should this girl pass nursing school?

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i'm in my 4th yr of bs nursing & i will be graduating this may 2006 (woohoo!) now my thread is: i have this classmate who has been passing our nursing subjects not with high grades but not so low grades either. and several instances during our clinicals, she would be asking me or some other groupmate some questions such as: (remember she is a graduating nursing student)

a. what is a diuretic?

b. what does dyspneic/tachypneic mean?

and many instances, she has been really incompetent and uncomprehensible when giving rationales or explanations on different diseases/cases. she doesn't even know what the normal range for fasting blood sugar is!:uhoh21:

i know she shouldn't be allowed to graduate and i, for a fact, would not want to be hospitalized and be under her care (i think i will die!)... :eek:

should she be allowed to graduate? should we (me and my other groupmates) bring this up with our level head or dean or someone concerned? i mean, poor girl she's worked so hard. but goodness, poor patients if she will pass the boards eventually (she loves memorizing, w/o understanding anything!). :uhoh21:

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MYOB. If she does not know these things, memorization or not, she will NEVER pass a licensing exam and will never be allowed to practice.

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:nono: If she is only "memorizing" what she needs at the time just to pass, and not knowing what the crap is going on - she most definitely does not need to be an R.N. This is real life here! I would think she would get a clue and wonder, if she's having a difficult time, she may just think of getting another profession.

Now, I'm just speaking as a "pre-nursing" student. I know that for me personally it is hard work, and I haven't even gotten into clinicals yet. But I also know that common sense would tell me if I'm not "cut out" for something.

I would probably say something to your superior. Maybe the girl is taking on more than she should. I thought that in order to move on to the next level of nursing classes, you had to "test out". That's the way it is at my school anyway. If you don't pass with atleast a C or better you have to do the course again. If you fail again, you are dropped from the program. She obviously isn't learning what she should be.

Good luck to ya! And congrats!

Cindy

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MYOB. If she does not know these things, memorization or not, she will NEVER pass a licensing exam and will never be allowed to practice.

yeah, i should... but i have a feeling she's gonna pass the local boards...maybe not the other licensure exams though... :specs:

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well, we do have validating/qualifying exams at the end of each schoolyear, but somehow, she passes the exams and the required grade. i have not idea how she does it though... the thing is with her, she doesn't seem to realize that she's not cut out for nursing... you should hear her give patient education, it's like she's reading out of a book or a bible! :p

:nono: If she is only "memorizing" what she needs at the time just to pass, and not knowing what the crap is going on - she most definitely does not need to be an R.N. This is real life here! I would think she would get a clue and wonder, if she's having a difficult time, she may just think of getting another profession.

Now, I'm just speaking as a "pre-nursing" student. I know that for me personally it is hard work, and I haven't even gotten into clinicals yet. But I also know that common sense would tell me if I'm not "cut out" for something.

I would probably say something to your superior. Maybe the girl is taking on more than she should. I thought that in order to move on to the next level of nursing classes, you had to "test out". That's the way it is at my school anyway. If you don't pass with atleast a C or better you have to do the course again. If you fail again, you are dropped from the program. She obviously isn't learning what she should be.

Good luck to ya! And congrats!

Cindy

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Who are we to decide who is cut out for nursing, and who is not? That's why we have licensing examination - to make sure all candidates are safe and educated practitioners. By the way, I've heard a lot of times - to not offend anyone - that Bachelor's degree graduates are book smart, but not able to put all their knowledge together and apply it in real world.

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I am not one of those people who does not believe in getting involved. I would never have picked this career if I was. I believe the world is a bit cold and we need to look out for each other...

BUT here is why I responded the way I did.

It is not a student's responsiblity to judge the fitness or apptitude of another student. It is up to the faculty and staff to determine these things. This is why school's have such rigorous testing and clincial training, to weed out those who are not prepared and do not work hard.

