LAS CRUCES — Several Doña Ana Community College nursing students will not participate in today's graduation ceremony with other members of their class after failing a newly implemented comprehensive exam.
The students alleged they were not given adequate time to prepare for the test.
"We were told in August that we would have to take an exit exam and it would be pass or fail," explained 23-year-old Brandy Quintana. "Even if we fulfilled all of our other requirements, if we failed this test, we wouldn't be allowed to graduate."
Quintana and other graduating students were issued the Health Education Systems Inc., or HESI, exam recently as a final, comprehensive test in their preceptorship requirement. Students were required to score 850 out of 1,500 total possible points on the test in order to graduate.
Quintana reported only about 15 out of the 21 potential graduating nursing students in the college's associate's degree program passed the exam.
"Now I have an F on my transcripts, and I won't be able to start working at Memorial (Medical Center) Monday," she said after learning she had failed the HESI exam. Quintana explained she was offered a position with the hospital, and was scheduled to begin her new job Monday pending her graduation.
Kristina Soto, 22, also failed to score at least an 850 on the test. Soto explained students are typically informed of requirements upon entering a degree program, semesters in advance. "If I had known from
the beginning I would have had to take this test, that wouldn't have been a problem," she said.
Both said that students newer to the program will have more time to prepare for the test.
Margie Huerta, president of DACC, said the students cannot graduate without passing the test.
"These students have not completed the course requirements given to them in August," she said.
Huerta did not disclose how much time other nursing students were given to prepare for the comprehensive test, or whether the HESI exam was a newly implemented requirement. "Students are always given final exams," she said.
Huerta said the test was listed as a requirement on syllabi the students were issued at the beginning of the fall semester.
She reported the HESI exam is recognized by the National League for Nursing, and was taken by more than 46,000 nursing students last year. She declined to say how many potential DACC graduates this fall did not pass the test.
"We're working with those students to provide them with additional instruction at no expense to them," Huerta said. "We're planning an eight-week course for them, to help prepare them for the test, and provide other course work."
A special graduation ceremony will be held in March if the students pass the exam, she said.
"We are always thinking of how we can help these students, and how we can train students to become highly successful nurses," Huerta said. source
How to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse
Licensed Vocational Nurse working conditions
What is the typical salary for a Licensed Vocational Nurse ?
How do I prepare for the job?
Benefits of Vocational Nursing
How do I find the job?
LPNs and RNs-similarities and differences
LVN vs RN What is the difference? |
