By Michael Ouellette, Currier Times Staff///

Nursing is one of the most popular majors here on campus. There is even a School of Nursing and the students take it very seriously.

Recently there has been a change in the nursing curriculum. The 80% overall grade requirement that students were used to has now been changed into an 80% average on all exams/quizzes.

This new change has stirred up tension between the senior nursing students and the Curry College nursing faculty.

Brooke Barry, a Nursing major in the Class of 2025, started a Change.org petition about having the previous rule be grandfathered in for upper-level Nursing students, that has 569 signatures, at the time of this publication.

“We were told that the rule would not budge and that the majority of our professors are in fact in favor of this rule,” said Barry. “Although it does not affect them, so I’m not sure why they get a say.”

The rule was brought back this year after being dropped in the Fall of 2021 due to remote learning. Dean of Nursing, Dr. Michelle McMahon, explained why Nursing brought back this rule and if this is a rule at other schools.

“We monitored the change, in the two years that the alteration occurred the Curry nursing testing went down when it was 91% in 2020, 85% in 2021, and 76% in 2022,” said Dr. McMahon. “Every school has its policy, it is different for every school.”

The testing she is talking about is NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse) which refers to the national standardized tests that nurses need to pass to become nurses. The score you need to pass is at least 75%.

Dr. McMahon said Curry nursing students were notified about the change.

“At every start of an academic year, we publish a new handbook in August and post it to the website where it is publicly available,” said Dr. McMahon. “Nursing students do an attestation within Canvas [online learning management system], and they receive an additional Constant Contact.”

There is still disagreement in the program between the nursing faculty and the Curry nursing students, particularly those who feel they should be grandfathered in.

“In what world would we try to make it harder for hardworking and willing students to become nurses?” asked Barry. “Why would we punish the people who want to help others?”

Dean McMahon maintains notice was given to all the students and there are statistics that show their reasoning.

Nursing students work hard but it seems like they are going to have to work just a bit harder in the semesters to come.