There is another alternative for students that fail at traditional nursing schools that still have the desire to become a registered nurse. I've noticed that once students are unsuccessful in a traditional setting, they give up hope and end their pursuit.
However, many students ignore the fact that there are other paths to obtaining their degree such as attending schools such as Excelsior. I myself, chose to take this route although I've never failed at a traditional nursing school and passed my NCLEX exam the first time.
Taking this route requires a lot of discipline, but the quote is still relevant "anything worth having never comes easy". So before you give up and throw in the towel please consider other options.
I have a learning disability!! The school barely wanted to accommodate my extra time!!!! However they did!!! And I graduated from that 10 month accelerated nursing program with an 85 average overall !! Although I did struggle in anatomy but my final grade was 77% on that section! I was also told anatomy is the deciding factor.... 75 % was passing!!!
Congrats.
Don't give up don't quit!!! Some of these fellow nurses r rude!! There's more than one way to skin a cat!!
See, this is MY issue with your post...it does NO GOOD to the profession to have nurses who DO NOT have the tools to succeed, and be competent in this profession; you will understand wen you work with someone who has no idea how to stabilize an airway, doesn't have nursing judgement to manage a shift and you take responsibility of these patients that are in a mess.
Trust me, we are NOT being mean.
The state of nursing does not need people who will be over their head and can not cut-THAT's more unfair to the NURSE, isn't it??? You'll understand once you are faced with a Wolf Terrier Foxtrot situation; THEN you'll "get it".
Just two cents from a one time ADN failure, to PN student, LPN, BSN now RN who has conquered test anxiety, mood disorder trait, and a slight dyslexia with numbers (discalcula?)-I found a way WITHIN the system.
I have always been bothered by the high attrition rates from CC programs. I recently precepted a student from my local program who said only 20 students of the 38 that started are still in the program.
It just seems to me that pre nursing students should be given better understanding of the rigors of the programs - why not "weed them out" before they start with aptitude testing, ect. Letting students who aren't qualified into the programs really isn't doing them any favors in the end.
They don't let "students who aren't qualified into the programs". Our program has AT LEAST 3-4 applicants for every available seat. ONLY the best get in but that doesn't mean that everyone is cut out to make it through the program. Those that do make it through the program reap the rewards. Our program has one of the best NCLEX pass rates in New England.
Which is why we have a national compentency test called NCLEX, as i said before you keep missing the message, my comparision to micheal jordan was simply to imply that motivation is the key to success. It's funny that people tend to forget that no matter which route was taken NCLEX must be successfully passed before you are validated to be competent enough to practice as a nurse. After all is said and done, my blog was created to encourage not only students that have prior failures but also students who weren't fortunate enough to finish as a result of medical or family issues. Please read carefully before u respond in the future.
Michael Jordan had exceptional athletic ability, superb hand-eye coordination, an incredible coach, hall of fame caliber teammates, and natural talent. One minor flub during his formative years really doesn't really drive your point home, at least not to me.
Nursing school is competitive, difficult and simply beyond the means and abilities of many people...as it should be. If you cannot meet the minimum standards, perhaps it is not a matter of motivation, but of selecting a major whose standards you can meet. Moving down the credibility ladder to find a school who will let you scrape by is fine, but I don't particularly think that's a good thing. I can tell you as a tutor who helps LPN students with their RN pre-reqs...the lack of knowledge from some of these nurses coming out of for-profit schools is horrifying.
Passing the NCLEX is not a guarantee that someone is a competent nurse.
As terrible as it was to see the absence of 15 or so people from my first semester who obviously didn't make it to second semester, those people didn't really surprise me. They struggled all through the exams, scoring in the 60's when a 78 was the minimum passing rate. I mean that's not even nursing school standards - 60's in any college level course is not passing. So I wouldn't want those people moving on and taking care of moi, my family, or simply the general population. It's a sad reality, but one that needs to be upheld for the safety of the patients.
There is another alternative for students that fail at traditional nursing schools that still have the desire to become a registered nurse. I've noticed that once most students are unsuccessful in a traditional setting,they give up hope and end their pursuit, however,many students ignore the fact that there are other paths to obtaining their degree such as attending schools such as excelsior...
If a student fails at a traditional nursing school (and when you say 'fail', I'm assuming you mean 'did not pass', 'got a F', etc), they actually aren't eligible to enroll at a school like Excelsior, since typically one of the admission criteria is to be in good standing academically at the institution the student is trying to transfer credits from. Not transferring credits isn't an option either because part of the before mentioned criteria is to have completed at least 50% of another program with a C or better.
Speaking from personal experience I got accepted to an ASN program that was very rigorous which weeds their students out the first semester. Around 30 out of 60 failed and I was one of them that received a "D". I was eligible to retrack back into the program but I decided to build my gpa back up and go for my BSN. I took my failure as a learning experience. I practiced critical thinking questions like crazy.I got accepted to a catholic university and now I am in the program I grasp concepts of nursing that I did not see before. I am also doing much better on my test. I am thankful for another opportunity :-)
Which is why we have a national compentency test called NCLEX, as i said before you keep missing the message, my comparision to micheal jordan was simply to imply that motivation is the key to success. It's funny that people tend to forget that no matter which route was taken NCLEX must be successfully passed before you are validated to be competent enough to practice as a nurse. After all is said and done, my blog was created to encourage not only students that have prior failures but also students who weren't fortunate enough to finish as a result of medical or family issues. Please read carefully before u respond in the future.
