Suncoast College of Health A Seedy For-Profit Scam School that deliberately failed me on my CNA re certification twice to induce me to take their overpriced CNA program! Bradenton Florida

They state they are the wrong school, they aren't. I walked in there and took a look- same faces running the strip mall school on hwy 41.  THIS BEES THE RIPOFF PLACE!!!  If you need to requalify your CNA license, don't even walk in there.  I went twice to this strip mall school at $197 a pop and failed as did the entire class.  I've been a CNA for years in NC and had the let the license lapse unfortunately and this is the scam I fell into.  I can see some people failing but not the whole class twice especially when there's an incentive to make money in selling more overpriced classes. Old name was Southwest Florida Technical Institute and they changed it to Suncoast College of health.  It is the same place!!!

I am very sorry for your experience and can certainly understand your frustration with the situation.  Unfortunately you have incorrect information posted in your RipOff Report complaint that we would like to clear up. 

It appears you have incorrectly assumed Suncoast College is the one that “certifies” nursing assistants in FL.  Prometric is the company contracted by the Florida Department of Health to administer and certify nursing assistant candidates.  More information on the Department of Health regulations and Prometric testing may be found here: prometric.com/en-us/clients/Nurseaide/Documents/Florida/FL_CNA_CIB.pdf

You are correct in your statement that Suncoast College is the only location in Bradenton that is a designated Prometric testing center.  I believe your confusion may have come from the PROMETRIC employee who referred you to our exam prep class.  Prometric simply rents space in our building to carry out CNA Testing.  The “30 people in your class” you were referring to were actually testing candidates form schools all around the state.  They did not necessarily take our prep class.  Suncoast College and employees of Suncoast College do not in any way take part in the testing or certification process.  Unfortunately your claim that we “purposely failed” everyone was incorrect since this would be an obvious conflict of interest if the college was allowed to test its own students. 

The fees you paid to Prometric to “recertify” were required by and paid to the state and testing company (Prometric).  Suncoast College of Health does not charge or profit in any way from the fees paid for testing. 

The subjective grading you refer to is also done by the Prometric state examiners and not employees of Suncoast College.    Prometric requires 2 examiners to be present and observe the student before a “fail” is recorded.  This policy is put in place to protect the student from unfair “subjective grading” practices by only 1 examiner being present in the room. More information on the skills evaluation and how pass /fail grades are determined may be found here: prometric.com/en-us/clients/nurseaide/documents/florida/FL_CNA_ClinicalSkillsChecklist.pdf

It is likely that both skills evaluators present for your test were concerned about your skill performance and did not feel it was safe to issue you a certification. Patients may be put in danger for something that sounds as simple as the “inadequate hand washing” you referred to.   The reality is proper infection control can ultimately cost a patient’s life in certain situations.  The Department of Health and Board of Nursing deemed this skill to be CRITICAL for safe nursing assistant practice. 

After failing the state exam, the evaluator likely recommended you take an exam prep program to help you learn to improve those skills before you test again. This is where Suncoast College would come into the picture.   The testing is not cheap, and the Prometric evaluators wanted to ensure you were prepared to pass before paying and retesting.  Candidates have the option to choose ANY exam prep class they see fit.  A simple google search of the area would turn up numerous prep classes available within a 10 mile radius.  The Prometric test evaluator may have recommended our prep course because our students that complete the class and come back to practice their skills each day, until their test date, have one of the highest E3 pass rates in the area. 

I hope this information clears up your misunderstanding of how the testing process works. It appears the majority of your concerns relate to the Prometric testing itself. While I can empathize with your concerns, we are unable to address it because it has nothing to do with our company.  I would urge you to consider moving your complaint to the Prometric RipOff Report page so they have the opportunity to see and address your issues.  Since you have chosen to post this complaint anonymously, I was unable to contact you to discuss further options you may have for becoming certified in FL.  Your complaint was not clear as to if you took our exam prep class or not, if you did take it and failed, our policy is that you can come back through the class and we will help you practice for as long as it takes to get you passed.  If you would like more information, feel free to call during normal business hours 941-727-2273.  You can also read about the class and prices on our website suncoastcollege.com.  My name is Merissa Pighini, I am the authorized representative for the company to resolve and respond to online reviews.  I would be happy to discuss this with you further.  If you call the main office, they will provide you with my email as posting it here is a violation of RipOff Report terms of service.  Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.