Leading nursing students to content mastery

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Sarah is unsuccessful on one major cardiovascular nursing exam in her cardiovascular/respiratory nursing class, but overall scores are high enough on the remaining exams to receive a passing grade in the course. Is the cardiovascular information on the first exam unnecessary? What if cardiovascular questions appear on the NCLEX exam? What if, as a graduate associate degree nurse, Sarah is to care for a cardiovascular patient? In an effort to address these concerns and prepare competent associate degree nursing graduates for the nursing profession, the Kaskaskia College Associate Degree Nursing Program has implemented a retesting and tutoring program through the position of the Will Increase Nursing Success (WINS) Counselor. Based on a European model, nursing students must master the information of one content area before being allowed to proceed to another subject matter. Retesting coupled with tutoring has significantly decreased attrition in Kaskaskia College's nursing program at a time of increasing enrollment and increased faculty/student ratios.