Senior? Maybe...Maybe not... VENT

[Dr.Nurse2b]

I don't think I've ever felt this low. I thought I had it...

This has been a very long year and I feel beaten up...maybe just plain beaten. I was willing to consider the problem was with me but after three semesters of watching honor students slowly fall by the wayside I'm convinced there is a problem with my program.

When I was considering nursing programs I looked at class size and NCLEX pass rate. I thought small school, small classes and high pass rate was the perfect choice. I think I made a mistake...should have looked at retention rate.

Hind sight 20/20...right? I've found that most programs have about a 20% attrition rate. My program has a 20% graduation rate. My evidence...this years graduating class. 50 enrolled, 14 getting pinned.

Holding my breath for grades...waiting to see if I continue.

[jjjoy, LPN]

Some schools seem to think that having a low pass rate means that that they must be rigorous programs with high standards. That may be the case sometimes, but there are also times that the difficulty of passing has little relationship to the student's comprehension, retention of information, practical skill level, or clinical performance. A test might be difficult to pass because it covers a lot of difficult material. Or it might be difficult to pass because the questions are vague and/or poorly-worded, such that you can know the material backwards and forwards and still be unsure about what the "best" answer is. Toss in a grading system where one or two wrong answers can make or break you and passing or failing might end up being closer to luck than a reflection of the student's knowledge and judgement. When lots of otherwise strong students are failing out, it says to me that it may be an issue with the program.

OP, if you take up your studies at another school, maybe this will be an opportunity to compare nursing programs and have unique insight into nursing education that may serve you in the future.