I about cried for a classmate today....

[justme1972]

We have had 3 exams in Nursing and 2 return demo's.

The way our classes are graded, is each test is worth 25 points. 20 is passing...so as long as you are making above 20, you have a C.

One of my classmates, Phi Beta Kappa student, 3.6 GPA, has to make a minimum of 23 on the REMAINDER of our exams in order to pass the course, and she is pretty certain that it will be an impossibility.

I can't believe that in only three exams, even our instructors have told us that many students are one test away from being told they need to withdraw.

I am so sad. She is beautiful, smart, hardworking, she has no idea of what she is doing wrong.

It just broke my heart today.

[justme1972]

Well, I'll be honest. So far I have been extremely disappointed in the level of instruction of our nursing program.

Our labs are not taught by instructors, every lab that we have had, they pop in a video, we watch it, then the instructors actually leave the room and there are a few second-year students that come in to "assist"....call me picky, but I don't consider that instruction. Our instructors don't re-demonstrate the procedure, so we end up learning from the LPN's in our class, who may or may not be doing it according to the "NCLEX Hospital".

I was going to try to work with her today to find out what's wrong. I'm pretty sure she is studying the wrong thing and probably over-analyzing the answers.

All I am really studying is the terms, making sure I can work through a procedure in my head, and have a thorough understanding of normal ranges of VS for the different age groups, exceptions, etc.

She actually got a 13 on this last test...I got a 20, but I also didn't manage my time very well this past week and at 6:30 a.m. the morning of the exam, I found a very large handout in my notes that just vanished from my memory as my even having it...and the majority of our exam came from it.

That is sort of what I'm basing my suspicions on. I am not a "naturally" good student...if there are all A's and one B, I'll usually be the one to make the B, so I have to really put in overtime studying to crack that A. She has the ability to consistently crack A's...so that is why I'm thinking she is studying wrong.

The other thing is, that she worked for 4 years as a CNA in a hospital and her mother, who is also in the program, is an LPN. I'm wondering if she may be making the mistake of thinking, "Oh, I know how to do blood pressures and what affects it"...but not really READING the details the book provides or the lecture...b/c those details are what is popping up on the exams.

[Sabby_NC]

From what I have seen I do not think a good GPA score is the be all to getting through nursing.

Yes you need to concentrate and have a good brain to absorb all the information.

But do not rest on a good score alone. With this comes good healthy study practices, applying yourself and not set yourself up with unexpected or unreachable scores.

Just be realistic and not look ahead to exams that have not happened. No one knows nor can look ahead expecting they are going to fail!! That would not be a good motivational tool for me LOL

[NurseKatie08, MSN]

Have you ever heard of self-fulfilling prophecies? There are positive ones, and certainly there are negative ones. Well, your classmate is setting herself up for certain failure by making a negative self-fulfilling prophecy on her performance on an exam that has not even occurred yet!

If you predict that you'll pass, you are more likely to subsonsciously do things that will ensure a passing grade. If one predicts that passing with a specific score is an impossibility, then they will subconsciously do things to sabotage their chances for success on the exam.

Your classmate needs to change her attitude first and foremost, because she'll achieve the score only if she believes she can do it. Also, she'll need to make some other changes (study habits, time management, etc).

Exactly! In order to graduate from the Commonwealth Honors Program at my school, I needed to have a 3.2 GPA or greater at graduation (in addition to other requirements, such as my honors thesis in nursing needed to be complete, and I needed to have taken and passed a certain number of honors courses). Because of two C's I had received early on in college, my GPA was fractions of a point below the 3.2 (it was a 3.1 and change) and people kept telling me I didn't have to finish my thesis if I didn't want, because it'd be so tough to pull up my GPA. I said I would and DID pull up my GPA by getting straight As in my last semester. I walked with a 3.224 cumulative.

Point being, OP's friend needs to set up a POSITIVE self fulfilling prophecy, because negative thinking will get negative results, as TheCommuter mentions.

[leslie :-D]

i know this is an older thread...

but oh, the ironies of who passes and fails in nsg school.

i remember my heart breaking when a few students failed out...

such a loss to the nsg profession.

i just knew they would have shined as nurses.

and then there are those who ace it and you scrunch your face and think, "wth???"

i wouldn't let some of these folks care for a dead skunk.

just thinking aloud...

hoping that the ones i am remembering today, have persevered and are working where i know, God wanted them to be.:redbeathe

leslie

[NurseKatie08, MSN]

Whoops, I didn't realize I brought back such an old thread. Apparantly after my first week on evenings & being almost off orientation (about 90% independent at this point), I am clearly not A&Ox3 lol.

[DoeRN]

In my 2nd med surg class I had to get a 90% on my last test and a 92% on the final because it had more weight. Well at first I was FREAKING out but I was determined to do it and I did. I spent everyday studying for hours at a time. Took mini breaks and cut the phone and tv off. I passed the class. If a person is determined and lets go off all of those negative thoughts then they will get through it.