School's hidden agenda, "NCLEX pass rate: Weed out students who will not pass"

1Tulip · Feb 5, 2006

Dear Bala:

I don't want to sound uppity or unsympathetic, but why is this a bad thing? When there is such competition for admissions to nursing school, why should "under-performers" be kept on board?

genhen · Feb 5, 2006

And your point is........?

Bala Shark · Feb 5, 2006

Dear Bala:
I don't want to sound uppity or unsympathetic, but why is this a bad thing? When there is such competition for admissions to nursing school, why should "under-performers" be kept on board?

It is not fair in doing this..In my school, if you miss a day of lecture, you will struggle to pass the whole semester since you are down a lot of points and the lecture covered the exam...And they present too much information to know at one time..And they give these questions to you from out of the blue in the multiple choice test..It is not fair..In regular college, like general education, classes will not be like nursing school in terms of filtering you out!

genhen · Feb 5, 2006

"In regular college, like general education, classes will not be like nursing school in terms of filtering you out!"

I can tell that your frustrated. Nursing school is tough. In general education classes, you are not taking care of someones life. In general education classes, you are not figuring out SAFE med does, drug interactions, or contraindications.

What we do affects the lives of our patients. Nurses are held to a higher standard that your typical Joe business major (nothing against business majors). If I was a patient, I would want a nurse who knew what he/she was doing. I don't want a nurse that passed through a easy Nursing school because that school didn't want to hurt students "feelings" or make the work too tough.

Think about the bigger picture. Look at the effect that an incompetent nurse has on society or even on a department. I'm sure that nurses already working could tell you stories upon stories about incompetent nurses.

Here is one. A nurse gave a patient Pavulon (Pancuronium). This is a paralytic which is only given to a patient that is on a vent. Guess what? This nurse gave it to a patient that was not on a vent. The med paralyzed the breathing muscles and this patient died. Nurse lost her license, hospital got sued. A big, ugly mess.

I don't mean to sound harsh but nursing school is hard for a reason.

Peace

Genhen

1Tulip · Feb 5, 2006

It is not fair in doing this..In my school, if you miss a day of lecture, you will struggle to pass the whole semester since you are down a lot of points and the lecture covered the exam...And they present too much information to know at one time..And they give these questions to you from out of the blue in the multiple choice test..It is not fair..In regular college, like general education, classes will not be like nursing school in terms of filtering you out!

Bala, you're right. It is different than general eduacation classes. But on the other hand, no one ever died because they diagramed a sentance incorrectly. No one has yet been killed because they didn't know who William the Conqueror was, or blanked on the name of the inventor of the steam engine... if you catch my meaning.

And you're absolutely right. Miss a day in lecture and you are almost hopelessly behind in nursing school. If you cannot be in class you should have someone tape record the lecture and collect handouts for you. Then you should work your butt off to read the textbooks and recommended readings in order to catch up.

Nursing care of sick people is very serious business. You need to get this in your head before you go any further.

SerenityR.N., BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2006

With all this being said, do you guys think that failing the NCLEX means that the person will be a bad nurse?

Bala Shark · Feb 5, 2006

With all this being said, do you guys think that failing the NCLEX means that the person will be a bad nurse?

Taking NCLEX would be a walk in a park if I take it compared to what I go through now..

genhen · Feb 5, 2006

You ask if a person failing the NCLEX would be a bad nurse. While this is off thread, I'll take a shot at it.

Failing the NCLEX does not necessarily equate to being a bad nurse. Some people have test anxiety and some people learn at a slower rate. I know of a great nurse who failed the NCLEX five times. She got anxious anytime you mentioned the word "test". She passed on the sixth time and is a great nurse.

On the other hand, if you repeatedly fail the NCLEX it does raise a red flag that merits further thought about this person being a nurse.

It comes down to if this person is truly ready to be a nurse. I believe that nursing school preparation for the NCLEX, nursing school clinical rotations, and passing the NCLEX, prepares you to become a nurse.

Peace

Genhen

Bala Shark · Feb 5, 2006

You ask if a person failing the NCLEX would be a bad nurse. While this is off thread, I'll take a shot at it.
Failing the NCLEX does not necessarily equate to being a bad nurse. Some people have test anxiety and some people learn at a slower rate. I know of a great nurse who failed the NCLEX five times. She got anxious anytime you mentioned the word "test". She passed on the sixth time and is a great nurse.
On the other hand, if you repeatedly fail the NCLEX it does raise a red flag that merits further thought about this person being a nurse.
It comes down to if this person is truly ready to be a nurse. I believe that nursing school preparation for the NCLEX, nursing school clinical rotations, and passing the NCLEX, prepares you to become a nurse.
Peace
Genhen

Acutally, a person can pass NCLEX, by self studying in my view...When you make nursing school where the school is at threat of being on probation, then the school will look after their own intrests rather than the students..

genhen · Feb 5, 2006

lol, has anyone ever told you that you are very stubborn.

To answer your question, you must pass nursing school to become elgible to take the NCLEX. Nursing school also encompasses clinical rotations as well.

Someone who just studied for NCLEX and passed NCLEX without nursing school would, most likely, be a very bad nurse.

The main point is patient safety. Nursing school is tough for this reason.

Bala Shark · Feb 5, 2006

lol, has anyone ever told you that you are very stubborn.
To answer your question, you must pass nursing school to become elgible to take the NCLEX. Nursing school also encompasses clinical rotations as well.
Someone who just studied for NCLEX and passed NCLEX without nursing school would, most likely, be a very bad nurse.
The main point is patient safety. Nursing school is tough for this reason.

Actually, a lot of peopel can pass NCLEX if they studied the right books like ATI books which I have.It is much more condensed and has a lot of "at the point" information..

This is why nursing school is tuff for me..This is what happened the other day, all in the same friggen day....I missed 40 minutes of class because of car problems and I missed important notes in class.....And at lunch time, an instructor came to our room when I was eating lunch outside..1/3 of the class was outside eating lunch..The instructor gave out a homework assignment which was worth a lot of points..Guess what? I did not get the assigment because it was lunch time and i was not eating lunch inside the class..And the instructor does not take late assignments and I am out of points because I could not hand it in..And another student being competitive gave me the wrong answers on a group project to tell my instructor..The instructor thought I was really dumb....Tuff luck for me, right?I might not pass just because of one friggen day..It is my last semester of nursing school and I might fail because of one lousy day..It is not right at all..