Reading alot of posts discussing "A" nursing students vs "C" nursing students

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I still want to voice my opinion. Lately, I've been reading alot of post discussing "A" nursing students verses "C" nursing students. It breaks my heart that there are students that are so hung up on grades that they rather want an "A" nurse taking care of them over a "C" nurse. Come on now ! When was the last time a patient asked you what your GPA was ? When was the last time as a patient yourself you asked your nurse what her GPA was ? Nursing school is stressful enough and while I strive everyday to make A's on exams I don't. I started out with A's and now I'm hanging around with high C's. Don't me wrong, I take NS and my grades very seriously... the only difference is that I don't let my grades whether A's or C's determine what kind of nurse I'll be. I graduate in a few weeks and I'm not sure if I'll still have my above 3.0 average, but I tell you one thing I'm still going to hold my head up high and take care of patients to the best of my ability . I'll still be a nurse and no less of a nurse then my classmates that got A's through nursing school. These are nursing exams, the real test starts when you start working and providing competent care to patients. So I'm saying enough is enough ! To you students who are A students I want to give you a big :clphnds: I know you deserve your A and worked hard for it. For you students who are " C " students I want to give you a big :clphnds: as well and you also worked hard for you grade as well. No one goes into nursing school wanting to make C's all the time, however it happens. I haven't met one student that said" I'm studying my butt off for that C. Students now days are so caught up in grades instead of the true meaning of nursing. :crying2:When my pt. comes in with cardiac arrest and is in alot of pain he won't care what grades I got, he cares about my compassionate and me providing good quality care. Come on A and C students can't we all get back to what nursing really is about.A nurse is a nurse . Once you pass that nclex you are a nurse:nurse:

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. I'm done you all can yell at me now. :sofahider

Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

Man I want to go to a School where a B- is 2.67 some of these school grading systems I am seeing posted, it would be easy to be a straight A student for me!!!

Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.
Man I want to go to a School where a B- is 2.67 some of these school grading systems I am seeing posted, it would be easy to be a straight A student for me!!!

where i went to nursing school, an 80 (which is a B- on most grading scales) was considered an F, if you made an 80 for a class, you went before the academic review board. a C was anything from 81-86, a B was 86-93, and an A was 94-100.

Specializes in Emergency, Cardiac, PAT/SPU, Urgent Care.

As an RN with over 12 years experience, I truly hope that you (general you) don't take this competitive attitude with you to your first job. Nursing is all about teamwork, not who had the highest or lowest GPA in school. I don't care what your grades were in school, I just care that you are going to be a contributing member to the team and are going to strive to provide the best possible outcome for the patients, and are going to offer your assistance when you see a fellow colleague having a tough time with their patient load. In my experience, I have seen and precepted "A" and "C" nurses who were awesome, as well as "A" and "C" nurses who were horrible. Their actions weren't based upon their GPAs, but were based upon their work ethic, willingness to learn, and willingness to ask questions.

I also am one of those believers in you learn more in your first few months on the job than you do in all of your years of nursing school. There is no comparison.

I also just want to add that this is all coming from a person who barely made a 3.0 in my BSN program, but yet went on to graduate with the highest GPA in my MSN program, and who has also received excellent yearly reviews at work. Please don't ever judge someone just by their grades because as a previous poster mentioned, you really just don't know what else is going on in another student's life at the current time. Instead of judging each other, why don't you offer to help each other out through nursing school? To me, that proves a lot more of a person's character than what grades they received.

Best of luck to all of you in your future nursing careers.

there are many A students in my class that are great in clinical also, there are many C students in my class that also do poorly in clinical. there were about 10 people in my class that went into the final with failing/barely passing grades, idk if they passed or not but i def wouldn't want to be in that position. I've told my kids that C's are not acceptable so since i've started school i've held myself to the same standard.

Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
there are many A students in my class that are great in clinical also, there are many C students in my class that also do poorly in clinical. there were about 10 people in my class that went into the final with failing/barely passing grades, idk if they passed or not but i def wouldn't want to be in that position. I've told my kids that C's are not acceptable so since i've started school i've held myself to the same standard.

I tell my kids to do their best. If they are completing all their work, studying, and trying their hardest and they achieve a C. they won't be in any trouble. If they are missing assignments blowing off studying and so on and getting a C then they would be in trouble.

Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
Man I want to go to a School where a B- is 2.67 some of these school grading systems I am seeing posted, it would be easy to be a straight A student for me!!!

I have never heard a school where a 2.67 us not a B-....the way most nursing schools do things is that a B might be a 90% instead of an 85% which the rest of the college is graded on...nursing programs do not make their own GPA....but if they are doing things like 90% for a B it is going to affect your GPA more than it would other students in different programs of study that used the basic grading scale.

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

I think other students' grades are kind of like credit reports and bank accounts. Highly important data that's not other students' business!

It seems there are more important things to focus on than classmates' grades. "C" students will have to live with the grades on their transcripts for the rest of their lives. Such grades may initially affect their employment opportunities and even decades later - chances to further their education. So I certainly have no need to argue over their grades.

