valmor1984

Here is a site that I have used many times....they have lots of creative tools to use in class presentations, as well as games, books, etc: Michele Deck and Associates

Students, this thread on the faculty portion of allnurses is two years old. During that time, this thread has turned into a debate among students, with few or none of the students showing any ability to understand why schools are using this assessment tool. To help you understand, let me recap an earlier post: Here is the bottom line: If a school's first-time NCLEX pass rate falls below a certain percent, the State Board of Nursing becomes involved and could actually close a school if the rates drop too far below a certain percentage. Using NCLEX predictor examinations as a requirement in the program (such as HESI or ATI) allows programs to identify students who are still at risk of failing NCLEX. These students put the put the school at risk of closing, if they are allowed to "take the chance" and then fail the NCLEX. "Fine!" you may respond. "If a school is not performing, it SHOULD be closed down." In many ways that is true, but think of this: if a school closes due to low pass rates, that is one less school that can serve students who want to be nurses. Raising admission standards, raising passing percentages in courses, and eliminating "participation points" (and other such grade-inflating credits in courses) would do lot toward keeping only those students in a program who were capable of academic success, and were able to pass NCLEX on the first attempt. Here is an interesting article on the subject: http://articles.directorym.com/Nursi...-a1022926.html * Grade inflation is a factor leading to a low NCLEX pass rate in some nursing education programs, particularly in programs that allow significant point credit in theory courses for attendance, participation, and completion of assignments. * Student characteristics identified by programs as leading to NCLEX failure include a high number of work hours, family commitments, English as a second language, and low admission points. Nursing education programs tend to take similar actions to address NCLEX pass rate concerns. Actions commonly taken by programs include: o Initiating the use of an NCLEX predictor examination as a requirement in the program o Requiring students to complete NCLEX review, tutoring, or other actions if the predictor examination score is low o Increasing the minimum passing grade o Providing faculty education in the areas of the NCLEX examination and test development skills o Changing or increasing admission requirements. If you would like to debate this topic further, may I suggest that you take this to the student forum?

Frustration does not justify the murder of three nursing professors. I am so glad you don't condone it, but would feel better about your ethical stance if you had not put a "but" behind that statement. For you to suggest that Robert Flores was a "respected nurse" shows a breathtaking lack of research on your part. Robert Flores was mentally ill, and a murderer. Period. What he saw as "bullying" was a legitimate evaluation that he was mentally and emotionally unfit to care for vulnerable patients. Employers and instructors both came to that conclusion, and their decision to remove him from the academic and work environments fueled his anger and need for revenge. http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/96/47/01_1.html "At least two of the three professors murdered Monday expressed concern about Robert Stewart Flores Jr.'s "anger," one as recently as Saturday night, according to several sources. Assistant professor Robin Rogers, Flores' first victim, told friends and family she had fears about Flores when he failed her class last semester. Rogers reportedly voiced her concerns at a church service at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church last Saturday night, according to nursing professor Joann Glittenberg. Rogers asked that church members pray for her to be protected from Flores, Glittenberg said. Roger's husband, Phillip, recalled that she had anxiety about Flores during the term. "She had him last semester and she expressed concerns then," Phillip Rogers said. "And this year, when he failed the critical care course, she had concerns - She was concerned that he might act out in some way; but she didn't have any fear or premonition that he would do something this drastic." I have always made it a policy to stay out of the student side of allnurses....students need somewhere to vent...but your assertions are too outrageous to ignore. Robin Rogers, Cheryl McGaffic, and Barbara Monroe...remember their names. http://www.journalofnursingeducation.com/showAbst.asp?thing=35380

