Advice regarding my first failure in my senior year.

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Hi everyone,

I am a nursing student in what is supposed to be my last year of college! I have had a horrible experience this semester and I just would like obtain other people's opinion in regards to this (specially nurses that have experience the journey of nursing school and/or other nursing schools faculty). My school has a policy in which we must obtain a testing average of 75 or higher. Once our testing average have been added up (all course exams plus final) and it shows to add up to a 75 or more then all our other assignments (including clinical grade, projects, homework) are added up to calculate our final course grade. In case that we do not meet that 75 testing average (74.5 since it rounds up to a 75) then, they do NOT add up any of our other assignments and you automatically fail the course. This is my third semester in nursing school and it has honestly been one of the hardest semesters I have ever had to face... next semester was supposed to be my last semester as I was supposed to graduate in spring 2017 but I have failed! This has been devastating for me as I have never in my life failed a course before.. in my senior year of college, I have failed my very first class. The class I failed is Med-sug Part 2. Last semester I took Med-surg part 1 and I managed to make an A but this time around everything just went wrong. Throughout the semester I had a very hard time when it came to my exams, my exam grades were Cs so I knew that I was in the border line. In order to meet that 75 testing average, I had to make a 76.25 on my final... I started to study for that final before any other final..I walked up to my instructor after class for advice as to how to prepare myself for the final but to me her advise was honestly not helpful at all so I did what have always worked for me, which was to read every single topic that she had listed on our "Final matrix"... I did everything I thought was going to help me make that 76.25 on the final so I could make that 75 testing average... but i still FAILED. When I found out I had failed I was in disbelief, I could not believe that I had failed. I decided to go talk to her and ask her if there was anything I could do to learn about what did I do wrong.. I asked her if I could perhaps review my answers on the final (her response: finals have been shredded). I asked if I could look at my scantron to check if maybe I had bubbled incorrectly (her response: I already did that, two professors and myself get together to ensure that there are no mistakes and that each student has received each point they deserve). I asked did you grade us on a curve? (her response: we do not grade on curves, although we did omit certain questions, about 5). I honestly needed to see what I had done wrong... She then offered to let me know what I had made on the final although is my school's policy as well that nursing students do not know the final's grade.. we just have to wait until our letter grades our posted online. I accepted as I felt that could give me some peace of mind and help me accept that I had failed... So, when she finally gave me my grade, it turned out that I had made a 75 on my final... I missed the 76.25 by 1.25points... the 75 final grade averaged up my testing average to a 74 and since it did not make it to the 75 testing average all my other grades (clinical grade which was an A and my project grade which was also an A) were not added therefore I failed the course. I was only 1.25 points away from passing the class.. only 2 questions away (final was of 100questions) from passing the class... Up to this day, I am still deeply sad for being so close but yet know that I did not made it. I asked her if there was anything I could do to just gain that 1.25pt in order to pass the class and her response was "No, sorry. I know it is heart breaking but every semester we always have that one student that is so close, so close, but is just not enough. You will just have to retake the course". Retaking the course means that I will be left behind a whole entire semester... it means that I will not be able to graduate in May 2017 because instead of taking my last nursing courses, I will be retaking the one course I failed by 1.25pts. I am still trying to cope with this failure but I just can't wrap my mind around it.. It is only 1.25 points away from meeting the testing average, and if all my other grades were to be added my final grade would be a solid B as I had As for my clinical and project grades but instead, I am now stuck with a D in my transcript, having to retake an entire course and its clinical routines, and not graduating in May 2017. I am honestly not a bad student, I had never failed a course before ever, up to this point in nursing school I had made all As and Bs, I have won nursing scholarships that now I am at risk of losing due to the fact that next semester I will not be a full time student, last summer I won a scholarship to study and intern abroad and I had the privilege to go to Spain and complete a nursing internship in a hospital there, I was contacted by an organization in my school that is interested in having me attend a dinner and speak about my study abroad experience to other students and I accepted because I am willing to help others see that they can too study abroad. I have worked so hard to reach this point in my life. In May 2017 I was going to become the first generation of my family to graduate from an University with a Bachelors but now I won't because I was 1.25 points short from reaching a 75 testing average. I know that I am the student and I am the only one responsible for how my grades look.. I know I am the only one to blame for not meeting that 75 testing average. I am aware that I failed myself for not scoring high enough but this experience has been so devastating and I just need to know what you all think. Should I attempt to talk to someone else about this although my grades have been posted already? Is it really fair that at this point, I get held back a whole entire semester for 1.25pts away from meeting the 75 testing average? (I have heard stories of other major professors or universities that have helped their students pass when they have been so close but in my situation is just a simple "no, retake the course") Are there any other nursing schools that also have a testing average that they must meet before any of your other grades are taken in consideration? Has anyone been so close to passing but yet still failed just like I just did?

I just would like to hear other opinions from other people that could perhaps make me finally understand that it is only fair for me to re-do the whole course and clinical because although I was close, it was just not enough.

Thank you for reading this lengthy post and for all your responses. I truly appreciate it.

