Would they really???

Yep, they can, and yes, they do. If that many failed, it's probably worth taking it up with the dean.

there are on;y 36 of us left, half of us have finished precepting and now all of a sudden, no one can pass a test. 80 is passing in out program (a "C") and people are jumping up and down just to have gotten a C. There has to be something REALLY strange going on. This is a mostly older, non-traditional group, most have previous, if not multiple degrees. The failure cuts across all lines though. It is SO frustrating. It's not like we are stupid. I don't understand what they have to gain by doing this.

Yes. Only half of our class graduated. Thank God I was one of them. Hang in there!

I'm sorry this had to happen to you, especially in the last semester? It sounds fishy to me. Why would a school want to fail so many students? My guess, its not intentional but like you said, a new testing system with the kinks not worked out. Of course, I couldn't say for sure. Take it up with an instructor or the dean.

After going to class today, there is one person with a passing average right now (out of 36) and that is a "C" : 83.5% Somethin' ain't right! The highest test grade was an 86, which is a "B" by one percentage point. There were 3 "C"s, but most averaged down in the 60 percents.

for what it's worth, this is not uncommon in adn classes. the reason is that the last semester really packs in what i call the "think like a nurse" content-- and they test for it. thinking like a nurse is not the same as thinking for other kinds of academic work; you can't expect a student to do it too early in his/her academic career because s/he doesn't have enough background yet. but in the last semester before graduation, you'd better be getting a lot better at it.

this is not because your faculty is mean or has "changed," it's because you have to step up to the plate and prepare to assume the full responsibilities of a registered nurse in a very short period of time...and they need to be sure that by now you have acquired the knowledge and skills to do it. many people can make it through most of nursing school but then when they are asked to "put it all together" to solve those higher-level nursing care problems at the end of their programs, they can't quite push over that line.

they may have good psychomotor skills, they may be nice people, they may have done ok in their prep classes, but when faced with the critical thinking test questions, they often can't tell the difference between the perfectly-true answer and the correct one that required a higher level of nursing process to be recognized. they will go to test review class and argue and argue that both a and b are correct, but they fail to recognize that while a may be factually true, it is not the answer that a nurse would implement.

it is not too late to put a big push on to prepare yourself for that. keep telling yourself that the last semester is different, and they are doing this for a reason. sad but true, seen it many times. hard to realize that passing the first year does not entitle you to pass the second... nursing school is more than a lot of people realize.

I have to respectfully disagree with you. ONE person passing the class???????? This is not "think like a nurse" questions. We take standardized tests from NLN and do just fine. Half the class has finished precepting with flying colors. There is something going on and we cannot figure it out.

I guess you'll be respectfully disagreeing with me as well.

Suddenly finding your grade plummeting in the last semester isn't shocking to those who have been through it already; it doesn't matter how many degrees you have earned in the past if none of them was in nursing. As GrnTea said, many of us have witnessed some very bright students arguing that "A" is the correct answer, yet "B" is what the instructor wanted--and when instructor explained why, Smart Student still insisted that was wrong, "A" was correct. And then Smart Student continues to get that line of questions wrong. And the Dean is not interested.

If there is an unreasonable number of students at the failing point, then perhaps you can get the dean to take a look at it. If your instructors are satisfied with the scores (or, I should say, accept that the current ratio of pass/fail is expected) then the answer is to find out what they want and do it. If after all, as you say, many of you have multiple degrees, you will be smart enough to figure out eventually what is needed here.

Only 1 person passing a class out of 36? Yes, you have to wonder if it is truly a student problem or a teaching problem. I understand that it is very difficult for some people to pull all of the information together, however it seems to be a bit more than that. It seems that if the pass ratio is legitimately only 1 out of 36 (and not just speculation), then clearly something should be changed. I'm not saying that the tests should be easier or any of that nonsense either. The material should be tough, and you should have to work your butt off to pass, let alone get an A. However if the class doesn't get the material, the teacher may just have to change the way they teach or present the material, or help get the information to "click" for a student. Failing a whole class who have done reasonably well to get to the last semester without attempting to help them figure out WHY they are failing is crappy school IMO.

it seems that if the pass ratio is legitimately only 1 out of 36 (and not just speculation

not speculation. we are a very close knit group. we are studying our butts off. there are multiple study groups. i quit working for this semester so i could study and very few are working. we knew this would be difficult, but truly 35/36 are not passing right now. i believe they are going to look at the last test to see if there was a scantron issue; they are grading them by hand. i hope they have good news for us.

ironically, i just got an email asking for a second interview for a job. have to pass first :)

You post an accurate picture of Nursing Education. Even in the dark ages (1980s) when I was in school, my science classes, western Cult., Psyc.,.... the tests were developed and tested by staff trained in education and focused on testing for clear, objectively measured facts. In the Nursing classes, nurses made the tests-seemingly the night before the exam. The answers were often confusing, inaccurate, and open to the interpritation of the reader. Even if you could show you were right in your chosen answer, the final score was based on the whim of the tester. We often had a "post test review" in which your score could go from a D to a B with the various conflicting opinions about the way to look at the answer. It could also drop a grade if they "threw out" some of the questions you originaly got credit for. I stand by my opinion that nursing education needs a governing body that controls not only information taught and tested in an accredited school of nursing, but Nursing Boards to ensure they are testing valid nursing knowledge not some vague, ill-founded opinion of some stary eyed theorist wan-a-be.

Amen to that! You explained that perfectly.