50 out of 100 Nursing students failed program

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At my school 50 out of 100 nursing students failed thier first semester. They didnt make it. Geeze is nursing school that hard. I get really good grades but is it really that hard? These students must not be that dedicated. IL college...

At my school 50 out of 100 nursing students failed thier first semester. They didnt make it. Geeze is nursing school that hard. I get really good grades but is it really that hard? These students must not be that dedicated. IL college...

So WHAT do people out there DO when they fail out???? How do they proceed?? Do they give up the dream, apply elsewhere, start over, WHAT have been peoples expereinces?? How many end of finishing, and what path do they take? I'm extremely interesting in hearing what has been successful for people who REALLY want to be RNs???

thanks!

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I think that is so frigging sad. To my way of thinking it is a testament to the poor administration of the nursing school. The people in charge of the nursing program are either not making good choices in student candidates for the nursing program, or the instructors within their nursing program suck. I wouldn't want to be the Dean of your school telling me that only 50% of the students made it through the first semester of their program. I'd have him/her in a corner firing some pretty pointed questions. He/she would be slinking off ASAP with a red face when I was done with him/her. What the heck is mentally wrong with the administration and instructors in the schools that do this?

I could not agree w/you more! I left a school that was just like that. They took it as a compliment to fail more students, bragging on their NCLEX passing rate. What they didn't look at, was how many people from other programs that were much more humane, were passing the NCLEX at near the same rate! My first semester, 12 were failed. In the last semester, there was only 22 left of it's beginning 50. So sad and so pathetic. What's even worse, is that the ones who fail are so beaten down, that they give up entirely on nursing, even though, they really had the makings of some great nurses. Shame on them! (the school that is)!

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So WHAT do people out there DO when they fail out???? How do they proceed?? Do they give up the dream, apply elsewhere, start over, WHAT have been peoples expereinces?? How many end of finishing, and what path do they take? I'm extremely interesting in hearing what has been successful for people who REALLY want to be RNs???

thanks!

Sadly, most of them quit all together. I was able to talk one girl out of quitting completely, but switching schools like I did. A couple are trying to regroup, and then try LVN school first. Although i've heard that LVN school is just as difficult. At my old school it was not that the students did not try. Believe me, you had to put in 4-8 hours of study/work a day! The ones that failed had the nazi power hungry, bullying CI's.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
I think it is terrible for the school to let students retake classes over and over, just to fail out. These schools should be responsible and tell them to look into other careers early on when they aren't hacking it. I know if I wasn't hacking it I rather be rejected from NS than to be kicked out the first semester!

Try telling that to the students who have failed out 'by only one point', and all that. It's easier said than done.

There is so much I want to respond to over the past 7 pages, but it would be nearly impossible to address everyones simplistic attitude here, blaming the school, the instructors, the GPA's etc. There are soo many factors, but a huge portion of this revolves around the admissions process. At my school, faculty members serve on the admissions committee. It is quite an experience, let me tell you. The thousands of applicants with GPA's all over the place, nursing failures at other schools, repeated pre-req courses, students having tried to get into 2, 3 and 4 different programs, and extremely poor showing on the entrance exams. They want to know why they were not accepted and beg and plead for a chance. A chance for what, to fail? I know it sounds very harsh, but if we admit these people into the program, are we setting them up for failure? I know by and large, this is not necessarily who we are talking about here. But I think you need to look at the admissions process.

Another major factor is that NURSING SCHOOL IS HARD!!! And many of todays nursing students are multi-taskers: wearing many hats, and barely having the time to be in class, let alone devote any extra time to studying. I see it first hand (and I know it is not everyone, I am generalizing here), but many many students underestimate the effort needed to succeed in the program.

And yes, NCLEX passing rates are the way schools are measured. It is what it is, it will never change, and the state BONs can basically put us out of business if our failure rates are low. Whether yo agree with it or not, it is the most objective way to measure minimal competence in graduate nurses.

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Wow! What school is this? My school has similar problems. I have an awful malicious instructor, right now. I've have great instructors prior to this one.

Alot of my classmates are thinking about dropping out because of their grades. Honestly, its not their fault. In my case, it really is the instructors fault. I think a few of them are seeking for an attorney.

What I am learning is that you must stick together for what is right. Listen to yourself and keep tabs of everything that is going on.

I am greatly thankful for this site. They have taught me alot.

I really would like to know what school this is. Is it in chicago? Mine is.

Curious....

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Specializes in Telemetry, Immediate Care.

I'm honestly not surprised... I came into our Nursing program saying to myself, I know I was once the smartest person in my classes, but when 2000 people apply and only 80 get in, I know that all the OTHER people will ALSO be the smartest in the class... it starts out like a competition, almost... but as time goes on, you learn that some of the people must have got in by default, for some reason or another... Some of these people, ugh-- scares the CRAP out of me that they got past the first semester....

If you think about it though, having a high failure rate says two things about the school:

1) the Professors have high standards, and they are weeding out the substandard future-nurses... this is actually A GOOD thing, since it means there will be better nurses in the field...

OR

2) The Professors aren't doing their jobs, which means TEACHING... or, the admissions councilors are not thoroughly enough examining the people that they are letting into the school... Like others have said--- You don't get into nursing school by ACCIDENT...

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wow! what school is this? my school has similar problems. i have an awful malicious instructor, right now. i've have great instructors prior to this one.

alot of my classmates are thinking about dropping out because of their grades. honestly, its not their fault. in my case, it really is the instructors fault. i think a few of them are seeking for an attorney.

what i am learning is that you must stick together for what is right. listen to yourself and keep tabs of everything that is going on.

i am greatly thankful for this site. they have taught me alot.

curious....

wow, this sounds familiar. i hope they do get an attorney. i understand that nursing school is hard, really hard, but that is no excuse for emotional bullying that i saw at my last school. i have spoken to at least 10 of us who will make our complaints to the various nurses associations when we finish, and have an rn. until then, we are just hanging tight, yes mamming, and trying to finish. i am in ca. good luck everyone.