Obviously this young woman has slipped through your school's safety net and that is quite sad. Your school does need to address certain issues. If you do speak to a school administrator, you should mention what you feel are the weaknesses in the program that allowed this person to slip through. DO NOT MENTION HER BY NAME OR MAKE ANY REFERENCE TO HER.

If this young woman cannot recall such critical info as you mentioned, her memorization skills are not as good as she thinks. If she hs not grasped the concept of critical thinking she most likely do poorly on any licensing exam.

Truth be told, your instructors' have probably already noticed her sub-standard performance and are making moves to correct it.

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well, we do have validating/qualifying exams at the end of each schoolyear, but somehow, she passes the exams and the required grade. i have not idea how she does it though... the thing is with her, she doesn't seem to realize that she's not cut out for nursing... you should hear her give patient education, it's like she's reading out of a book or a bible! :p

:rotfl: Don't you just wanta laugh when she's talking? How old is this chick? What do other students think of her? How do patients react to her? :uhoh21:

I remember when my Dad was in the hospital last year. He was very sick with a fatal blood disorder. (He eventually died from sepsis) He had been put in to have some teeth extracted due to absesses.

There was a nurse that he had - to this day, my mother and I STILL have no clue how she made it through school. My dad was in a chair beside his hospital bed - he was in a GREAT deal of pain. Well, this NUT of a nurse came in with pain meds. After finally deciding that since he couldn't swallow anything - due to mouth pain, and the fact he was packed with cotton, she would give him an injection, knowing that he would eventually need to be put back to bed, due to the fact he would be falling out of the chair, due to being knocked out from the pain med. We sorta mentioned that to her, but she says, "Oh, he'll be fine, I'll be back in about a half hour". Well, needless to say go old Dad was falling out to the floor as me an mom were trying to pull him up to the bed. Well, nurse quack comes back in and says, "Oh my goodness, he does need to get back in the bed". DUH! We never saw her again - o.k., maybe I was just a little harsh with her. :D

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We had a student like that in our LPN program. She did graduate the school program because she has the grades. She did not ever pass boards. I also think that you should MYOB and let what happens happen. I sure if your account of her is accurate she will not be able to pass boards.

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I am not one of those people who does not believe in getting involved. I would never have picked this career if I was. I believe the world is a bit cold and we need to look out for each other...

BUT here is why I responded the way I did.

It is not a student's responsiblity to judge the fitness or apptitude of another student. It is up to the faculty and staff to determine these things. This is why school's have such rigorous testing and clincial training, to weed out those who are not prepared and do not work hard.

Obviously this young woman has slipped through your school's safety net and that is quite sad. Your school does need to address certain issues. If you do speak to a school administrator, you should mention what you feel are the weaknesses in the program that allowed this person to slip through. DO NOT MENTION HER BY NAME OR MAKE ANY REFERENCE TO HER.

If this young woman cannot recall such critical info as you mentioned, her memorization skills are not as good as she thinks. If she hs not grasped the concept of critical thinking she most likely do poorly on any licensing exam.

Truth be told, your instructors' have probably already noticed her sub-standard performance and are making moves to correct it.

well put sunny

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I think Sunny hit all the points well.

Meantime, MYOB. Good luck.

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To ever effect another students perfomance, success or failure.

I am a straight "A" student and sometimes, due to sensory overload, I have a hard time remembering things that I should know. My wife is a nurses for 25 years and she will be the first to tell you that since everything and everybody is so specialized today, you can not take a nurse with many years of experience and move them from Peds to Oncology. Why not??? Because they just don;t remember the critical information.

Now with all that said, while in school this should all be right there for us to grasp...there are at times so much information is being absorbed that the old stuff is difficlut to get out. Trust me, or ask your profesors...I beleive this is normal to a centain extent.

Just another opinion. Perhaps she isn't quite as bad as you think. And maybe she is...let someone else more qualified decide.

Now...does anyone know what an Obligant Nasal Breather is???

dave :)

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