Anyone get A's in nursing school?

kellyo, LPN · Jul 12, 2005

I'm intertested in these stories too. I haven't started my core nursing yet but I know that the instructors tell you at orientation that it is impossible to get an A (this is an ADN course at a CC). They flat out say.. "We know you are all overachievers (since admittance is GPA based) but you need to accpet now that this will be the hardest 2 years of your life. You WILL NOT have straight A's."
Don't knock a community college. Remember, we all take the same boards, and according to each state's BON we are all being taught the same skills, content and patho as any top notch university.
It's not the difficutly of the content, it's the intensity and pace of the program, regardless of where you are.
Sure, you can keep a 4.0, but some people choose not to let NS devour them whole, and try to maintain a bit of life, whether it be with family or friends. I'd rather be a nurse with excellent skills and decent grades than one with perfect grades and so-so skills...

Imafloat, BSN, RN · Jul 12, 2005

I have four kids so there are things more important to me than my GPA. I am headed to a B and 2 A's as my outcome for summer quarter. I think summer school should be against the rules!! I can't tell my kids sorry you aren't going here, we aren't doing this/that because mom has to study. I want them to want to go to college, not be afraid to go to college because it turned their mom into a crazy lady. I have made all A's at my current university, but I transferred a 3.4 in with me, which is pretty good considering how much I drank the first time I went to college with the dinosaurs. I think my Cumm is up to about a 3.6 it is hard to raise a GPA when you have over 200 credit hours.

I plan on going to grad school and I am not too worried about getting in. I think you need a 3.0 to apply.

My advice is to go with the flow. I find critical thinking much easier to do when I am relaxed. When I am tense I miss a lot of test questions for dumb reasons because I am so keyed up. Also, go with your gut, don't change answers on your test. I still change answers and always miss the ones I change, as a matter of fact, I did it yesterday and ended up with a B on an exam when I would have had an A. It gets me because as a nurse I am going to need to trust my intuition and I need to learn to do it now as a student.

neuronursein06 · Jul 12, 2005

i we have to know that this is nursing school, not medical school. we do not want to be doctors so it can't be that hard! my husband is going to medical school next fall and i have seen first hand how hard that schooling is. we can do anything we put our mind to. if you have made it this far with all a's, surely you will do well in your core nursing classes! we can do this! :) :)

that is a bunch of blarney! my fiance is a cardiac fellow, and when i'm studying, he is always blown away by how much we have to comprehend! pre- me, he never fully grasped how difficult nursing school is...and tells his md friends how nursing school is just as hard as med school!

oh- and to the poster who asked about my "going on"....i meant msn, not bsn. i may go back to become a nurse educator at some point...but no apn here anymore..............i want kids!

Catys_With_Me · Jul 12, 2005

I'd rather be a nurse with excellent skills and decent grades than one with perfect grades and so-so skills...

What does perfect grades have to do with so-so skills? You know, nursing school is 2 fold: it's got an academic component and a skills component. Some rock at both, some are challenged at both, some can do the skills but don't know their acids from their bases, and some rock academically but take longer to get the skills down. I get so tired of people insinuating that those who get all As aren't as competent skill-wise as those who don't.

Personally, with the combination of choices you presented above, I'd rather be a nurse with perfect grades and excellent skills. I know I'm certainly shooting for that rather than going around implying that if I'm challenged academically that that's okay because those people working their butts off to get As can't take a BP to save their life. Please.

And oh yes OP, you'll find out soon enough that for some reason which I cannot even begin to figure out, nursing school brings out the competetive I-can-do-it-better-than-you crap in many people.

klone, MSN, RN · Jul 12, 2005

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Whenever there are threads where some of us actually {gasp} admit to striving for As, there is always a contingent of people who basically imply that wanting As means we're going to be weaker in the clinical setting. It's not an either/or, and I don't think there is anything wrong with WANTING to get good grades! Especially if you're not planning on stopping your education once you take your NCLEX.

Sometimes it almost seems like some people are rationalizing their own marginal grades. I dunno.

Roseyposey · Jul 12, 2005

I got an A my first semester. B my second. Going into third, I'm going to try my damnedest to get an A (I know it will be hard for Med/Surg, and hopefully easier for Maternal/Child).
I know that C=RN, but C doesn't equal grad school (or perhaps med school). I'm not planning on stopping with an ADN.

This is my concern as well. I plan to get as much education as I can afford, and know that I am not guaranteed a spot in the RN to BSN program.

Roseyposey · Jul 12, 2005

We have to know that this is nursing school, not medical school. We do not want to be doctors so it can't be that hard! My husband is going to medical school next fall and I have seen first hand how hard that schooling is.

Wow...I'm not even sure where to go with this. I hope this is one of those instances where there's something "lost in translation." I am not in nursing school because it is easier than med. school. I am not in nursing school because I am not intelligent enough to get through med. school. To say med. school is so much harder is absolutely insulting, first of all. Secondly, to compare med. school to nursing school is like saying a car swims better than yogurt.