Dorimar, the HESI is a nationally normed exam. It is possible to get a list of the general topics on the CC HESI, then you can align your classroom presentations to the content on the HESI (and then, of course, go well beyond that in your teaching). If your teaching is beneficial (and I am sure it is!) AND reflects the general content areas on the HESI/NCLEX, students should be able to score well. I look at the NCLEX test plan, and the HESI midcurricular and exit topics, to give me guidance on what my objectives should be. So far, that has worked pretty well. I hope that you re-think whether you belong in academe. I sense a real frustration with the process you must work under, and I must say that I would be frustrated, too. If your CC course is the "make or break" course, you are the one that gets all the angst, the drama, and the responsibility for student progression. That is not a fair, equitable, or even a very balanced way to assess program outcomes. My recommendation still remains: talk to your Elsevier rep, and let him or her help you out. Best, Val

Here is info from the AACN "In AACN's efforts to keep you apprised of the appropriations process and funding for federal programs of interest, we are pleased to provide you with this preliminary report of the House Appropriations Committee's work to finalize the FY 2010 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill. The mark-up of this bill is still underway and is expect to continue this evening, but we do not expect these numbers to change. Reports suggest that the House Appropriations Committee will support the President's FY 2010 budget by providing $263.40 million for Title VIII.This funding level, which provides a 54% increase over FY 2009, demonstrates a strong commitment to building a robust nursing workforce. The Nurse Loan Repayment and Scholarship programs and the Nurse Faculty Loan program were the only Title VIII authorities to receive a portion of the $92.37 million funding increase. (See the chart below for a complete listing of the Title VIII program funding levels) The Committee will also provide $146.95 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research. This is a $5.07 million increase over FY 2009 and $3.2 million more than the President's FY 2010 budget. AACN will continue to keep you informed as the appropriation process continues in the House and the Senate. Program Name FY 2010 House Appropriations Change over FY 2009 Advanced Education Nursing Grants $64.43 million Level Funding Nursing Workforce Diversity Grants $16.10 million Level Funding Nurse Education, Practice, and Retention Grants $37.29 million Level Funding Nurse Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs $125 million + $87.87 million Nurse Faculty Loan Program $16 million + $4.50 million Comprehensive Geriatric Education Grants $4.56 million Level Funding National Institute of Nursing Research $146.95 million + $5.07 million"

That is really the heart of the matter, dorimar. Get in touch with Elsevier/HESI, and they can help you with customization of your CC exam. In our case, (in the day when we used periodic HESI tests) WE set the objectives, and the exam was customized based on the information in our syllabus. Your Elsevier rep should be able to help you with this. If not, send me a PM, and I will be happy to put you in contact with the right people at Elsevier/HESI. There IS a way to make your CC test work for you....to provide you and your students with helpful data. However, I do NOT think your CC course should be the only one carrying the evaluative load, so to speak. This is another area where the HESI representative can suggest better, more equitable, ways of assessing learning in your program. Best, Val

"I have lots I want to cover,and want to be sure I am covering at least the HESI in the 11 weeks I try to cover my ideals. but the predominate nursing education politics right now seem to center on standardized testing (HESI).... It seems like a paradox to me. I am struggling very much with this. This is not what I signed up for. " Dorimar, we all struggle with this....if you are in nursing education, standardized testing is exactly what you and your students "signed up for". Nursing education has always "center(ed) on standardized testing "....it is called NCLEX. There has been a need to measure mastery of the information in a nursing curriculum, not just retention of the small amount of information presented by the educator in the classroom. Please take my next comment only as an observation: it sounds like you want to "teach to the test" . Believe me, we have all been there, or at least been tempted to do so. It goes like this: the educator emphasizes what will be on the test, the students focus on that information to the exclusion of pretty much everything else, get good test scores, and everyone is happy. But have students really mastered the information? If you asked them a question on any (non-obscure) topic in the readings for that exam (that had not been discussed in class) , would they have the knowledge base and critical thinking skills to answer it? This might be a solution for you: HESI (and others) have custom exams for various sections of the curriculum. They base your exam on the content of your syllabus, so you know (in general terms) what will be in the exam. My University uses HESI midcurriucular and exit exams for progression and graduation. Recently, students taking the midcurricular exam reported some content that we felt might not be a good "fit". Faculty who taught in courses leading up to the midcurricular exam requested from Elsevier (HESI) the opportunity to "take" (review) the entire exam. We did not find a single question that was not reasonable to include. I got a pretty good score, too. :-) As far as the exit exam goes, you won't be able to fit your teaching to the exam. Every student gets an exam that is pulled from a bank of questions, and Student A will not get the same exam as Student B. Talk to the HESI representatives, and ask that a member of the development team be brought to your school and answer questions and offer instructional strategies. We did this recently (after 6 years of using HESI) and it was extremely helpful. I wish you success in finding a balance. It is NOT easy. Remember the reason why we use standardized testing...it is to prepare our students for NCLEX, and for safe and successful nursing practice.

