Slap in the face

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Specializes in LTC.

I got my first two test scores back this week. On the first test, there were no As and I got an 86 which is the lowest B. Then after two scary days of clinicals I got the grade for my second test, 74. That's not even passing!

I knew that material inside and out. Where in the world did her test questions come from???

I feel so inadequate. If I can't figure out most of the test questions and I can't figure out what to do in clinical, should I be in this program? Am I wasting my precious time? I study at least 2 hours every day and have study group on Saturday. Then I review for 8 hours on Sunday for our tests--we have 2 or 3 tests every Monday.

I don't really want to quit but I am really down right now. I've never been in a situation where I tried so hard and succeeded so little.

Any have any advice to spin my bad week into a learning experience?

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I got my first two test scores back this week. On the first test, there were no As and I got an 86 which is the lowest B. Then after two scary days of clinicals I got the grade for my second test, 74. That's not even passing!

I knew that material inside and out. Where in the world did her test questions come from???

I feel so inadequate. If I can't figure out most of the test questions and I can't figure out what to do in clinical, should I be in this program? Am I wasting my precious time? I study at least 2 hours every day and have study group on Saturday. Then I review for 8 hours on Sunday for our tests--we have 2 or 3 tests every Monday.

I don't really want to quit but I am really down right now. I've never been in a situation where I tried so hard and succeeded so little.

Any have any advice to spin my bad week into a learning experience?

I don't know what format your tests are in, but if its like most nursing programs, its probably multi choice that mimics the NCLEX. If that's the case, let me tell you something, that was the hardest thing for me to adjust to. Those exams are like nothing I've ever seen before. You think multi choice, c'mon, how hard can that be? Well, pretty hard! I was a 4.0 straight A student until I got to nursing. I am now a senior and I have long ago given up on trying to get that A. All I care about now is staying in the program! I am holding steady at a B but I have a feeling that is going to drop this semester due to the intense content. Like you, I studied my orifice off and still, just a B. And ya know what? I'm proud of that B, cause those are hard to get in nursing and you should be too! Don't throw in the towel yet, give it time! It takes a while to adjust to a nursing program of any kind. You'll get into the swing of things. Hang in there! You're doing great!

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Same thing for our program half our class failed the first test and the second test. I also studied my orifice off and got a measly 78% which is barely passing on my first test I got an 88% but I wasnt working at the time so when I started working thats when I got the 78% so guess what,Im quitting my job! I cannot work and go to school especially because I have two kids. This program gives you such hard questions on test that you just have to get a hang of them eventually. Good luck!

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Oh hon, I feel your pain! I can't begin to tell you how many questions on our tests came out absolute nowhere. I had a 4.0 gpa prior to nursing school. Made an A in nursing one, a B in nursing two. That B was hard for me to accept because I expected way too much from myself. It is such a transition to go from regular classes to nursing classes because you have to apply the knowledge in such a different way.

By the way, during nursing two when I made that B, I actually failed a test by a large margin. I had some serious making up to do to get that B. You can do it!

Here's what I suggest--make an appointment with the lead instructor of whatever class you are in. Have her go over the test with you to help you understand where your thought process broke down. She/He can give valuable insight into identifying your weakness so that you can improve yourself.

Whatever you do, DON'T QUIT!!!!!! I know you are feeling low about this right now, but if you seek guidance from your lead instructor and end up making better grades, you're gonna feel great--I promise!

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Definitely don't quit. If like the other poster said they are NCLEX style tests get a review book and start practicing their questions. If you can't afford or don't want to buy one either your school or a public library will have them. If your text books had study guides I'd really focus on them as I found some of the questions from the test bank are the same as in the study guides. It gets a bit easier with practice. Hang in there, Jules

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Cardiac, ICU.

Get Saunders to review NCLEX type questions and use the reviews. Start learning to apply the info you are learning instead of memorizing.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

first of all, you need to discuss the test questions you missed with your study group on saturday. if your study group isn't willing to help you out with this then maybe this isn't a good study group for you. you should also go to one of the instructors with your tests to discuss where you failed to get the correct answers on these tests. you need to do this to find out where you are making your errors so you can improve your performance on subsequent tests.

secondly, there is now a sticky thread on this forum called "looking for test taking strategies". here is a direct link to it: https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/looking-test-taking-stratagies-224581.html. it has some advice and links to helpful websites on studying for nursing tests and taking tests. i know that chapter 5 of saunders comprehensive review for the nclex-rn examination, 3rd edition, by linda anne silvestri is 7 pages of the strategy for answering application type (critical thinking) questions that are on the nclex and the kind of questions that just about every nursing school instructor likes to put on nursing tests. i plan to go over to my local border's and go through a couple of the other nclex review books on their shelf and get the chapters from those books that have the test taking strategy in them and post it on that thread as soon as i am feeling better and can get out, so people who have access to the other nclex review books will know where to find this information. it takes practice to learn how to answer these kinds of questions because you have to pull together a lot of different information that you're presumed to already know. this kind of test taking is a skill that you have to learn along with everything else you are learning, so don't give up yet. you just need to learn the strategy of answering these questions.

