Frustration...

[Mashira]

Hey ladies..

So.. I haven't been very active lately because I've been studying my butt off for my nursing school exit exams. We have to take (and pass) the Exit HESI-RN-BSN and Exit Kaplan-BSN to graduate. There are several options for a 'passing' score:

1. Get a 900 or above on the Exit HESI and a 40 on the Exit Kaplan
(Which basically means get a 900 and just show up to Kaplan)

2. Get an 850 or above on the Exit HESI and a 65 on the Exit Kaplan
(Which means study your butt off for Kaplan because average Kaplan score is 55)

3. Get two 850's on the Exit HESI (Which is next to impossible for most students)

Background: There were 16 students in the final semester of nursing school last semester. Because of this new HESI exam, HALF ( of the students did not graduate, and had to repeat. Our school has a 100% pass rate on NCLEX that they are sooo proud of, and refuse to recognize that the REASON for that is that they do not let you graduate or take the NCLEX unless you pass this non-board, non-state, more or less meaningless exam. So, just to cover their own asses, and keep their reputation, 8 hard working diligent students did not get to become nurses last semester.

Well... my HESI was this morning... I got an 895. ARGH! I'm so horrendously frustrated with myself and that stupid test. Five points... FIVE! That's one.. maybe two, questions and I wouldn't have to do anything else. I would be done. But no... *growls* Le sigh.

I realize that there are students that got 700's on the HESI and are going to have to work their butts off, and most likely not graduate anyway. I realize that I'm being a whiny little baby, because I actually did pretty darn good. However, I'm just SO frustrated that I missed it by five stinking points! FIVE! BAH! I just needed to get that out. Thank you for listening.

*runs to corner and starts banging head against the wall*

 

[danners84]

This practice frustrates me to no end. I wish there was a way to put an end to it or force the schools to also publish the number of students passing through their last semester but magically not taking NCLEX. It is manipulative and misleading. And more than that, I'm willing to bet that most, if not all, of those student would have passed NCLEX just fine and made excellent nurses. I know quite a few nursing students who are EXCELLENT in the clinical setting but just don't test well. I'm really sorry your school requires exit testing (it seems like most do). To me it shows how much the schools REALLY value their students - willing to deny them a chance to test for their license and to get their BSN (or ADN) just for their pass rates. That's 4 years of school (at least) thrown down the drain.

BUT...the fact that you made a 895 is promising. I know it's frustrating to be so close, but you stand a good chance of getting another HESI score above 850! Do you know when you're taking your next test? Good luck, you'll do great!

ETA - How many students are in a normal graduating class at your school? 16 seems so small, even for a private university!

 

[Mashira]

This practice frustrates me to no end. I wish there was a way to put an end to it or force the schools to also publish the number of students passing through their last semester but magically not taking NCLEX. It is manipulative and misleading.

I completely agree!

My next HESI is October 8th. However, the Kaplan comes before it on October 7th. (Yeah, talk about being stressed..)
Thank you for the kind words, I'm pretty confident that I will meet the requirements for graduation after taking this exam.
It still aggravates me that many people will not.

As for class size... my nursing school is considered one of the best where I live (according to hospitals that hire our nurses)
and very strict. (It's also private) 'Normal' students enrolled in the main campus pass a class with a grade of 70 or above.
For nursing majors, you are not promoted to the next semester unless you make a 75 in the course, and a cumulative 75 on
all of your exams including the final.

This means if someone made a 73% on their cumulative 'test average', even though their 'class work' may be graded
at 90% giving them more than a 75% in the overall course, they would not be promoted to the next semester.
(Because the test average was too low).

Example:

Exam 1......75 10% of grade
Exam 2......75 10% of grade
Exam 3......70 10% of grade
Final..........72 20% of grade
Exam Average: 72.8%

Paper 1........90 10% of grade
Paper 2........90 10% of grade
Activity 1......90 10% of grade
Activity 2......90 10% of grade
Activity 3......90 10% of grade
Class average: 90%

Grade for the course: 81.4% .... Fail.

Due to these standards, we generally start off with quite a few students in the first semester (my class had 5 and lose
a lot of students along the way. We have five semesters of nursing school. In fourth semester we started out with 35 students
but lost quite a few due to failing our Critical Care/ICU course. I am now in fifth semester with 24 students.

However, you have to take into account that of the 24 students, only 19 are the students I originally joined the program with.
(Others are added due to failing a semester and having to repeat.) So my class has gone from 58 to 19 over the course of
five semesters. Those in the fifth semester are basically the cream of the crop (not to toot my own horn), so it's
very frustrating when they say, 'you're not good enough', because of ONE test.

Sorry this was so long! I'm on an endless vent..

Edited: because when I'm angry I can't type... or do math