Your post began by discussing people who have failed out of nursing programs, which is why I was discussing people who failed out of nursing programs. There are many "nontraditional" programs marketed to such people who, shamefully, are not told that many BoNs will not allow them to take the NCLEX because their educational preparation is inadequate. We see these people here often. Glad yours worked out, but, as you say, you didn't flunk out of a traditional program first.
My post did address people who failed out of programs despite their commendable motivation, due to native inability to meet the requirements -- the analogy to Michael Jordan does not fit that description, obviously, because motivation aside, he grew and developed his genetically-endowed physical skills. The eager athlete with all the heart and motivation in the world who cannot meet the competition will not succeed in the athletic field outside of B-movies. Motivation is not enough. Caring and passion are not enough, either. "If caring were enough, anybody could be a nurse," as the ad line goes.
Finally, I also addressed those people, the ones who "weren't fortunate enough to finish as a result of ..." other issues, many of whom were successful in their traditional programs when they returned when better able to participate and succeed.
I have always been bothered by the high attrition rates from CC programs. I recently precepted a student from my local program who said only 20 students of the 38 that started are still in the program.
It just seems to me that pre nursing students should be given better understanding of the rigors of the programs - why not "weed them out" before they start with aptitude testing, ect. Letting students who aren't qualified into the programs really isn't doing them any favors in the end.
I have told this story before, but here it is again. Every year our program would admit about 25% more students than we knew we would be keeping, because no matter how well-qualified the applicants, in about three weeks about that many would be in our offices crying because they 1) didn't know they'd have to see naked old people, 2) didn't know school would be so hard, 3) thought it would be more like on TV, 4) thought they could just do mother-baby and didn't have to do med-surg and psych and all that other stuff too in school, 5) didn't know how much responsibility a nurse has, 6) were shocked that they had to see/hear/smell/touch things like .... etc., etc. "I always wanted to be a nurse like my mother/my auntie/my neighbor/my pediatrician's nurse/Cherry Ames," they wail as they come to withdraw.
There was really no way to predict these people. Likewise, it was competitive to get admitted, but even though we only accepted academically qualified people there was no reliable way to tell who was going to "get" nursing and the different way you have to study and integrate past knowledge in it. And I have the feeling that even if there were such a test, the people who had a drreeeeeaaaammmm and passsssssiooooooonnnn and always wanted to be a nurse wouldn't have believed us if we didn't accept them based on it.
I think you have made an excellent point with this post. Sometimes I think not passing a test is the "end of the world" for me because this is my second career and with a family the stresses to perform are much more than that of the regular college age student. With these distractors sometimes I do feel to just give up and just go back to me previous job where I know I could just pay the bills and relax. But like most nursing student I just want to do more than just have a job that pays the bills. I want to help others and this is the best path I see to get to both goals. I really hope that I will pass the NCLEX the first time I take it, and if I don't I know I should not just give up on my dreams.
Im also a male nurse and im praying that you will be successful the first time you take NCLEX, our profession needs some more good men,keep us posted.
I have told this story before, but here it is again. Every year our program would admit about 25% more students than we knew we would be keeping, because no matter how well-qualified the applicants, in about three weeks about that many would be in our offices crying because they 1) didn't know they'd have to see naked old people, 2) didn't know school would be so hard, 3) thought it would be more like on TV, 4) thought they could just do mother-baby and didn't have to do med-surg and psych and all that other stuff too in school, 5) didn't know how much responsibility a nurse has, 6) were shocked that they had to see/hear/smell/touch things like .... etc., etc. "I always wanted to be a nurse like my mother/my auntie/my neighbor/my pediatrician's nurse/Cherry Ames," they wail as they come to withdraw.
There was really no way to predict these people. Likewise, it was competitive to get admitted, but even though we only accepted academically qualified people there was no reliable way to tell who was going to "get" nursing and the different way you have to study and integrate past knowledge in it. And I have the feeling that even if there were such a test, the people who had a drreeeeeaaaammmm and passsssssiooooooonnnn and always wanted to be a nurse wouldn't have believed us if we didn't accept them based on it.
I strongly agree,why do so many students enter nursing school and the sight of blood freaks them out or they are to pretty to handle feces or urine?Everyone is not cut out to become a nurse.
You are so right grntea,however,the students I had in mind were students that have the intellect and necessary insight to become nurses but tripped up on their initial encounter with the nursing world.In fact,you are dead wrong about motivation though,being a male i've played several sports ,and trust me I have witnessed many teams that were more talented and had superior skills lose to a less talented yet eager team. You hear what im saying,but you can't feel it,sometimes determination outweighs skill(referring to academics)some of the nurses that you know personally i'm sure needed a second chance to prove themselves.
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LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN
8,429 Posts
Congrats.
See, this is MY issue with your post...it does NO GOOD to the profession to have nurses who DO NOT have the tools to succeed, and be competent in this profession; you will understand wen you work with someone who has no idea how to stabilize an airway, doesn't have nursing judgement to manage a shift and you take responsibility of these patients that are in a mess.
Trust me, we are NOT being mean.
The state of nursing does not need people who will be over their head and can not cut-THAT's more unfair to the NURSE, isn't it??? You'll understand once you are faced with a Wolf Terrier Foxtrot situation; THEN you'll "get it".
Just two cents from a one time ADN failure, to PN student, LPN, BSN now RN who has conquered test anxiety, mood disorder trait, and a slight dyslexia with numbers (discalcula?)-I found a way WITHIN the system.