This was posted by Stan Kegel on the groaners listserv.

An individual who completes a two or three year course of study in a nursing school still must pass the state examination in order to become a Registered Nurse. A nursing school in the midwest became concerned about helping students prepare for exams so they would be more likely to earn scores high enough to pass the tests. One of the instructors came up with an idea that was adopted.

Posters were designed and printed, with medication lists, formulae, rules, protocols and other items a nurse needs to have mastered to be able to answer the questions on the test. These posters were put up on the inside of stall doors in the dormitory restrooms, and in other restrooms all over the school.

The results were gratifying; students began to make higher scores in their examinations. Greater numbers of graduates were becoming Registered Nurses. Hospitals had larger pools of nurses from which to choose new staff. School officials were delighted, and the reputation of the institution was enhanced. Other nursing schools began to copy the new study help method.

The school calls it “On the John Training.”