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

I can hear the heart break in your writing, and I am sorry that you are going through this. To be frank, your school's grading system sounds extremely generous and easy. It was not unfair for your school to fail you. Study smarter and harder next time and graduate in May 2017. In the long run it's not as big of a deal as you think it is.

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Specializes in NICU, RNC.

Our clinical and projects/papers were all pass/fail and didn't count towards grades at all. What you describe as far as them being unyeilding is standard. They can't bend the rules for one person without bending them for everyone. Does it suck? Yes. 100%. The fact that you admit that you are completely responsible for your learning and your grade speaks volumes. I have no doubt that you will buckle down, work harder, and pass next semester. Good luck. This too shall pass.

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It could be much worse OP. At least you get another shot.

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

I know it's hard to accept, especially being so close to a passing grade. However, the fact remains that you did not pass with the minimum standard required by your program. As stated above, many programs only give pass/fail marks for clinical paperwork and don't count those towards the letter grade for the class. The program I attended required a 78% or higher exam average. After I graduated, they changed the minimum to 81%. They also have a strict "no rounding" policy, so even if you were 0.1 point away, you still failed.

Knowing that you performed well during your clinicals is definitely something to build on for when you re-take the course. Were you able to analyze where you need to improve on your exams? Do you second guess your answers? Do you use a method to eliminate wrong answers on multiple choice or select all that apply questions?

You stated in your original post that you asked your instructor for advice but that you felt it wasn't helpful and you went back to the way you always studied. Just an observation here, but if the way you were doing it wasn't getting you the grades you needed, then maybe it might have behooved you to take your instructor's advice?

I know you're feeling devastated about not passing at the moment. Take some time over the school break to reflect on what you can do to change your approach to test taking next semester. The good thing is that you're going to be ahead in terms of knowing the material. You might find that you breeze through next semester :)

I wish you all the best on re-taking your class. I had a few classmates who had to re-take certain semesters and they made it through, passed NCLEX and are good nurses working in the field today. Don't let this hurdle side rail you. Good luck :D

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I know it sucks to fail a class and have to retake but its not the end of the world. You are lucky you can retake the class next semester and not have to wait a whole year or even not be readmitted to the program. Tons of people fail a class in nursing school and come back, graduate, get a job and continue on like normal. Mentally prepare yourself for next semester and learn from your mistakes, dwelling on the past and feeling down will not help you.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

First: Paragraphs

Second: "I started to study for that final before any other final..I walked up to my instructor after class for advice as to how to prepare myself for the final but to me her advise was honestly not helpful at all so I did what have always worked for me, which was to read every single topic that she had listed on our "Final matrix"... I did everything I thought was going to help me"

I cannot tell you how frustrating this is as an instructor. We see patterns of behavior in students- and have helpful advice. Then student's don't follow it, go back to 'what always worked before' .... and it somehow is our fault/ the university policy/ bad karma/ circumstances beyond everyone's control.

I truly understand your disappointment, but rather than spend any more energy on the past, why not look forward to the future? Get busy studying and getting ready for this new wrinkle.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
I know it's hard to accept, especially being so close to a passing grade. However, the fact remains that you did not pass with the minimum standard required by your program. As stated above, many programs only give pass/fail marks for clinical paperwork and don't count those towards the letter grade for the class. The program I attended required a 78% or higher exam average. After I graduated, they changed the minimum to 81%. They also have a strict "no rounding" policy, so even if you were 0.1 point away, you still failed.

Knowing that you performed well during your clinicals is definitely something to build on for when you re-take the course. Were you able to analyze where you need to improve on your exams? Do you second guess your answers? Do you use a method to eliminate wrong answers on multiple choice or select all that apply questions?

You stated in your original post that you asked your instructor for advice but that you felt it wasn't helpful and you went back to the way you always studied. Just an observation here, but if the way you were doing it wasn't getting you the grades you needed, then maybe it might have behooved you to take your instructor's advice?

I know you're feeling devastated about not passing at the moment. Take some time over the school break to reflect on what you can do to change your approach to test taking next semester. The good thing is that you're going to be ahead in terms of knowing the material. You might find that you breeze through next semester :)

I wish you all the best on re-taking your class. I had a few classmates who had to re-take certain semesters and they made it through, passed NCLEX and are good nurses working in the field today. Don't let this hurdle side rail you. Good luck :D

^^^THIS^^^

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Specializes in "Wound care - geriatric care.

You have nothing to worry about. Calm down, this is just nursing school, nobody died. There is always another chance and you are young. So relax and have a talk with god.

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I truly understand your disappointment, but rather than spend any more energy on the past, why not look forward to the future? Get busy studying and getting ready for this new wrinkle.

The time spent composing the original post is time that could have been spent on studying the material for the retake of the course and could have meant the difference of 1.25 points. Put an end to the lamentations and get busy. Be thankful that you have this opportunity, others do not.

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Hang in there!! You can do it just dust yourself off and plow forward!!!

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

Geez, in my nursing program & the bridge I'm applying to they don't round up. Count yourself lucky that they do that!

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