Advice regarding my first failure in my senior year.

[navarrown]

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.

[sashaq]

I'm so sorry that you are going through this. Unfortunately this happens to many nursing students and believe me you won't be the last. I sympathize with you because I currently experiencing the same thing. In my program we have to take a hesi exam as our final. Although I passed my instructors exam and had above 80%, which is the minimum grade for us. I failed my on/ peds semester because I did not passed my hesi. I was suppose to graduate in may 2017 as well. This was the lowest pint I have ever been in my life. I was near depression for like 2 weeks. It's been a month now since I failed some days are better and some days are horrible where I would sleep all day because I do not want to face reality. Some days it feels like a bad dream and I really wish it was. It is so difficult, having to retake the semester again is going to feel like torture. Good luck. I'll keep you in my prayers. Give it your best!

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I'm amazed that your nursing program rounds grades up. Both the programs I attended as well as most I know of do not round--if 80 is passing and you ended up with a 79.8, congratulations: you failed! :/

Unfair? No, no it's not. It feels unfair, but the fact is that you failed to meet the required grade in order to pass. You could try talking to someone, but IMO very little would come of it because you just didn't make the grade needed. And if they bent the rules for you, they'd have a harder time enforcing them down the road, so they are not very likely to do that.

It's OK to be upset, and you should let yourself mourn it for a bit. But then pick yourself up and re-take that class.

It may suck to graduate later than you hoped and watch your classmates move ahead while you have to get to know a whole new group of peers. At least this time around, you'll know where you went wrong the first time and can hopefully correct/avoid those issues.

Many of those students who end up having to retake a course go on to become great nurses. This is in no way a career-killer...unless you let it be.

[Buyer beware, BSN]

OP,

Yes, the heartbreak is there. That is palpable.

So is your need to be heard. To get your story out and I guess hope to achieve some kind of resolution if not absolution.

So you lose and now you grieve. And for some of us that have received that fine education you may even eventually learn, understand why the postulations of Kubler-Ross hold true everytime. As she tells us, the road to peace of mind is never as the crow flies. This process of loss will have it's way every time and you've got to know that even the richest man/woman with the mansion on the hill is not immune from what you are going through.

And I'm pretty sure that even the pedestaled instuctors who seem to turn a deaf ear are personally familiar with your situation too.

But then again, who wants to admit to imperfection.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

While I am sorry for you that you failed and have to retake the class, it is not the end of the world. You'll graduate a semester later than you had hoped, but in twenty years, it makes very little difference. Your school has been more than fair with you. They have to draw a line somewhere; they drew it and you failed to score high enough to pass. Do better next time. Your instructor gave you some tips for studying, which you then ignored -- perhaps next time follow the intructor's advice.

And please learn to use paragraphs. It makes your post easier to read, and it will get you more helpful responses. Many people who might otherwise give you great advice will just skip over your solid wall of text because it so difficult to read.