Feel like such a failure..

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Hi All,

Just need to vent, I guess.

I am doing a 2 year Division 2 nursing course in Australia. One of our classes is Medications. We have 3 theory tests we must get at least 65% on to pass, a clinical test where we show we can give out meds, and a med maths test. For the med maths test you must get 10/10 to pass.

Well I've never been good at maths, and despite doing med calcs over and over again for hours every day for weeks I failed my maths test (8 out of 10).

I have talked to my teacher and I'm now being held back, can't do my next two clincal placements, can't graduate with all my friends. Not only that but some girls in my class have been laughing at me , telling me I shouldnt graduate at all because I'm so incompetant. Now whenever I make a little mistake, they even roll their eyes at me and nudge each other. :crying2:

I feel like such a failure...The teacher told me she is very sorry since I am excelling at all my other subjects ( I don't wish to brag but I have passed most subjects with a High Distinction..Im not fantastically clever, I just study hard).

I am begining to feel like maybe I shouldn't be a nurse...I mean who wants a nurse who fails...?

I just feel so dumb and left out as everyone is making graduation plans and I can't :(

Thanks for reading this post. Just needed to put my feelings to paper (well, computer).

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

I'm sorry you're having a tough time with it.

The ones that are mocking you are being incredibly immature and should be ignored. They may be passing math but they are failing on empathy, maturity and professionalism; all of which are just as important.

Go to the tutoring center, or find a math student to mentor you. SLow down on the test, and use common sense, "does this answer make sense within the context of the question?". Such things as coming up with a 5 mL IM dose doesn't make sense, as we never give an IM that large. Check your arithmatic carefully, most of my students mess up on that rather than not setting up the equation properly. Did you not understand the questions, or just get so tense you messed up? Show your prof you understood, but were just nervous with the test taking itself.

Ask your instructor if you can do a retake; our school allows two retakes (different exams) before dropping you. You are "only" being held back, these things happen. I know it seems horrible now, but you are still in the program. What I hope you will take away from this, is that you will be an extremely careful nurse with your meds.

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Specializes in Nursing Education.

I agree with JBudd...those other students are not representing themselves or the nursing profession well.

And as for the math...practice, practice, practice! Fill up a whole notebook with practice dosage calculations. Write out every step, and check your work. I have definitely seen students who have problems with math like you're having, but later go on to be successful. They tell me that they avoided math as much as possible at first because they didn't like it or were anxious about it. But they also tell me that once they started practicing like crazy then that changed everything.

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I'm sorry you didn't pass, but you are still in the program. Other people aren't so lucky to still be in the program after not passing. I know it's hard when you hear your classmates putting you down but you'll probably never see them again and shame on them for being so insensitive. Keep going, don't let this stop you. You can do it! Good luck!

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Specializes in -.

Thanks everyone. I have a drug calcs CD on my computer, I think I'll practice that more, also thinking of buying "Med Calc Made Easy" too...

On the test I just did stupid mistakes, for example instead of putting 0.4, I would put .4 instead, forgetting the zero in front.

Also the teacher and I dont exactly get along, which is why I have never asked her for help. She rubbed me up wrong on the first day when she told everyone she "didn't care if we passed or failed, because by the time you guys are sitting the test, I'll be on holidays and wont have to deal with you". Needless to say, a lot of people have complained about her. :madface:

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hey,

the method that i love is dimensional analysis. have you tried it this way before?

i have this book called dimensional analysis by anna m. curren.

an example of da (dimensional analysis):

if the doctor orders codeine 45 mg, how many tablets (tab) do you give?

available from pharmacy is: 30 mg/tab (scored tablets: they can break in half)

tab= 1 tab x 45mg = 45

........30mg.... 1 .......30 = 1.5 tablets

(the ....... are to keep place lol sorry) what ever you are looking for goes to the left and then equal sign. always do that first. then just plug in automatically the available drug first, followed by the physicians order. basically the dosages ordered are a couple so if it is 30 mg/tab that is a "couple". the line separating the numerator from the denominator is the division (just to label it). also, cancel out the mg from 35mg and mg from 45mg that way your left with tab, which is what you are looking for.

