs at ASU.

According to a nursing faculty member, who asked not to be identified, Jordan was asked to give the evaluation by the nursing faculty themselves after the two outside consultants were called.

Nursing faculty feared a conflict of interests brought the request.

"Dr. Jordan is aware of this visit and is in full support of an analysis by dispassionate, impartial educators, whose reports will complement her findings and, together, will make recommends," the press release said.

The release said the main reason for the calling of the outside sources is that success rates for the nursing courses are down and students are finding the coursework too difficult. Around 55 percent of students completed the program in 2012, according to a self-evaluation made by the nursing program.

This is down from 2011, which saw a 67 percent rate, but it is still higher than the low rates 2009 and 2010 saw; 43 percent and 33 percent respectively.

Another issue the consultants will have to address is the overburden of work for the limited staff at the College of Nursing. A full-time professor in the program teaches 24 credit hours, but many of the faculty are taking on more than 30 credit hours, according to employees in the nursing department.

"It's difficult to find instructors for the program," Said Kevin Dowell, MSU-Northern Director of University Relations. He said that this difficulty is in part due to the higher wages potential candidates can make if they choose to practice their skills instead of teach them.

Some of the nursing students are claiming that the professors are making the student take tests and quizzes over material that was never covered in class. Also making students read and memorize 3 chapters from each of their text books a week. Is that harsh for a nursing curriculum with the passing percentages stated earlier? or are these common for other nursing schools around the country?

The other questions I have regarding this are

1. Can this cause the University to loose its National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC)? Since its being reviewed

2 Can this cause the nursing program to close down at the University?

3 Is this the educators or Universities fault for not teaching nursing students correctly?

Any info and comments are welcome if you want to share something about it or your school has gone through something similar.

[douxmusique]

Only three chapters a week? Nursing school is hard. That's all I really know.

[Raider 3/1]

Only three chapters a week? Nursing school is hard. That's all I really know.

from each text book. That can be upwards of 4 books so 12 chapters a week.

[mrsboots87]

I dont know what would happen in this case, but my advice to you would be to complete your pre reqs and apply somewhere else. WIth graduation rates that low, I would not want to "learn" there. The lowest graduation rates in my area are in the 80s. But generally, graduation rates are above 90% and NCLEX is above 95% in my program. Honestly, whether they stay accredited or not, why waste your money on a 50/50 chance of graduating? Until they can figure out why so many students fail its not worht risking your future career. That is not normal.

[mrsboots87]

And as for the chapters, that honestly doesnt sound that outragious. I have heard that in my program (dont start until Jan 14), there are some week with only a couple chapters to review, and there are some that there are over 10 chapters to review. You dont have to actually memorize the chapters. I have been told to pay attention in lecture, then use the chapters to expand on what was taught and clarify things. Also read things pertaining to the objectives for that week. Its a lot of reading still, but not every page top to bottom.

[Raider 3/1]

I dont know what would happen in this case, but my advice to you would be to complete your pre reqs and apply somewhere else. WIth graduation rates that low, I would not want to "learn" there. The lowest graduation rates in my area are in the 80s. But generally, graduation rates are above 90% and NCLEX is above 95% in my program. Honestly, whether they stay accredited or not, why waste your money on a 50/50 chance of graduating? Until they can figure out why so many students fail its not worht risking your future career. That is not normal.

well what im kind of hoping this does is get the faculty and school to figure out a better teaching method. I JUST transferred to this school the start of this semester with one class remaining for pre-reqs.

All I know is that Doctors and Navy SEAL's are the only two professions I know of where a passing rate of 33% is the norm. Not for nursing students

[bryan_del, ADN, MSN]

Maybe is the whole nursing staff they need to change. Some nursing staff can't even teach or are just trying to eat their young as they say

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

The article is public knowledge and can be printed with link......

[h=3]2 reviews planned of Northern's nursing program - Havre Daily News[/h]

The nursing board thoughts.....

[h=2]Our View: Address problems at Northern's nursing program[/h]http://www.havredailynews.com/story/2013/10/09/opinion/our-view-address-problems-at-northerns-nursing-program/1872.html

October 9, 2013

Two reviews of the nursing program at Montana State University-Northern will be held in coming weeks.

It seems like there is a bit of a rift over the operation of the program, which is a long-time staple at Northern.

Dr. Cynthia Gustafson, executive director of the Montana State Board of Nursing, will be on campus, talking to faculty and students.

At a later date two faculty members from Angelo State University in Texas will be in town to do the same kind of review. Angelo State is where Northern Chancellor Jim Limbaugh hails from.

The nursing department staff is apparently edgy about the reviews, and Limbaugh is apparently getting word from students that all is not well in the department.

There are apparently differences over grading and questions about how tough courses are. The retention rate in the program is lower than administrators would like, and retention if now a key focus in the Montana University System.

We can’t tell from this viewpoint what should be done, but we hope all involved understand the importance of the nursing program to the Hi-Line community.

The program has always been important to Northern. More important, it is a lifeline to the Havre area.

Local hospitals, clinics and doctors offices are full of Northern grads. Many nurses today say they never could have moved away to college, and couldn't have gotten their degrees anywhere but at Northern.

We hope whatever glitches are in the department will be taken care of quickly. And we hope the community that has been so well served by the program will take part in the discussion that is now taking place.

[Raider 3/1]

It was a local newspaper, just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing lol