Yes, it does, and quite well: http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=818330 " (the) HESI Exit Exam was designed to examine not only the accuracy of the examination in predicting NCLEX success but also the degree of risk for failure of the licensure examination associated with specific scoring intervals."

Thank you! I know this is hard for disappointed students to understand, but these assessments really are a benefit, if used correctly by the school and taken seriously by the student.

You are welcome, GoodOldNurse (I am one, too, at least the OLD part :-)

I think you may have misunderstood my post; what I was saying (politely, unlike you) is that this could be a timely discussion among faculty, instead, it has turned into a debate among students, few or none of whom seem to understand why schools are using this assessment tool. To help you understand, let me recap an earlier post, which you seem to have missed: Here is the bottom line: If a school's first-time NCLEX pass rate falls below a certain percent, the State Board of Nursing becomes involved and could actually close a school if the rates drop too far below a certain percentage. Using NCLEX predictor examinations as a requirement in the program (such as HESI or ATI) allows programs to identify students who are still at risk of failing NCLEX. These students put the put the school at risk of closing, if they are allowed to "take the chance" and then fail the NCLEX. "Fine!" you may respond. "If a school is not performing, it SHOULD be closed down." In many ways that is true, but think of this: if a school closes due to low pass rates, that is one less school that can serve students who want to be nurses. Raising admission standards, raising passing percentages in courses, and eliminating "participation points" (and other such grade-inflating credits in courses) would do lot toward keeping only those students in a program who were capable of academic success, and were able to pass NCLEX on the first attempt. Then, of course, we would have the other side of this tedious argument: "THEY fail too many people! Those heartless instructors!" Here is an interesting article on the subject, with a few comments from me: * Grade inflation is a factor leading to a low NCLEX pass rate in some nursing education programs, particularly in programs that allow significant point credit in theory courses for attendance, participation, and completion of assignments. (So, you could be an "A student" and still not have the knowledge base needed to pass NCLEX. Students often complain that "we should have more ways to get good grades other than quizzes and tests...some people just are not good test takers, but they would be great nurses"....Clue: the NCLEX is a test. I create grading opportunities that reflect the nature of the licensure exam, both in format and in difficulty. GET good at taking tests. This takes effort on the part of the student). * Student characteristics identified by programs as leading to NCLEX failure include a high number of work hours, family commitments, English as a second language, and low admission points. (Ask yourself how much the efforts of faculty will help if a student works too much to devote sufficient time to study, has overwhelming family or personal concerns, has difficulty understanding the material , or came to school with poor academic preparation. Much as faculty would like to think they can, they CAN'T fix everything). Nursing education programs tend to take similar actions to address NCLEX pass rate concerns. Actions commonly taken by programs include: o Initiating the use of an NCLEX predictor examination as a requirement in the program (which we have done; to date, all our students have ultimately passed the HESI (about 1/3 need three tries) and our pass rate is well above the national average each year). o Requiring students to complete NCLEX review, tutoring, or other actions if the predictor examination score is low (We provide intensive counseling and remediation, both at the midcurricular and the exit exam). o Increasing the minimum passing grade (something I am very much in favor of; we have established that students who consistently have a course grade of 77% or less are at high risk of not passing the HESI on the first attempt, and are at a much higher risk of failing the NCLEX). o Providing faculty education in the areas of the NCLEX examination and test development skills (we have monthly faculty development meetings on this very subject). o Changing or increasing admission requirements (something we are considering) http://articles.directorym.com/Nursi...-a1022926.html

