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

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The reason why nursing school is tuff because the directors want the students to pass NCLEX..They make the course work hard so that they will know only bright students will pass NCLEX...If the school gets under a 75% pass rate on NCLEX, the school will be put on probation...

I over heard this while the directer was talking to an instructor..

It seems that too many schools focus MORE on preparing students to pass NCLEX than on preparing them for actual nursing practice. THAT is a problem. Yes, NS graduates should be able to pass the NCLEX, but that is just one small piece of being a successful nurse and schools shouldn't lose sight of that.

Even with nursing school being tough you have so many posters here who complain about how inadequate and unprepared they feel when they actually start work. And this is after being selected out of hundreds of applicants and making it through nursing school. What if nursing school was easy? How unprepared and inadquate would those nurses feel?

On the other hand, the fact that graduates have such a hard time starting out, despite being able to get through the rigors of nursing school, could mean that nursing schools (some not all!) need to rethink how and what they are teaching.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
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.

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I usually don't post on threads that are more than a year old but this comment was just too funny to pass on!:lol2:

Plus, reading a thread from Bala shark is like looking at the car crash while driving. We know we shoudn't do it, but morbid curiousity got the best of me.

At any rate, Bala already graduated and is working as an LPN.

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These schools collect lots in tuition

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

Well, I think that failing NCLEX means they aren't a licensed nurse. The reality is that it doesn't matter who well any of us did in nursing school if we can't pass the boards.

Now, if the question you meant was, do I think that failing NCLEX a couple times before passing it makes someone a bad nurse....maybe. It could they just don't have a complete enough understanding to pass the exam, but it also be that they don't test well.

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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..

Not in my state they can't. The state Board of Nursing requires that you graduate from an accredited nursing program. The reason for this is that nursing is more than just book work. The NCLEX doesn't address clinical skills, communication skills, or professionalism....that is all evaluated during clinicals in your nusing program.

Additionally, when the nursing school looks after their own interests (in this case) they're also looking out for the interests of the community by ensuring that only qualified applicants sit for boards.

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Specializes in MSN, FNP-BC.

Stop and think about it and it makes sense. The NCLEX only tests you enough to know that you are safe to practice and if you fail it, the boards consider you unsafe.

Do you really want a nursing school to be known for pushing through unsafe nurses? I sure don't!

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Specializes in E.D..

Sounds like you have an excuse for everything. There are people like this in my class. I hope they get "weeded" out soon, because they are a real burden for the rest of us who spend time performing, rather than making up excuses. I don't want my nurse, or a loved one's nurse standing at the bedside making up excuses for why she can't help. I want a nurse who is busting her a**, just as we are having to do in Nursing School.

Also, you "earn" the right to take the NCLEX by completing nursing school. The NCLEX is not what qualifies you to be a nurse...it's the whole picture!

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Been wondering how Bala has been doing lately.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

As several have mentioned, we definitely don't weed out just for the sake of weeding out, or with the intention of being cruel to a student. There are many harmful things that happen if you simply pass a student who is not safe to practice. You do a disservice to the public AND to the student. Since, as others noted, NCLEX upholds a minimum proficiency standard, I wouldn't want a nurse practicing who can't meet or exceed these standards. I also would not want to send a student in to practice who I don't feel is capable of safely practicing, not only for the damage it would potentially cause to a patient, but the damage it would cause to my former student if they were to harm someone. My students are really special to me. It is difficult when they fail, although this is uncommon. I hate to see them in pain. But I would rather see that than see them devastated if they were to kill someone.

I work at a large hospital, and one day a few years back, a nurse on the med-surg floor had a confused patient who escaped and jumped to his death. I was on the responding code team. This nurse was very competent and capable, but the unit was understaffed and she wasn't given the help she needed. I have never heard anyone cry like she did that day. It was heart breaking. Just imagine how much more painful that would have been if she knew someone died due to incompetence. That nurse is no longer practicing due to her recurrent nightmares over that event. I would never knowingly place a graduate or the public in harm's way.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Been wondering how Bala has been doing lately.

Sounds like you have an excuse for everything. There are people like this in my class. I hope they get "weeded" out soon, because they are a real burden for the rest of us who spend time performing, rather than making up excuses. I don't want my nurse, or a loved one's nurse standing at the bedside making up excuses for why she can't help. I want a nurse who is busting her a**, just as we are having to do in Nursing School.

Also, you "earn" the right to take the NCLEX by completing nursing school. The NCLEX is not what qualifies you to be a nurse...it's the whole picture!

Since, as others noted, NCLEX upholds a minimum proficiency standard, I wouldn't want a nurse practicing who can't meet or exceed these standards.

This thread is over 3 years old. I am pleased to announce that the original poster (Bala Shark) passed NCLEX many moons ago, became a licensed nurse, and is in the workforce.

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As several have mentioned, we definitely don't weed out just for the sake of weeding out, or with the intention of being cruel to a student. There are many harmful things that happen if you simply pass a student who is not safe to practice. You do a disservice to the public AND to the student. Since, as others noted, NCLEX upholds a minimum proficiency standard, I wouldn't want a nurse practicing who can't meet or exceed these standards. I also would not want to send a student in to practice who I don't feel is capable of safely practicing, not only for the damage it would potentially cause to a patient, but the damage it would cause to my former student if they were to harm someone. My students are really special to me. It is difficult when they fail, although this is uncommon. I hate to see them in pain. But I would rather see that than see them devastated if they were to kill someone.

I work at a large hospital, and one day a few years back, a nurse on the med-surg floor had a confused patient who escaped and jumped to his death. I was on the responding code team. This nurse was very competent and capable, but the unit was understaffed and she wasn't given the help she needed. I have never heard anyone cry like she did that day. It was heart breaking. Just imagine how much more painful that would have been if she knew someone died due to incompetence. That nurse is no longer practicing due to her recurrent nightmares over that event. I would never knowingly place a graduate or the public in harm's way.

She is suffering some form of PTSD......I hope she gets the help she needs/deserves.

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Specializes in PICU/Pedi.
It makes sense. In a way, the graduates of a school's nursing program represent and reflect the quality of the program itself. Having a low NCLEX pass rate would make the school look bad, not only in the eyes of other academic programs and potential students, but also in the eyes of potential employers for its graduates...

In my city there is an ADN program at our community college, and a BSN program at the university. The university has been on probation for the last 3 years for having a low NCLEX pass rate. The CC program, however, has a very good passing rate, and is known as having a better, more intense program. When I first started looking into NS, I figured it would be better to get my BSN, but I started talking to nurses to ask their opinion. The unanimous reply was that they would ALWAYS rather work with a grad from the CC program, rather than the BSN program. Guess which program I decided on?

Oh, and you know it's bad when a prospective nursing student tells you that she has failed the entrance exam to the cc twice, and if she fails it again, she is just going to go to the university instead, because it's "easier". :eek:

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