[2bNewRN2010]

I just found out the program I'm going to has a ridiculous cut rate. They enroll about 100 students but less than half graduate? Why do students fail? And what can I do to make sure I don't fail?

[casi]

They fail because nursing school is hard.

You just have to devote more time and patience to nursing school than you've ever devoted to schoool before.

[TurboGirl]

It sucks but it happens. I failed a class because I had to much going on at home and it was really hard to focus, go to school at night and work a full time job.

[jesa]

I think it depends partly on what your criteria are for entrance. I can imagine that lottery systems have a higher fail rate than those based on grades, just for the fact that students with a higher GPA going in may already be used to doing a lot of studying

I don't think our school has a very high drop out rate, entrance is strictly by TEAS & GPA. I work very hard and so do all my classmates, but we are doing an accelerated program (18 months) and there is not an option.

I also don't think nursing school is HARDER than regular school, it's just DIFFERENT. instead of memorization it is about comprehension and that may be harder for some than others.

good luck, you'll do fine!!

[donster]

Originally Posted by 2bNewRN2010

I just found out the program I'm going to has a ridiculous cut rate. They enroll about 100 students but less than half graduate? Why do students fail? And what can I do to make sure I don't fail?

It sounds like my program; every year, the School of Nursing admits 100 students. I'm entering the second year, and we are at 48 students now, plus anyone who joins us from previous years.

Students fail for a whole lot of reasons. Some students are not as prepared academically for the rigors of the nursing program. Nursing courses are not like other courses in which one can memorize information and recite it back verbatim. Nursing courses assume that the student has the knowledge of the material; nursing examinations test the student's ability to apply that knowledge in real situations. Some people enter a program of nursing not understanding exactly what nursing entails. It's not saying "yes, sir" to some doctor who gives you an order. Nurses are not only entrusted to know when an order is appropriate; they have the obligation and responsibility to know it and do soething about it. Some students are there to please other people. Some students don't want to put the time and effort into their studies. On top of all this, nursing school is hard, like Casi mentioned. Without the discipline, determination, enthusiasm, commitment and motivation to succeed, it is very easy to be left behind.

I sincerely hope that you study hard, take it seriously and not only succeed, but excel. Once you graduate your program, you can do anything! And I wish you much luck and success.

[kadell]

Originally Posted by casi

They fail because nursing school is hard.

You just have to devote more time and patience to nursing school than you've ever devoted to schoool before.

yup


I breezed through pre-nursing classes with a 4.0

and now I have to study hard for As and Bs. and sometimes I am thrilled with a B. People underestimate how hard NS will be.

[crunchymomx3]

Originally Posted by kadell

yup


I breezed through pre-nursing classes with a 4.0

and now I have to study hard for As and Bs. and sometimes I am thrilled with a B. People underestimate how hard NS will be.

Exactly what she said. It took a lot of hard work to end with a 3.3. I was 4.0 until NS. It's hard. My class satrted with 160 and we are graduating with under 100.

[FutureNurse35]

Nursing school requires a lot of commitment and some people just cant keep up with the large amount of readings. For the final, I probably studied for about 100 hours and still did not do as well as I would like. I am happy that I passed, but without the dedication, I would probably failed. My original class started with 40 students, now there are 13 of us left. Also, many students do not have critical thinking skills to pass the exams, even if they are reading.
When you start nursing school, try to understand the pathophysiology of all the diseases, practice nclex questions, read and record the lectures if you allowed to. At the end it is worth it. Good luck to you!

[Jules A]

I have to say that most of the students that failed out of my program just didn't get the hang of NCLEX style test questions. For new students that don't have really good test taking skills that is where I would focus prior to starting in the program.

[unitek1963]

Like many of my fellow peers here, I too believe the main difference to be that critical thinking skills and comprehension are so much a part of the curriculum.

Students who expect this to be simply just another "memorize the information, then spit it out on the exam" major are going to be in shock, with many unable to recover in time to do anything about it.

You MUST be able to understand "concepts" from what you are taught, then be able to apply then to various situations, with many of those situations containing enormous gray areas.

You need to be able to think through things on the fly, eliminating certain answers in favor of others because they are the "best" answer. That becomes tricky when you are presented with a question where ALL of the answers are true, but you are asked to provide the "best" answer!

Good Luck!

Michael