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Specializes in med/surg.

Nursing school takes hard work, but that means different things to each individual. We lost plenty of people throughout the program, but I would not say it was strictly because they didn't study or lacked dedication. Some had family, finance problems or they just felt too stressed where it took a physical toll. Many came back after a temporary break and enede up graduating.

Nursing school is unique and sometimes people think it's going to be a nice paying job and probably not that hard to accomplish, until they begin school, others may decide that this isn't what they thought and chose to leave the program. Simply because your school lost half a class doesn't mean they all failed.

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to: daytonite

can you read my post "do you think this is fair" i really admire all of your posts. i stongly feel that all of your advices have been truthful. that is what i really need right now.

i am confused about the events that is occurring at my school. i am really a good student and so are my classmates. we are all compliant until certain incidents occurred. if you can kindly read my comments and tell me what you think i should and shouldn't do. i don't want to make any wrong moves. i really need some professional advice. please! i need your years of experience on this one. i invite anyone who have the years of experience especially nursing instructors.

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I believe alot of student's fail because of the instructors. When I first entered OB/PEDS the instructor said "Look to both sides of where you are sitting, by the end of this ten weeks the people sitting there won't be here." The instructors operate on fear tactics to weed out the weak students. It's a shame, but they honestly intend to scare you so bad you don't believe you can make it and you quit. I'm not saying all instructors do this. Every instructor I had used this tactic. The best way to get by is just to ignore their stupidity and go on.

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Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.
I believe alot of student's fail because of the instructors. When I first entered OB/PEDS the instructor said "Look to both sides of where you are sitting, by the end of this ten weeks the people sitting there won't be here." The instructors operate on fear tactics to weed out the weak students. It's a shame, but they honestly intend to scare you so bad you don't believe you can make it and you quit. I'm not saying all instructors do this. Every instructor I had used this tactic. The best way to get by is just to ignore their stupidity and go on.

Hello all,

I am in my 4th semester and will graduate in May. I have a clinical instructor who is known to pick out one student every semester and give them a bad time. I guess it is me this semester. She has handed me back a care plan FOUR TIMES to redo and another one three times. I have never received clinical paperwork back in my other semester so why is there a problem all of a sudden? I spend at least 20 hrs a week on this Clinical paperwork before I hand it in. It is all very frustrating. She has an undertone of nastiness when she deals with me. I keep telling myself I only have to deal with this person 3 more times and I will never have to deal with her again. All of this redoing of paperwork is causing me to barely squeak by on my tests. I was feeling really depressed about all of this when a nursing school buddy of mine sent me this article. Everything in the article is 100% correct and I feel this is why some students don't make it.

"Many nurse educators thrive on the feeling of superiority that comes from controlling students and junior faculty and their futures. This abuse of power is related to feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, discontent, and personal envy, often with a "Jekyll and Hyde" component. Individual educators are only part of the quandary. Some academic centers subscribe to the steadfast education philosophy that students need to suffer in order to learn. Nursing curricula, testing, and grading are exhausting and often based on minutiae. Clinical paperwork can be monumental, and unrealistic expectations of both students and junior faculty abound. A number of education institutions merely give "lip service" to adult

learning principles and place minimal value on students' past experiences or their right to be treated as an adult. Some educators even go as far as to brag about their program's

attrition rate as a correlation to the program's rigor and superiority."

I know this post is long but this is something I feel strongly about. Thank God not all CI are like this. This makes me want to be an instructor to show students that CI can be supportive.

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Hello all,

I am in my 4th semester and will graduate in May. I have a clinical instructor who is known to pick out one student every semester and give them a bad time. I guess it is me this semester. She has handed me back a care plan FOUR TIMES to redo and another one three times. I have never received clinical paperwork back in my other semester so why is there a problem all of a sudden? I spend at least 20 hrs a week on this Clinical paperwork before I hand it in. It is all very frustrating. She has an undertone of nastiness when she deals with me. I keep telling myself I only have to deal with this person 3 more times and I will never have to deal with her again. All of this redoing of paperwork is causing me to barely squeak by on my tests. I was feeling really depressed about all of this when a nursing school buddy of mine sent me this article. Everything in the article is 100% correct and I feel this is why some students don't make it.

"Many nurse educators thrive on the feeling of superiority that comes from controlling students and junior faculty and their futures. This abuse of power is related to feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, discontent, and personal envy, often with a "Jekyll and Hyde" component. Individual educators are only part of the quandary. Some academic centers subscribe to the steadfast education philosophy that students need to suffer in order to learn. Nursing curricula, testing, and grading are exhausting and often based on minutiae. Clinical paperwork can be monumental, and unrealistic expectations of both students and junior faculty abound. A number of education institutions merely give "lip service" to adult

learning principles and place minimal value on students' past experiences or their right to be treated as an adult. Some educators even go as far as to brag about their program's

attrition rate as a correlation to the program's rigor and superiority."

I know this post is long but this is something I feel strongly about. Thank God not all CI are like this. This makes me want to be an instructor to show students that CI can be supportive.

That article is exactly right. Student's need to suffer. Especially nursing student's. What really burns me up is the fact that when you do graduate and get your license after all the torture, the instructors want to be friends because they made you what you are. For example the instructor I talked about above called me at home and left a message. She wanted me to call her back just to see how my boards went, she said I was a such a good student and she missed me. I thought Yeah! Right! She is just trying to brown-nose and find out about the questions on the boards. I wouldn't give her air much less test questions. Sorry! You reap what you sew.

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