RECENT graduates of nursing programmes across the island are crying foul and demanding answers from the Nursing Council of Jamaica (NCJ) after more than 50 of them received failing grades in the recent Regional Examination for Nurse Registration (RENR).

The group of graduate nurses, which reportedly stretches across the University of the West Indies, Northern Caribbean University, the University of Technology, Jamaica, and International University of the Caribbean, is asserting that the pass mark was changed from 60 per cent to 66 per cent without any consultation or even an attempt at informing them.

The council is the regulatory body designed to control the training and practice of nurses, midwives, and assistant nurses. It also registers nurses, midwives and enrolled assistant nurses.

The Jamaica Observer was told yesterday that the affected graduates are also considering legal action.

One graduate nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Observer that they were informed of the pass mark change after they received their results for the regional examination, which they sat in October this year. The graduate said even on the day of the exam, the students were informed that the pass mark was 60 per cent and that they had to pass both papers in order to be successful.

“Why did I pay my $12,000?” she asked. “We need answers and we need to have the matter rectified.”

“I need answers and clarity,” she insisted. “I spend millions to go to school and end up with nothing. I have a degree and can’t practise.”

She explained that she had to pay the NCJ $12,000 in order to sit the exam and another US$100 to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) for the paper to be marked.

The graduate also raised questions about how the grades were calculated.

Several students have reportedly been trying to get answers since receiving their exam results, but they say they are being directed and redirected when they approach the NCJ and CXC.

Yesterday, when the Observer contacted NCJ registrar Merle Rochester-Riley, she said that she was not authorised to speak to the media and instead directed questions to the council’s chair, Pearline Cooper-Sharpe. However, up to press time, the Observer was unable to reach Cooper-Sharpe.

The problem appears to be a regional one, as in Dominica, students are also reportedly seeking legal redress because of the “sudden” change in the grading standard.

One media house in that country, Dominica Vibes, reported on December 2 that 24 nursing graduates are seeking answers from authorities because of what they described as the sudden change in the pass mark for the examination.

The Observer was told that, for the first time, CXC administered the new exam format of 200 multiple choice questions instead of the essay-type questions that were once administered. The graduate was quick to point out that she had no objections to this move, because it has brought Jamaica in line with global nursing assessment standards.

The RENR is the required assessment to ascertain Registered Nurse (RN) certification within the Caribbean, the graduate explained. It is mandatory for students who have completed their studies at various tertiary-level institutions in order for them to be granted a licence to practise.

The graduate told the Observer that if the final grades remain, she and other students will have to pay to resit the exam in April 2015.