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Finals are over! Thank goodness. What a busy semester it has been. I am taking some much needed vacation, but before I do, I want to share some end of the semester success stories and inform everyone that I have an upcoming Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers Recertification Class on Sunday January 5th in Salem, MA for $50. |
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NCLEX Success
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I'd like to congratulate Rafael, Chris, and Molly for becoming my latest clients to pass the NCLEX-RN nursing board exam. Rafael is a nice story because he was referred to me by Luciana who attended my 4-Hour NCLEX Prep Class this past January. She forwarded him last month's newsletter which prompted him to contact me. We met to discuss test-taking tips, study techniques, and review the most important pharmacology. Next thing I knew I got a happy text message from Rafael, "I PASSED THE NCLEX. Thank you Dan :)"
Chris already had his exam scheduled for a few weeks out when he contacted me, so time was of the essence. He attended my 4-Hour NCLEX Prep class and supplemented that with two one-to-one sessions to review important topics, including pediatrics and maternity. He too then passed.
Molly followed the more traditional course. Molly had failed twice, both times after the 265 maximum number of questions. We started meeting once weekly beginning in mid-October. Her scores were close to the passing standard, and it was obvious to me that she was a strong student. We reviewed all of the most testable content, and I felt confident she would be successful because every week Molly came in having mastered the material from the week before. She knew it cold and could recite it verbatim. Her scores improved into the target zone, she took the test last Friday, and sent me a happy text message yesterday.
The latest numbers are in, and just shy of 20% of all new graduate nursing students are failing the board exam on their first attempt. Repeat test takers fail 43% of the time and the odds of passing decrease with each successive failure. The pass rate has dropped 10% since the passing standard was increased in April, so proper preparation is more important than ever.
My next 4-Hour NCLEX prep class is coming up on Saturday January 4th from 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM in Newton, MA for only $60. Class size is very limited, so sign up early, and be sure to tell your friends.
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| Saving the Semester |
I had a bunch of clients come to me towards the end of the semester because they were in danger of failing. They were either below the passing standard or too close for comfort. Niceema found me online and started working with me via Skype at the end of October because she was below the passing standard in her pediatrics class. She improved dramatically after we started meeting. She got an 86 on her next exam and then an 80 on her cumulative final and passed her class. Roger, another Skype client, was referred to me by Donovan. Roger improved, then referred Andrea to me, and both Roger and Andrea passed their final class in their program. Roger's professor even took the time to tell him that he was one of the few students to do well on the final exam.
Rhonda is studying to become a licensed practical nurse. We met before her final exam to review the nursing process. Rhonda called me and thanked me profusely for helping her earn an 86 on her final. She said that "everything you told me stuck in my head." |
| The True Cost of Failure |
An awful lot of people fail out of their nursing classes or fail the board exam over and over and over again without seeking out professional tutoring. These people often identify cost as the reason they didn't pursue tutoring. I bumped into a former client in an Associate's Degree program who used to come to me as part of a study group right before she took her final exam. She told me that she needed an 87 to pass. I asked her, "Why didn't you come to me if you were struggling?" She said, "I'm just trying to keep up with my bills." I talked to her a week later. She didn't pass the class, and now, instead of graduating, she has to retake the very last class of her nursing program. That takes a toll emotionally and financially. I thought it interesting to figure out exactly how money it will cost her to retake that class. She will have to repeat a 10 credit class at $995/credit, so that's $9,950. Plus she will have to pay $347 in fees, so the direct cost of having to repeat the class is $10,297. But the true cost of failure is actually much greater when you factor in the lost income from the six months she will now still be in school instead of working. If she got a job starting at $23/hour (a conservative estimate) for 40 hours per week for six months (26 weeks) then she could have made $23,920. The cost of having to repeat the semester and lose out on all that time she could be working totals more than $34,000. It would have cost her only $270 to meet with me 1:1 for 90 minutes prior to each of her four exams. Students who fail nursing classes without investing in tutoring are classic examples of being penny wise and pound foolish. Years of effort and tens of thousands of dollars often go wasted. I first transitioned to tutoring and teaching CPR full time about two-and-a-half years ago. One of my first nursing clients was a very smart woman named Michelle, but she was below the passing standard after getting 70s on the first two exams of the semester. English was her second language, so she didn't understand a lot of the vocabulary. For example, she missed questions about insulin because she didn't know what the words "onset, peak, and duration" meant. Just going over her powerpoints one-on-one and defining those terms for her and asking her to define terms off the top of her head made a huge difference. She got a 92 on her first test after we started working together, a remarkable 22-point improvement. She went on to graduate with honors, and she passed the board exam on her first attempt after attending my prep class. Michelle then became a great advocate for me. She referred several other students to me, all of whom then improved and also graduated from their program and passed the board exam on their first attempt. When she graduated last December, she emailed her classmates and encouraged them to come take my 4-Hour prep class. Her personal testimonial and referral carried a lot of weight. Dozens of her classmates attended my prep class and prepared for the boards with me. Their graduating class had a 96% pass rate which represented a 14% improvement from the previous year. Michelle once said to me, "I would rather pay a couple hundred dollars for tutoring than fail and have to pay $10,000 to repeat the class and lose all that time," and I said to her, "Michelle, I am so glad you can do that math because my whole business model depends on people being able to do that math." But I can't help people who can't do that math. |
| Have a Great Holiday and a Happy New Year! |
I've had a great year. I am very fortunate that my business continues to grow. Business grew about 50% this year. I want to thank those of you who've patronized and/or referred to me. Your support means a lot. I've found a way to make a living helping people doing things I love. I really enjoy teaching CPR and first aid; it gives me a warm feeling inside my belly. And I love helping students deepen their understanding of the human body and learn how to best care for those who are ill while helping them become successful and prosperous.
I wish you and your family the happiest of holidays, and I wish you a very happy new year! And now on to VACATION!!!
Best Wishes,
Dan
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| About The Author | |
Dan Clinton is a Registered Nurse, CPR and First Aid Instructor, Professional Anatomy, Physiology, Nursing, and NCLEX-RN tutor, Researcher, Writer, Entrepreneur, and overall swell guy. Dan channels his passion for helping others through his businesses, striving to fulfill the American dream of succeeding through altruism, hard work, persistence, and ingenuity. As a CPR and First Aid Instructor, he offers comprehensive and cutting-edge American Heart Association CPR and First Aid instruction throughout Massachusetts and the New England area. As a professional tutor, Dan holistically aids his clients reach (and often exceed) their goals, and he has quickly developed a reputation as one of Boston's premier tutors for the nursing board exam (the NCLEX-RN).
Dan lives in Salem, Massachusetts, works way too hard, and likes miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups even more than the regular ones because he thinks they have a better ratio of chocolate to peanut butter.
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