another example

the doctor orders 10mg of lidocaine. how many ml are needed if the pharmacy has 20mg/ml available?

ml= 1 ml x 10mg = 10 = 0.5 ml

......20 mg ...1 ......20

when referring to numbers with decimals...you lead with zeros ex: 0.5 but don't trail with zero's ex: 5.0 ml ..should be 5 ml

as i like to think of it, cya (cover your *) because if you have a .5 someone can write any number before that and that is bad...same with trailing, if you have 5.0 you or someone may not see that decimal point and boom! you give 50 ml's of a potent drug to a patient when it should have been 5 ml's. i have to scare myself so that i keep good with math otherwise its so easy to mess up. dont give up though! as for those kiddies in your class, they are really pathetic. we should be helping each other not hurting each other. hope this helps, good luck!

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

As the post above suggests, definitely consider using a different method of calculation if you are allowed to do so. I teach calculations and have noticed that my students often do well with one method, and have difficulty with another. For example, I have one student who can't solve the problem using ratio/proportion but loves dimensional analysis.

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Specializes in Oncology/hematology.

Im sort of in the same position- the only test i've failed in my first year is nursing math. (99% is not 100%)

I sat the test again, and again i failed because of a tiny mistake... it's really frustrating!!! With all modesty, I know i can be an awsome nurse, but this issue is really undermining my confidence- not to mention the looks I get from my classmates. Is it all in my head or are they already thinking that they'll be double checking my doses behind my back???:crying2:

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Specializes in -.

that sucks elisheval

i had one of the women in my class laugh out loud when i failed, and then went around to the other girls saying she was happy i didn't pass and hopes i never pass. i expected more from someone of her age. she is also the one who rolls her eyes at me constantly, and points out all my mistakes to the teacher. i made the mistake of adding her on facebook early on in the year when everyone was friendly with each other and since then i have had to block her as shes even been sending me horrible messages.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

Ignore them the best you can. We ALL fail at something in nursing school and we will ALL fail at something during our nursing careers. In fact, if it just happens one time, it will be a miracle. The ones who are laughing at you scare me--if they're that cocky, they probably aren't taking their clinicals seriously. No one is a good nurse in nursing school, if we were, we wouldn't need to go to school.

It would be a bummer to be in your situation. We had two people come into our class who failed out of the last class--I've gotten to be friends with one of the women. I think she felt the same way you do. 29 days from now she's going to be a nurse! It's hard, but use this as a learning opportunity. If you want to be a nurse, go back and try again!

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WOW! I can't beleive you have such horrible people in your class!! Don't let this get you down and screw the haters!!! I use dimensional analysis too, it works very well for me because even if you get all confused by the information in the problem, you can figure out what to do just by the units. First, cross out all the extraneous info in the problem only there to confuse you. Then figure out what the question is asking for and set the formula up so that everything can cancel each other out and you are left with the correct unit you are looking for. Then do the calculations backward to check and make sure it works that way too. Also, like someone else said make sure it sounds right for what the question is asking. And I would definately suggest getting the calculations made easy book, and just work your way through problems until you understand how to do it. I would try the dimensional analysis if you haven't already, I really do think that it's the best way to figure problems out, I don't agree with memorizing a million formulas for different types of problems. Good luck to you and if you really want to be a nurse, don't ever let someone fool you into believing you can't do it! Just let it put some fire under your ass to work that much harder and get it done!!

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Another little tidbit- be thorough, but don't overthink it!!! sometimes the answer really IS as simple as it looks...that's one of the biggest mistakes people make in nursing school is second guessing or changing answers. spend just enough time on the problem then move on.

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