Venting and Sub-par Programs

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Hello All,

Yesterday we were told that the school could not secure any clinical sites for maternal-child health and that we only have four lab days for the entire semester. Previously, we've heard that students were sent to a daycare for a single day, or were able to observe in L&D for two to three days, max. It's amazing to me that this is acceptable. I mean, I get it, if there's nowhere for us to go, then there's nowhere for us to go. But it's one thing after another with this program. Our pass rate is in the 60s%, there is gossip about the school being on probation with the possibility of losing accreditation, et cetera. Last term both maternal-child teachers quit and they only just secured one last month. But she's on vacation this first part of the semester so we have a sub. This new teacher that's out of town apparently can't access the eLearning site that hosts our files (powerpoints, syllabus, and more) so we can't start studying or reading; it's exceptionally frustrating. But it's not just this. The entire program thus far has been a nightmare - on top of the inevitable and expected 'nursing school stress' that all students everywhere endure. My instructor last term said, 'you guys should have went to xyz school'; even the instructor moral is horrendous. Another example, the intro instructor that has been there (for God knows how long) resigned the first week this term. It never ends. It also seems as if the school is all about money. They take 90 students three times a year and it is not a big school - at all. With a pass rate in the 60th percentile, this doesn't seem smart. I guess that bit is somewhat irrelevant, I digress...

I guess I'm just wanting to vent and curious if anyone else is not at all satisfied with the program they are attending so we can share frustrations and let off some steam. I know that 'the only constant is change' and in this field you must be able to adapt, deal with stress, yada yada - I get it. This is just crazy, though. We are also the test group for the new schedule / curriculum. It just doesn't seem to stop. :/

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Specializes in ICU/ Surgery/ Nursing Education.

I understand that you are venting, but I wanted more information. Is the 60% pass rate drawn from the number of graduates that take the NCLEX and pass or is it from the number who enter the program that eventually pass? If it is the latter then from my experience this is about right. If it is the first instance then why do people go to this institution?

Once graduated and properly educated, almost everyone should pass the NCLEX.

The bad talk about and by instructors and not having a OB-PEDS clinical site is a biggggggg red flag.

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Are you able to transfer to a different university? If so I would HIGHLY consider it. I don't see any benefits to attending this school and I would be worried that the end result would be the school's loss of accreditation and the possibility of not passing NCLEX for you.

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Go to your state's BON's website and you should be able to find the official NCLEX pass rate for your school. If it truly is in the 60% range, you should seriously consider a program move. 60% is really bad, considering there are many schools out there that cost $12,000 for a BSN that have 93% pass rates: I went to one such school.

This school is doing you a disservice by charging you money and not preparing a huge portion of the students for the ultimate goal of passing the NCLEX. Also, losing accreditation is a huge issue, and it can affect your ability to get licensed if you have to suffer through that.

If you can transfer, I would seriously recommended it. Losing a couple semesters of work is a small price to pay in order to ditch the accreditation stink and the possibility of multiple NCLEX failures.

Nursing school is hard enough when the school wants you to succeed, I can't imagine how difficult it would be in your program's dysfunctional atmosphere.

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According to the BON, in 2013 255 students took the NCLEX from our school and only 154 passed yielding a 60% pass rate.

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Specializes in ICU/ Surgery/ Nursing Education.
According to the BON, in 2013 255 students took the NCLEX from our school and only 154 passed yielding a 60% pass rate.

You got caught up in a poor program. If you can, jump ship!!!! You learned a hard lesson and maybe an expensive one...

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You got caught up in a poor program. If you can, jump ship!!!! You learned a hard lesson and maybe an expensive one...

Thankfully I haven't put much money in. Firstly, the program is not expensive; just under 10k, in fact. Also, I have an academic scholarship, my job's benefits include paying for 6 credits twice a year, and then I was awarded a separate scholarship from the hospital hoping I 'chose us for your place of employment upon licensure'. Albeit potentially detrimental, I'm going to stick it out. I precept in 6 months (which blows my mind because I just started in May!), and I plan on working my ass off to obtain the knowledge I need to, not only pass boards, but be a great nurse. I've talked to the clinical director over the units and he is going to let me precept in SINU so hopefully this will be a crash course in its own right. I've heard I will learn little pieces of a lot of information in a very short amount of time here so hopefully it will be advantageous with respect to NCLEX.

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.

ALso make sure you can even take the NCLEX without clinical experience in maternal health. Most, if not all, states will have a minimum clinical hour requirement for each field required. And only some of those hours can come from SIM lab. It would suck to make it to the end and find out our degree is worthless because you didnt meet the clinical hour requirement of your state BON. I would jump ship anyway, because this could affect your ability to further your education if the school loses accredidation. Also, cruddy schools get cruddy reputations with local health facilities. It would also suck to have trouble finding other jobs later based on where you got your education. GL in whatever you decide and I hope it all works out for you because this whole situation is just cruddy.

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I do know that as of this year, up to 50% of clinical hours can come from simulation. And I'm sure they are going to finagle it somehow on paper to give us our hours. I believe we have 11 simulations this term for maternal-child alone.

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Be assured you aren't alone! I go to a college in a big city - seems like my BSN program is so inferior to all of the other programs in the area. When I first started the program, the NCLEX pass rate was somewhere in the 90's - as with all of the other surrounding programs. However, that quickly turned around when the pass rate dove into the 60's my second year in. Like yours, we also have a very hard time securing clinical placements, which is a shame as there are a countless number of healthcare facilities surrounding the college. I have a few friends who had to spend their Peds/OB in simulation as well. There are ways for them to get around everything - and I guess sticking students in simulation when clinical sites can't be placed is one of them.

Such a low NCLEX pass rate is very alarming. They've made some of those outside review courses mandatory in my program now in order for us to graduate. This is how my school is compensating for the low pass rate - hiring outside companies in a final attempt to heighten their NCLEX pass rate for 2015...instead of trying to improve things internally. Unfortunately, as this is my last semester, switching programs isn't a smart thing to do...I'm just waiting it out!

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.
I do know that as of this year, up to 50% of clinical hours can come from simulation. And I'm sure they are going to finagle it somehow on paper to give us our hours. I believe we have 11 simulations this term for maternal-child alone.

If investigated by the board, it will come out that there were no actual clinical hours. They would have to have a contract with a facility and an agreement for the students to be at the site. If there is no clinical contract, there is no proof you were in a facility. There would also need to be a paper trail for student attendance in clinical as well as clinical eval sheets. There would need to be a clinical skills list. There would have to be hours logged with a facility. It would take a lot for a school to fraudulently present that you were ever in a facility that you werent actually in and would be very easy to prove you were never actually there. All im saying is to be careful. It doesnt not surprise me that this program has only a 60% NCLEX pass rate with what you describe. Obviously it is too late to go back and undo not having researched this before starting, but it is not too late to change your course.

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.

And I do realize this could be state specific and maybe yours allows for peds/OB to completely sim lab without actual clinical. If so then you are fine. But in my state, we are required to have a minimum of actual in facility clinical for ob and peds. I have heard, but not actually looked up myself, that the program I am in has only enough clinical hours available to cover the minimum for OB and peds. If even a single clinical is missed from those two rotations, we will be dropped because we wont meet the minimum requirement for the board to aprove us to take NCLEX. In all other rotations we have more than the required minimum and can afford to miss one here and there even though it is of course frowned upon. Thats the only reason I bring up to actually check with you BON on what the regulation is. You can do it anonymously as not to draw attention to your school.

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