Here is the bottom line: If a school's first-time NCLEX pass rate falls below a certain percent, the State Board of Nursing becomes involved and could actually close a school if the rates drop too far below a certain percentage. Using NCLEX predictor examinations as a requirement in the program (such as HESI or ATI) allows programs to identify students who are still at risk of failing NCLEX. These students put the put the school at risk of closing, if they are allowed to "take the chance" and then fail the NCLEX. “Fine!” you may respond. “If a school is not performing, it SHOULD be closed down.” In many ways that is true, but think of this: if a school closes due to low pass rates, that is one less school that can serve students who want to be nurses. Raising admission standards, raising passing percentages in courses, and eliminating “participation points” (and other such grade-inflating credits in courses) would do lot toward keeping only those students in a program who were capable of academic success, and were able to pass NCLEX on the first attempt. Then, of course, we would have the other side of this tedious argument: “THEY fail too many people! Those heartless instructors!” Here is an interesting article on the subject, with a few comments from me: • Grade inflation is a factor leading to a low NCLEX pass rate in some nursing education programs, particularly in programs that allow significant point credit in theory courses for attendance, participation, and completion of assignments. (So, you could be an “A student” and still not have the knowledge base needed to pass NCLEX. Students often complain that “we should have more ways to get good grades other than quizzes and tests…some people just are not good test takers, but they would be great nurses”….Clue: the NCLEX is a test. I create grading opportunities that reflect the nature of the licensure exam, both in format and in difficulty. GET good at taking tests. This takes effort on the part of the student). • Student characteristics identified by programs as leading to NCLEX failure include a high number of work hours, family commitments, English as a second language, and low admission points. (Ask yourself how much the efforts of faculty will help if a student works too much to devote sufficient time to study, has overwhelming family or personal concerns, has difficulty understanding the material , or came to school with poor academic preparation. Much as faculty would like to think they can, they CAN’T fix everything). Nursing education programs tend to take similar actions to address NCLEX pass rate concerns. Actions commonly taken by programs include: o Initiating the use of an NCLEX predictor examination as a requirement in the program (which we have done; to date, all our students have ultimately passed the HESI (about 1/3 need three tries) and our pass rate is well above the national average each year). o Requiring students to complete NCLEX review, tutoring, or other actions if the predictor examination score is low (We provide intensive counseling and remediation, both at the midcurricular and the exit exam). o Increasing the minimum passing grade (something I am very much in favor of; we have established that students who consistently have a course grade of 77% or less are at high risk of not passing the HESI on the first attempt, and are at a much higher risk of failing the NCLEX). o Providing faculty education in the areas of the NCLEX examination and test development skills (we have monthly faculty development meetings on this very subject). o Changing or increasing admission requirements (something we are considering) http://articles.directorym.com/Nursing_Education_Tips-a1022926.html

I will also add that about 15% indicated that they never used the online component. This is an average response for any kind of study aid I have ever used (workbooks, etc.).

Correction! The text has useful diagrams and tables, my mid-course surveys indicated that students liked the the way the text made connections between pathophysiology, pharmacological treatment, and nursing care; they thought it was well-organized.

I have used Pharmacology for Nurses: A Pathophysiologic Approach (2008) by Michael Patrick Adams, Leland Norman, Jr., Ph.D. Holland, and Paula Manuel Bostwick. The text has useful diagrams and tables, my mid-course surveys indicated that students liked the the way the text, and thought it was well-organized. You can "bundle" a great online resource called MyNursingLab with the text and save students $$$. My course survey also revealed that students thought MyNursingLab helped them to study more effectively, and improved their performance on quizzes and tests.