Also keep in mind that most hospitals want letters of recommendation from your instructors. Your instructors are more likely to write a great letter for you if you're an A or B student than if you're a C student.

That said, if you still get Cs, it's not the end of the world. Just put your effort into doing well in another area, like clinicals.

The hospital I am interviewing with asked for letters of reference from clinical instructors specifically. That could be very helpful if you struggled in the classroom but shine in the clinical site. Don't get my wrong, I am NOT of the mindset that clinicals matter and classroom does not because that's not true but having great clinical references can help make up for a deficit in GPA I would think. Ideally you would have both but you have more classes to take so work hard and bring up that GPA.

I absolutely ask for transcripts and take notice of GPA when I am hiring staff who have no work experience in the field they are interviewing for. It is not the whole picture, but it does give an indication both of the ability to learn and the desire to work hard.

I am definately going to put my all into my classes this semester. I may have to end up working part time so that i can have the extra time necessary to allow for more studying and research needed to do well. At the begining of nursing school we were told that we couldnt hold down a full time job & attend school but i've done it in the past with no problem. I now know what they were speaking of, some people can get away with it but my grades are suffering as a result of it.

I have spent most of my nursing career with 3 small children and I have done decently but right now sit only with a 3.51 and my husband has been transferred two states away. Anyhow hope my gpa is good and I will get an opportunity to explain that I did my best.

when is the last time you asked a nurse or even a Dr, what their gpa is before you let them do anything. NO one cares unless your in school still.

My hospital (in NJ) required a 3.0 to be considered for a job. They also required a copy of your transcript.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by NewGradRN09

My hospital (in NJ) required a 3.0 to be considered for a job. They also required a copy of your transcript.

Good luck!

This seems to be a popular move in a lot of healthcare systems. I have noticed many hospitals are requiring a GPA standard for all the new grads.

After your in and get experience no one will care but getting into something may be a challenge.

Originally Posted by shystudent

Yes. i did a little better than previously. I am not making excuses but i've heard that Associate degree RN courses are alot harder than Bachelor degree courses. Have u heard that also or is it the opposite? No matter what the case may be i have the ability to perform much better than i have in the pass and i am truly looking forward to living up to my statement

- I really don't think that the ASn vs. BSN test thing is true. I think maybe the only difference is that I've had 2 extra years to test take and get in the hang of studying then an ASN graduate and also I take a wider range of classes that does go towards my nursing degree without it being technically medical. Either way GPA does matter. As for "whats the difference between a C nurse and an A nurse" as someone said previously,.. I think the difference is that the A nurse will get a new procedure right the first time while nurse C will take a couple tries. Will nurse C get it,.. yeah,.. but historically it appears that she doesn't get it the first time usually.

I do however believe that GPA is more or less just about getting your foot into the door. Its the deciding factor of wether they are gonna call you back or not after they've seen your resume. But after that, as a GN, they don't focus on book knowledge during the interview anyway. Its all about how well you work with others, your usual mood, and how u work under stress.

Good luck,.. and if you find it hard to get in the door maybe just take over some of those classes.

Originally Posted by ghillbert

I absolutely ask for transcripts and take notice of GPA when I am hiring staff who have no work experience in the field they are interviewing for. It is not the whole picture, but it does give an indication both of the ability to learn and the desire to work hard.

I once hired a nurse who had numerous degrees all with honors and I can honestly say she was the worst nurse I have ever had the misfortune to hire.
I know lots of really good floor nurses who work hard and just scraped by in their exams. I think if you want to go on to further education in nurses you need good GPA's to access but I do not think to be a floor nurse you need to graduate with honors from the program.