Nursing course failure may assist the nursing students to future success. Both nursing faculty and nursing students need to look at reasons for a failure. If the issue is the nursing student, the student needs to ask for assistance and change what is necessary to gain success. If the issue is the faculty member, the faculty needs to consider a better way to educate the next generation of nurses.
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In nursing programs, nursing students are expected to pass all nursing courses. Many nursing schools have progression policies that insist on a certain grade percentage for the student to pass and limit the number of courses a student may fail. In the nursing student's eyes, failing even one course is a bad thing but can this be the wrong attitude? Compounding this feeling are research findings. Frith, Sewell, and Clark (2005) found failure of a nursing course was predictive of NCLEX-RN failure.
But what if the student can use the nursing course failure to recognize a problem in either his or her study habits, understanding or material, or test anxiety? Could a nursing course failure lead to success of the student? Does the reality of failure actually cause the student to change and to become successful? This nursing faculty performed research which is unpublished that does give some evidence of failure being the impetus for success.
As a nursing faculty member, I have witnessed failure create success and compound failure. The students who change their attitude and study habits may go on to finish the program and pass the licensing examination.
I heard a student in the hallway last semester saying, 'I don't know what I was thinking last semester. Why did I find this course difficult. I know I am going to earn a B this semester.' I am not sure what nursing course it was but I smiled as I walked by. The student was repeating a course and actually understanding the material better. Failure may assist with success?
The other extreme is the failure leading to further failure. For the student who does not recognize a need to change, the initial failure may just compound into future failure. How many failures does a student endure before giving up or finding a new way to proceed? The student may even be dismissed from the nursing program as a result of multiple failures. Which is worse: a student who is dismissed from a nursing program for repetitive failures or a student who is passed through a program and fails the licensure exam?
Even though failure may lead to failure, should nursing faculty pass a student just to be 'nice'? Can the niceness lead to future failure? This niceness then may actually be mean and set up the student for disappointment and future failure.
For the nursing students who may read this, if you have a failing grade, do you blame the faculty member or do you go see them? Do you try to understand why you are failing? For faculty members, if all the students fail or a large majority of them fail, do you question what you could do better?
"As baby boomers continue to age, the need for health care grows" (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2011, para 1). With today's aging population, nurses are a necessary resource. Bargagliotti (2009) found as nurses age and retire, fewer nurses are taking their place. The projected shortage involves not only more graduate nurses failing the National Council Licensure Examination- Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN) (Roa, Shipman, Hooten, & Carter, 2011) but also fewer nursing students completing nursing school.
For both faculty members and nursing students, the failures should be of concern. Faculty members need to reassess their examinations and other evaluation items. Are they evaluating the students adequately and fairly.
Nursing students need to discover the reason for their failure. Discovering the reason for failure whether it is a nursing course or the licensing exam may assist the nursing student or graduate nurse to become successful in the end.
We need more registered nurses- we cannot afford all of the failures.
