From feeling on top - to feeling like crud

Nursing Students General Students

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Med/Surg 1 is over! We had our final today and we then had final review....I got an A. I was psyched! I did so well! My lowest grade on anything was an 86.

Afterwards the Psych/OB teachers came into address us....as 1/2 our class is moving on to OB and 1/2 to Psych.....that went fine.

THEN the Med/Surg 2 teacher came in....and it was like hello?

She basically told all us who passed to "enjoy" our time "off" in psych/OB because Med/Surg 2 follows and it's grueling. I KNOW it is.

Then she said " Those who got A's in MS1 can expect B's...those who got B's can expect C's and those who got C's can expect to repeat the course".

This really makes me angry. The Jr. class ( class before us) has had VERY low scored compared to my class ( Soph. class). They had no A's in MS 1- we had 4. Their highest B was a 85. Same thing back when they were in Fundamentals- their grades...on average...were 10+ pts below my class. Maybe they expec that of us...I dunno.

I HATE it when instructors basically say there is no way you will do well. My class has a LOT of serious students. We had 5 who missed an A by less than a tenth of a point.

It's like they basically are saying your A doesn't mean crap. You will not achieve that- so forget it. I know MS 2 is hard ( and MS 3) = but then she said basically that OB/Psych were " time off".. I think that's insulting myself.

Anywho......I have celebrated my A ) honestly never though I would do this well...but I seriously thought MS1 was like A+P 3! - we did Fluids, Electrolytes, Acid/Base, Respiratory, Endocrine, Immunity).

MS 2 is Cardiac. GI, and Musculoskeletal.

Ok I am rambling. But BOY it sucks to have an instructor say " CONGRATS on your A" and then 1/2 hr later have another tell you it doesn't mean crap. :(

Specializes in critical care: trauma/oncology/burns.

Hello BoomersMom:

Well, your post brought back so many memories of when I was in nursing school. I remember very well my first day! The Dean of Med/Surg walked into the large auditorium and said, "Everyone look to your right, look to your left. Two of you will not graduate from this nursing program" Yikes!

I am not sure why Instructors/Professors of various nursing programs continue to do this. Is this how they "weed out" the weaker students? I remember how intimidated I felt and I think that oftentimes this type of behavior leads to a kind of self prophesy on failing, especially if the brand new nursing student is right out of high school, or has returned to a structured learning environment after being absent from the classroom for any length of time. Myself, I was a poor student in high school, didn't really have good study habits. Then came nursing school and boy oh boy that first trimester: med/surg, nutrition, A&P, sociology, psychcology...Talk about feeling overwhelmed. Plus passing grade for every subject was a B.

I agree with you. Why do some instructors feel the need to laud their power over the students? I am sure that there is somewhere, right now, a student who has the potential to be a great patient advocate and a true follower of the science of nursing who has given up because of the attitude of her/his professor.

I don't feel that OB/GYN and Psych is a "walk in the park" either. Geez Louise. Listen, congrats on your "A"!:wink2:

Respectfully,

athena

Some people just looooooooooooooove that power thing....she's got you all grouped together and she's gonna show you who's in charge, oh yeahhhhh. :troll:

Why is that OK to do to students? (I have to believe a lot of programs have these blowhards that make those announcements...not just nursing.) It's akin to saying, "You're all a bunch of bloody idiots and I am looking forward to showing you why" The dean wouldn't allow THAT sort of comment to be verbalized....why is it OK to say what that MSII instructor said???!!! :no:

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Enjoy your time off. Congrats on the A!

Let the rest go.

That's all. :)

Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.
The Dean of Med/Surg walked into the large auditorium and said, "Everyone look to your right, look to your left. Two of you will not graduate from this nursing program" Yikes!

Our program did the same thing! It turned out to be true. They really play up how hard nursing school is (and for good reason), but I disagree that this psych's out students who are ready...those who aren't perhaps...

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

"Feeling on top to feeling like crud" That's nursing all over.You'll have days like that throughout the rest of your career.No other profession like it! You'll have days where you feel really competent-Like you are finally getting a handle on everything.Then-you'll do something stoooopid.....It's very humbling....It's great....

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Don't listen to these fallacious 'self-fulfilling prophecies' that your nursing instructors are making. I want to cringe every single time someone says, "you won't do well," because people begin to subconsciously do things that cause them to not perform well after they hear these prophetic words.

Don't worry about it at all. Perhaps it was her twisted way of trying to tell you not to stress out if you can't maintain an A in that course, or not to focus on grades as much as you do on understanding the material...

or perhaps she's just mean!

Specializes in OB, ortho/neuro, home care, office.

I think it's this way in every school. Once I got out of second year they said the same thing. They were right. I got my ONLY C+ that year (80.7%) Oh it was devastating. But I made it none-the-less. And so will you - so what if you get B's, remember B & C's (in some schools) still = RN

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