struggling first semester

Nursing Students Student Assist

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Hi everyone I am very excited to join this new group! I have started this new ADN program. I have worked very hard to get in it, I currently work at the hospital as a nurse aide which helps out a lot. :) I am very fortunate to be working with wonderful nurses and friends that have graduated from this school. Unfortunatley I am not on a good start. I am failing fundamentals and I have tried every resource, I have bought nclex books I record my lectures and I even started part time at work. I have three more tests and a final. The instructors and the program director have already mentioned that I should try for the LPN it is too much for me. It broke my heart because I know they are trying to weed me out. I got in this program mainly because I work at the hospital. And trust me, I am definitely not the know it alls. I am trying to transition from a worker to a student. please help what are my chances? I have a f in this class. I am just now learning how to take these tests!

Specializes in Emergency Room.

What's the minimum passing score for your school? Also when you mean "failing" what exactly are you struggling with? Is it the exams or skills tests? If it's the exams try taking the outcomes from your syllabus for each chapter and typing them out. I also do the practice questions at the end of each chapter and the learning outcomes from the beginning. Also if your school uses ATI that's also a great resource. If you're not doing so good on the skills test try asking your professor for additional lab time. If your school is anything like mine you paid a pretty penny for lab fees so use it. YouTube videos are also a great resource. Good luck!

As the commenter above says, YouTube is your friend. One thing you will come to see over the course of your nursing studies is that no matter what school you go to, all nursing courses use the same terminology and the same language. This is good. So what I learned to do in my first months was to take lots of notes and then to look on YouTube for videos covering those topics. I did the same with the class syllabi. There are so many smart, helpful people out there who post videos to help you make sense of things. Don't expect to understand everything with one video. Sometimes you need to watch several, read the book, talk to your professor, cry a little, have a triple vanilla latte from Starbucks, sleep on it, and then when you wake up it will all come to you. This is life and this is how college works. It's not high school anymore. You can do it.

The first couple of semesters are going to be like trying to drink from a fire hose. This is normal. Nursing is its own language. You are literally learning a new way of thinking according to a very specific set of guidelines. If you have ever taken a second language, you know that the first few months of it are confusing to the nth degree. Then one day, you stop hearing weird sounds and you start hearing words! You start speaking sentences, haltingly at first, then all at once it begins to make sense! Trust me on this, back when I decided to study nursing, my first job was to learn English! It wasn't easy, but look how well I write now. (My accent is still pretty bad, hah-hah, but you could at least understand me. I think.) It does get easier.

If you fail your first class, it is NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back on the horse. I didn't learn to conjugate the past tense of the verb "to be," in English the first time around either. (Spanish has two forms of "to be" not one like in English. How confusing is that?) I almost flunked my first Fundamentals of Nursing class. Now I am up to a 4.0, thanks to God. It all takes time, patience, and lots and lots of caffeine and flashcards.

:) thank you so much! !! I have a lot of heart that I can make it. I am so disheartened. I just am not sure what my chances are. If I fail unfortunately I am out of the program. It's not easy getting back in. But thank you so much ! I always feel I do great on the tests and I end up doing horribly. 3 more tests and a final. Pray to God I can bring myself back up thank you again. :nailbiting:

Don't be discouraged. What worked for me is study groups. Me and a couple of my classmates would get together or do video chats on the subject s on the test. If your school uses ATI take advantage of that. Also do the learning objectives and do lots of NCLEX practice questions. What the rest of the world doesnt know about nursing school is that these test are a different animal. Another thing that helps for studying are concept maps. Watch you tube for things you are unclear on and find a class mate who is doing well and try to learn from them. I dont dont know how other schools do it. But before we started we did an 8 week jumpstart class so we knew what we were getting into. You will do fine, "just keep swimming"

Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

When you are taking your tests do you find yourself thinking "at work they do this..." vs "the lecture and book say..."? If you do stop! Real world vs. nursing school will NOT translate well on your tests, walk into every lecture with the mindset that it's all new information and you have NEVER seen or done any of it before in your life. Good luck on the rest of your semester!

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