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I got my first two test scores back this week. On the first test, there were no As and I got an 86 which is the lowest B. Then after two scary days of clinicals I got the grade for my second test, 74. That's not even passing!

I knew that material inside and out. Where in the world did her test questions come from???

I feel so inadequate. If I can't figure out most of the test questions and I can't figure out what to do in clinical, should I be in this program? Am I wasting my precious time? I study at least 2 hours every day and have study group on Saturday. Then I review for 8 hours on Sunday for our tests--we have 2 or 3 tests every Monday.

I don't really want to quit but I am really down right now. I've never been in a situation where I tried so hard and succeeded so little.

Any have any advice to spin my bad week into a learning experience?

I feel the exact same way!!

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

i know i felt the same way you did in nursng school. the study groups really help because you can discuss the material and understand the concepts. i found it was easy to study the facts , but i had to know why they were teaching this information. you have to be able to put together the information and why you have to learn this. eventually you will be able to pull all of this knowledge toegther and understand the whole picture. if i can do it you can to.. and you will feel so proud of yourself that you actually understand what the heck the teacher is talking about. please keep me updated on how you are doing in school .. future nurses.. :nurse::)

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The thing that EVERYONE keeps telling us first quarter students is to "Forget the 4.0!" .. which is extremely hard for me, but I'm slowly letting things be.

Do you think you need to adjust your study style?

Does your program have a Successful Test Taking strategies CD-ROM program?

I don't know how big your program is on stressing critical thinking - but ours is huge. We are given outcomes to know each week. The professors stress knowing the "who, what, where, when, how" of each outcome. Understand the concepts, be able to relate it to situations. Don't just "study" - learn.

Don't give up! I think as pre-nursing students, we were so focused on competition. But now as nursing students, you're all in it together. Help each other succeed. Ask for help if/when you need it.

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I have been where you are right now. I was in fundamentals and I studied and studied and couldn't seem to pass a test for love or money (our passing grade is 80). I kept getting 78s or just barely passing with a low 80 score. Needless to say I did not pass and had to repeat the semester. But if I had known now what I did then I may not have had to repeat...

You have to change the way you study. Meet with your instructors, get some tips from them. Get study guide books with questions and rationales in them. Read all the rationales-even for the wrong answers. I suspect (as I was doing) that you just aren't used to nursing tests which are unlike any other test out there. If I studied half as much as I do know for any other non-nursing class I would have an "A" easy. But now it is all I can do to fight for my "B" (86 or better and I am in the top of my class!)

For me- I started recording the lectures. I made new notes from the recorded lectures and was amazed at the things I had missed the first time around. Hearing the lecture again and writing things down again really ingrained the information in my brain.

The key is to be proactive about your situation. Don't do like I did and keep plugging along studying the wrong way hoping it would work and getting more down on myself. You can do this!

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Specializes in LDRP.
I got my first two test scores back this week. On the first test, there were no As and I got an 86 which is the lowest B. Then after two scary days of clinicals I got the grade for my second test, 74. That's not even passing!

I knew that material inside and out. Where in the world did her test questions come from???

I feel so inadequate. If I can't figure out most of the test questions and I can't figure out what to do in clinical, should I be in this program? Am I wasting my precious time? I study at least 2 hours every day and have study group on Saturday. Then I review for 8 hours on Sunday for our tests--we have 2 or 3 tests every Monday.

I don't really want to quit but I am really down right now. I've never been in a situation where I tried so hard and succeeded so little.

Any have any advice to spin my bad week into a learning experience?

(((HUGS))) Nursing school really rocks our self-eteem, huh?

I have learned more through the bad experiences than the good one. Hard way to learn, but true. Maybe you need to change the way you study? Or maybe you need to just study more NCLEX questions--thats what has helped me. I do study group, note cards and NCLEX review books. Lowest grade in whole program was an 84% a few semesters back (had the same kind of thing happen to me so I changed how I studied). I consistently get 90% and up on everything now. I also study the morning BEFORE the exam-get up really early and go through all my notecards.

Best wishes! :monkeydance:

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