Competition, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. It leads to excellence in many fields. It seems that the deal is about attitude. High grades can be an indicator of smarts but they can also be an indicator of effort, or both. Poorer grades are not necessarily an indicator of lack of smarts -- but they can be. Neither are poorer grades necessarily an indicator of a crappy attitude of doing the minimum possible to get by -- but they can be. Poorer grades can also be an indicator of a highly leveraged personal life such as children, aging/sick parents, needing to work while at school, bereavement during a semester etc.

It is entirely possible a 4.0 GPA nurse may suck in some ways that are not academic. But he/she, in order to pass clinical should have been graded on all aspects of care (including the "soft" skills). It is entirely possible that a C average student (let's say C average is a pass at your NS) can be an awesome frigging nurse - no doubt.

Frankly, anyone can be a crappy nurse. Even people that start off with great attitudes and a desire to be a great nurse can become someone to whom you wouldn't give the wind of your fart. Nor would you let them work on your family.

I think what I read in these discussions, ad nauseam, is those with straight A's are proud of the fact, as they should be. Those with lesser grades can be a wee bit defensive and then the others get defensive and it all gets bloody ridiculous.

What I will say is that it is not rocket science to get a clue about someone's smarts and attitude, and combination thereof, during an interview or even from their application. I can sit in front of someone who did not do as well academically and get whether they will go the extra mile to ensure they know what they are doing. Equally, I can sit in front of an academic rock star and get that they are utterly unteachable and lacking humility of any kind. Also, I have seen the reverse of both.

We could debate this forever. No one is going to "win". I confess I am a little self-satisfied about my academic achievements. So shoot me.

If you have the capacity to be honest with yourself, you will know the truth about your academic performance and no one else. I have officially decided that unless you are asking me for a job or looking after my family it is NONE of my business how smart you are (note I did not say what grades you had).

I say this because I now see the back biting on this thread as one of the symptoms that plagues the nursing profession -- it is what I call the rush to judge. At best it is followed by the roll of the eyes and the deep sigh when someone speaks or arrives for a shift. At worst it is the ********, gossiping and overt aggression that I see all of the time. Given that we are professionals it is quite horrifying how we behave. Yet, we want the public at large, physicians, pharmacists etc. to have a high opinion of us and our profession. Well it is not going to happen until our collective house is in order.

:yeah:For you nursing student 19! I thought what you had to say was very well-written and necessary. Grades don't measure the type of nurse you will be, it simply shows that you have excellent test-taking skills. I used to work in the legal field and am now changing careers and begin my first year of nursing this fall. Anyway, I knew an attorney who had excellent grades, but wasn't able to apply that knowledge and everyone talked about it. Being book smart is one thing, applying it is the important part. I have a 4.0 gpa going into the nursing program, but I have talked to friends who study their butts off and sometimes gets A's and other times not. I am fully aware that the tests are completely different than just regurgitating facts so I'm just hoping to do well. My focus is understanding the material and being able to apply it whether I get straight A's or not. I think it's mean to put others down if they don't get straight A's. the program is stressful enough and to add the pressure of perfection is an unfair and unreasonable label. So to everyone out there in the program kudos to you for working so hard and doing your best. :up:Don't let anyone make you feel like you're less of a nurse just b/c you don't have all A's. I'm striving to do MY best and if that means graduating with a C well, so be it. I will know in my heart that I did my best and no one can take that away from you. Good luck to everyone!:loveya:

Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I have never heard a school where a 2.67 us not a B-....the way most nursing schools do things is that a B might be a 90% instead of an 85% which the rest of the college is graded on...nursing programs do not make their own GPA....but if they are doing things like 90% for a B it is going to affect your GPA more than it would other students in different programs of study that used the basic grading scale.

Another posted stated that in her program you have to maintain a 2.67 which is a B- that isn't the case at my school. A 2.67 at my school would be a very low C. Ours grading system does change for the nursing program (it gets stricter) but even in the non nursing courses anything below a 3.0 is a C

Looking at a few of the grading systems that people have talked about in here (ironically those that are saying A's are the good nurses and C's aren't) with the grading system their school has, it seems like it should be easy to make A's and B's. Our grade system is a lot stricter.

Specializes in critical care, PACU.

it annoys me that people decide so frequently that if you have A's you must only be book smart. I think that is malicious to say. I have a 4.00 and I am successful in clinicals. I know people who are just getting by scholastically who are very successful in clinicals...and those who arent. It goes both ways. I just dont get why people feel the need to be so hostile to people who do well in lecture.

It's like the thought process is "if they're so darn good at lecture, they must be dumb as rocks with common sense. I'll say anything to make myself feel better"

And it also annoys me when people say "well you must not have anything going on in your life then..."

I know people who have kids who thrive and those who dont.

I think when it all comes down to it, its about the effort you put in and your own personal drive and no one of us nursing students has any right at all to determine who is "book smart" and who is "street smart." Its all so silly.

I agree with what someone else said, "Its no one's business"

And I also agree with the emphasis on teamwork. My program started out super competetive and now we are all so helpful to eachother and its great. We are all in this together.

Isn't it funny that we put so much into Clinicals, but they are PASS/FAIL.

--My neutral 2 cents

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