Pass/Fail competencies

[Jessi89]

All of our competencies are either pass or fail. There are no points. You get two chances and if you fail on the second try, you fail the course irregardless of your current grade. At my school, if this happens you lose your financial aid and have to pay tuition out of pocket or with private loans, so competencies can be an especially nerve racking experience. In the past, I have passed all my competencies on the first try, but this past time I was not so lucky. We were doing a mock med pass. I was nervous and made a stupid mistake regarding med conversions. I did pick up on my mistake and I informed the instructor, but it was too late. So now I have one more chance and I am just a tad bit anxious to say the least. I am just hoping the pressure doesn't get to me. I want to graduate on time and I cannot afford to pay back ~$30,000 up front. Has anyone had this sort of experience or go to a school that has similar policies? I totally understand the importance of patient safety and the prevention of med errors, but i wonder if this is the best way to teach students these skills. Just curious on some other people's thoughts about this.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Medication administration is a rather complex procedure to try to assess in such a simplistic way. I believe that the 'checkoff' process is much more applicable to simpler tasks/procedures in which there isn't so much variation.

I am a workplace educator - not an academician. In "our" world, we try to emulate the real world as closely as possible. For instance, when we're assessing medication calculations, our participants use calculators as well as any other tools that would actually be available in the actual practice setting. In the instance you cited, I would have given you props for identifying and rectifying the mistake so quickly. But as I said... I'm not an academician.

My advice - engage in a lot of rehearsal before your next checkoff. Get a fellow student to monitor you for compliance with the criteria. Good luck to you!!

[Jessi89]

I agree. Thank you for your feedback.

[basenjilove808]

I just went through my first round of exams, and to say the least I got 81% on one of them so I diffidently know what it feels like to have that anxiety. If i do bad on the second one, I'm OUTTT....so what I've learned is that my study habits were NOT working for me, and I need to change that. For me, I didn't feel like sticking around after my 730am lab, just to stay with a study group until 8pm at night. I wanted to go home, I wanted self-gratification. BUT had I stayed I would have done just as well as my study group (they did very well), and I know that. Remember 12 hours of studying alone= 3 hours of studying with a group. My advice- find a partner to help you. Being and feeling borderline is not a good feeling.