Policy 02:15:00

Purpose:

To outline the requirements that must be met to progress in the nursing program at Platt College. 

Revision Responsibility: Dean of Nursing

Responsible Executive Office: Dean of Nursing

Revised: August 3, 2009, Revised: January 17, 2011 to reflect revised organizational chart, February 6, 2013 to reflect the addition of Section III Nursing Program Progression-effective April 1, 2013, and to include Nursing Critical Thinking to be taken after NSG 420; Notification regarding change in high stakes testing policy sent March 29th, 2015 with effective date of April 30th, 2015; May 1, 2015 to revise when ATI exams are administered and how they are accessed, deletion of maximum number of enrollments and failures (moved to SAP Policy), May 23, 2016 revision of value of Level One Proficiency score from 74 points to 50 points and addition of ATI information in NSG 452, June 29, 2018 to reflect timline for Nutrition ATI assessment. Revised November 4, 2020 for a January 4, 2021 implementation-percentage of proctored exame grade reduced to 10% (from a previous 20%).  ATI Proctorio used for student monitoring during COVID course transition to online format. Update: May 3, 2023 to revise ATI nutrition policy.

Policy:

I. Nursing Didactic, Laboratory, and Practicum Courses

Learning experiences in the didactic, laboratory, and practicum components in nursing courses are integrally linked.  A student must pass all course components to progress in the curriculum.  A failure or withdrawal in one or more of the didactic, laboratory, or practicum components will result in a grade change or changes to reflect the same status (withdrawal or failure) in the other didactic, laboratory, and/or practicum components.  For example, if a student fails NSG 312 L, but passes NSG 312, NSG 312 P the grade for each course component (didactic, laboratory, and practicum) will be changed to an "F".  If a student withdraws from NSG 312L, they must also be withdrawn from NSG 312 and NSG 312P.  The student will be required to repeat all components of the course at his/her own expense and this will delay the student’s anticipated date of graduation. 

II. Standardized Assessments

Standardized assessments are administered within each of the core nursing courses.  The standardized assessment system used by The School of Nursing at Platt College is the Assessment Technology Institute, LLC (ATI).  This comprehensive assessment and review program provides a way for students to prepare for the NCLEX-RN throughout their entire nursing education. Exams within the core nursing courses identified below are worth 50% of the course grade. ATI assessments in nursing core courses are integrated into the course grade at a weight of 10% (effective for the winter quarter 2021).

Critical Thinking Entrance Assessment – during new student orientation. An inability to achieve a Proficiency Level on this standardized assessment will not impact a student's ability to progress in the curriculum or graduate.

• Fundamentals – NSG 250 - other core courses with content applicable to this assessment in which exams are weighted as 50% of the grading components are NSG 231, NSG 232, & NSG 282. This assessment also includes content from NSG 151, but NSG 151 will not have exams weighted at 50% of the course grade.
• Pharmacology –NSG 290
• Adult Medical-Surgical –NSG 386 - the other core course with content applicable to this assessment in which course exams are weighted at 50% is NSG 385. Course Faculty in NSG 385 may add up to 20% more testing in this course.
• Pediatric Nursing –NSG 387
• Mental Health Nursing –NSG 388
• Obstetric Nursing –NSG 312
• Community Health Nursing –NSG 380
• Leadership in Nursing –NSG 451
• Nutrition-NSG 420

Critical Thinking Exit Assessment –NSG 420 - This assessment is not included in the grading components of NSG 420 and an inability to meet the program's elected benchmark on this standardized assessment will not impact a student's ability to progress in the curriculum or graduate.

Purpose of Assessment

The purpose of the assessments is to validate student knowledge of the course content and to ensure that the student has mastered the content area at a proficiency level that will enable him/her to be successful in that content area on the NCLEX-RN licensure exam and provide competent nursing care. The nursing program utilizes the assessments to guide and develop student learning in core content areas for generalist baccalaureate nursing and to prepare for the NCLEX-RN examination.  This type of testing also assists in faculty evaluation of course effectiveness and provides a benchmarking tool to compare our program effectiveness with other BSN programs across the nation.

Students will receive their ATI study materials at the beginning of each major nursing course. Students are expected to utilize all of the ATI resources provided along with their course materials to prepare for the standardized assessments. Percentile Scores and Proficiency Levels

Each of the assessment areas listed above has different percentile scores based on ATI’s national norming studies. The percentile scores are divided into Proficiency Levels by ATI as follows: Below Proficiency Level 1, Proficiency Level 1, Proficiency Level 2, and Proficiency Level 3. Students will receive points for this grading component according to the proficiency level earned as follows:

• Proficiency Level 3 = 100 points
• Proficiency Level 2 = 85 Points
• Proficiency Level 1 = 50 points
• Proficiency Below Level 1 = 0 points

Course finals and the ATI standardized assessments will be given during week 11 and students will only have one attempt on the ATI assessment.  ATI assessments conducted in online courses will utilize the ATI Proctorio platform for student monitoring.