Here is a copy of the letter I sent to Dr. Martin, Dr. Holdcraft & university president Dr. Hopkins

October 14, 2008
Dear Patricia A. Martin, Ph.D., R.N.:

Would you take a job where your employer could unilaterally change your salary mid-pay period without notice? Would you sign a lease that allowed the landlord to unilaterally raise the rent in the middle of the month? I did not think so. While I disagree with the concept of "exit" exams, it is one thing when a school makes that policy known upfront, but I was not given that opportunity. I was made aware of HESI requirements only after I completed a significant portion of my nursing education program, more specifically at the end of the program. That is wrong. A college catalog constitutes a contract between a school and a student, and any unilateral change to that contract is unacceptable and unlawful.

The developers of HESI have stated that many nursing education programs use the test for purposes other than those intended by the developers. The HESI exit exam is designed to determine students readiness for the NCLEX Exam. That is verbatim from the HESI website. NCLEX examinations are designed to test the knowledge, skills and abilities essential to the safe and effective practice of nursing at the entry-level, according to the NCSBN website.

If a candidate has passed both the theory and clinical portions of a nursing program, it is wrong to withhold his/her degree and NCLEX eligibility (livelihood) over a test administered solely to improve a school's NCLEX pass rate. If a school is having pass rate problems, it is their responsibility to identify and fix them without wrongfully holding back legitimate graduates. There is no state in the U.S. that requires a passing HESI score in order to sit for the NCLEX exam. The NCLEX exam is the recognized national standard for licensure, not the HESI or any other exit exam.

I wish some the faculty would stand up to their administrators. Some have agreed with me in regards to the new requirement, but yet, they will not tell the administration because they do not want to lose their jobs. There is no acceptable reason for students who will have completed the program as stated in the university catalog to be denied their degree and therefore be unable to sit for the boards. Please allow my classmates and me to finish the program we began.

I, as well others, am currently in the process of seeking counsel to protect our rights and livelihood. It is also my intention to alert the media, state representatives, board of nursing and anyone else that will lend me an ear about our situation. I am asking my fellow students to do the same. The last thing I want to do is bring negative attention to the school and/or the nursing program. I look forward to and will anxiously await your response before I go any further with this.

Sincerely,
Douglas Clark
Clark.17@wright.edu