Hey everyone, I'm reposting this open letter from Fern Sison which was inadvertently posted to the June '07 Blog for everyone to read. I've included my thoughts in the first comment of this re-post.
danO
Repost from: Futurenurses2007: Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Test Questions
There is a rumor out there that I am copying test bank questions and handing them out to students. To be more specific a student wrote that I took test bank questions for the Endocrine test and gave them to students. I'd like to set the records straight. I go over different types of questions so that students can learn the concepts and how to answer and read questions. I have many test banks available to me. If you look on this blog for N4 subjects you will find all of those questions with the same concepts that I went over during study groups. I have NEVER COPIED TEST bank questions and handed them to students and I do not give special priviledges to any rotation.
I have always made myself available to any student that asks for my help. There are no special advantages given to any specific rotations. I go over questions to teach concepts and subjects that students may need to study about and I give page numbers for subjects (so the student can read the subject matter) that could help students but I do not give test bank questions to any students. There are more subject test questions on this blog than I even have. Ms. Romena gets her test questions from many different sources and she even writes her own. Some may even come out of NCLEX study books with practice questions. If a student passes, it is because they studied and deserve to pass. And for the student spreading the rumor, the grades didn't get any higher on this test than any other test!
If anyone needs help my office is L214 and my office number is 954-5492.
Anyone who studies hard and goes over the subject matter or even studies the questions on this blog listed under N4 subjects could benefit and pass their classes.
Sincerely,
Fernisa Sison
Nursing Instructor"
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3 comments:
I'd like to go on the record and say that having had the privilege to study under Fern as my clinical instructor for N1/N2 and in preparation for exams for N1, 2, 3, and 4, I find the slanderous accusations leveled at Fern to be despicable.
The fact that the author of the letter sent to Romena didn't have the [expletive deleted] to sign their own name to the letter just goes to show what a [expletives deleted] coward he/she is. If you don't have the courage to confront those that offend you, or to stand behind the accusations with which you charge them, then hiding behind a false sense of morality will never justify your actions and breech of fidelity to your classmates and instructors in my eyes.
Knowing from personal experience how far above and beyond the call of duty Fern has gone to assist any of us struggling with our classwork makes this individual's accusations all the more a betrayal of the genuine compassion Fern has shown for the students in Delta's ADN program. She's not here for the money, Fern's here for US! She is a true believer, an evangelist for the ADN program and its participants and we are lucky to have an instructor so dedicated to our success.
I truly hope whoever wrote that letter is "outed" so we may all know the snake in our midst. For he/she is a person I will never fully trust again or welcome into my life.
And let me make this clear: I don't feel this way because of what they said about Fern (anyone that knows her would find the accusations ludicrously out of character), but for the manner in which the author chose to betray the efforts of someone who has given so much of herself to any of us who have bothered to ask.
danO
What is up with endocrine tests? When I was in N4, rumors went around to the instructor that we got a hold of the test because of the big increase in class scores. I had to also nip the rumor in the bud by printing out and showing the instructor our vast supply of endocrine practice questions which I had posted on the blog which were gathered from sources near and far. It is too bad to see this same kind of thing repeating.
I was one of the students that went to Fern's study session for endocrine system during the first 1/2 of the semester and received a packet that was passed out to all of the students that attended. At the top of the packet is typed
"All information taken from Medical-Surgical Nursing: Reviews and Raionales by May Ann Hogan and Tomas Madyag".
It consists of (for the endocrine system):
10 Pretest Questions
I. Overview of Anatomy and Physiology
II. Diagnostic Tests and Assessments
III. Disorders of the Posterior Pituitary Gland
IV. Disorders of the Thyroid Gland
V. Disorders of the Parathyroid Gland
VI. Disorders of the Adrenal Cortex
VII. Disorders of the Pancreas
One Case Study
10 Posttest Questions
Answers and Rationales for the Pre- and Posttest Questions
This helped me a lot as I am always looking for additional resources both for information and for practice questions; not just for passing the class I'm in but for fully understanding the material for use with my patients as well as building notes to review prior to taking the NCLEX exam.
I have a couple of points to add to the comments that were made already:
1) The only way that these were the test questions in Ms. Romena's class is if she also used this as a resource for her test bank.
2) There were only 20 questions supplied and if you only knew the answers to 20 questions, you would fail the test.
3) The additional time and information offered by Fern was at students' request and was offered to all.
4) If anyone wants to know what Fern's schedule for these extra classes is, check it out on the calendar on Docushare...It's really important to know all the resources that are available to you!
5) Anyone that wanted a leg up could sit down with someone who made it through N4 recently and pick their brain for pertinent info or their homework for study guides.
6) This is from a book that anyone could have used even if it wasn't presented to us by Fern.
7) Most importantly, and sadly, whomever it was who chose to address the assistance that Fern has offered to all of us, is taking the risk of offending one of the vital people (and resource) that is available as we fight to get through one of the most intense courses in this college.
As nursing students, we need people like Fern, Caralee, Julie Kay, Mrs. Flanders, Mrs. Batson, and all the others that so willing take the time to make our success one of their priorities! We were told in the beginning to pay attention to the nurses we worked with and notice the good and bad and learn to work with all of them but learn to take the best from the best. In my opinion, this should include what is observed of the Instuctors and Faculty as well. I know that Fern is one of the examples that I will try to live up to. I feel sorry for the person that wrote that letter and hope that if they are going into nursing, they will become less bitter before they work with patients and if they already are in nursing that they will realize that maybe it's time to take a break. Nobody will be able to make it to become a licensed Registered Nurse for the State of California with a couple of test questions handed to them and they need to take the all-important self assessment.
Thank you Fern for your time, experience and professionalism!
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