Roseyposey · Jul 12, 2005

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Whenever there are threads where some of us actually {gasp} admit to striving for As, there is always a contingent of people who basically imply that wanting As means we're going to be weaker in the clinical setting. It's not an either/or, and I don't think there is anything wrong with WANTING to get good grades! Especially if you're not planning on stopping your education once you take your NCLEX.
Sometimes it almost seems like some people are rationalizing their own marginal grades. I dunno.

Thank you.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jul 12, 2005

Whenever there are threads where some of us actually {gasp} admit to striving for As, there is always a contingent of people who basically imply that wanting As means we're going to be weaker in the clinical setting. It's not an either/or, and I don't think there is anything wrong with WANTING to get good grades! Especially if you're not planning on stopping your education once you take your NCLEX.
Sometimes it almost seems like some people are rationalizing their own marginal grades. I dunno.

Or if you admit you got good grades, it automatically means you think you're more cut out for nursing than others, or that you're just trying to rub it in. I completely agree.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jul 12, 2005

On the other hand, I'm talking to all of you anal A students....relax a bit, enjoy your classes, the people, and take care of yourself. It won't do anyone any good if you get an A but end up on the Psych ward... There were times I felt I was headed that way. We joked that they should hand out antianxiety meds to everyone. And remind your signifacant other that you do love them even if you are stressed and insane at this moment...and it will be worth it in the end.
Good luck, it will be over soon,
Debblynn

Not all A students are anal, let's try to remember this.

dave1117 · Jul 12, 2005

3.856 with 46 credits done. I get perfect, above average clinical ratings and am proud to have gotten $2200 worth of scholarship money this past May. Do I strive for perfection???You bet I do. I have heard all of the stories that c students make beter nurses than "A" students. That always comes from "c" students...Nothing personal but some of us are naturally beter at this stuff than others. It was that way in kindergarden and it is that way in nursing school. Get over it..........

As for me, I push hard to be the best. In softball, in skiing, in (well my wife says I am a great lover)... Bottom line is some of us strive for the best others are happy to get by.

The nursing classes are definately a lot harder than the prerequesites. They require a different level of test taking. My GPA suffered terribly with a B+ in one of my first nursing classes. Now I study harder and better.

Just my $0.02...

have a great day all, dave :)

lisamc1RN, LPN · Jul 12, 2005

I had straight A's last year. I start the 2nd year tomorrow! Yay! I also got excellent remarks on my clinical reviews and had one instructor tell me to come back for a recommendation if I needed one for postpartum/newborn nursery. I'm not saying this to brag but hopefully to dispel some kind of myth out there that you can't be good at skills if you are good at the book learning. It's not an either/or thing. For me, I want to be the best that I can be. So far, that has resulted in an A, but someday it might not. I'll be ok with that as long as I did the best that I could. :) For those just starting, here are some things that I found useful when studying:

1. discipline yourself- make yourself stay on top of the homework. Don't procrastinate. You will find that you retain more by pacing yourself and adding to your knowledge a little bit every day rather than trying to cram it in over a 2 day studyfest. You will also find that it stays in longer. Since nursing knowledge builds upon a foundation, you will find this very useful in the months to come!

2. Open the N-clex review book of your choice (I recommend Saunders) right away. Start reading the front section where it teaches you how to break down those critical thinking questions. You will save yourself a ton of frustration by doing this. Also, even if you can't answer every question in an area (ex. Neurological disorders) try to answer as many of the questions as you can and ALWAYS read the rationale and test taking strategies for coming up with the right answers. You will begin to notice an improvement if you keep at it. I started out getting about 40% of the questions right. Yikes! Now, I can get between 60-75% of the questions correct.

3. Don't be afraid to go beyond the textbook. Use the internet, the library, your nurse friend, whoever and whatever you need to understand the material. I have a ton of sites bookmarked that helped get me through material that was particularly difficult for me. Use all the resources out there!

4. If a way of studying doesn't work for you, ditch it. Just because it works well for someone else doesn't mean that it will help you. I have friends that are index card freaks! LOL! They review notes over and over on them and they do well. I have friends who type out their notes a bajillion times and it sinks in that way. Me, I like to retype my notes (so that they are legible and so that it sinks in a bit better), put my vocabulary words on index cards, read the textbook and do an N-Clex review. I also answer the end of Chapter questions, which have been known to show up on tests! :)

5. Get a good nights sleep. Rest is key to being alert so that you can pay attention in class!

6. Show up for class!

7. Eat well. Junk makes your brain foggy. Just say NO! :rotfl:

8. Take breaks. This is also another good reason not to procrastinate. I know that my brain can only stay focussed for so long and then I start zoning out. No matter how many times I read that sentence, it ain't gettin in my brain! Time to get up and go for a walk or make a strawberry shake or read a book to the kids.

That's all I can think of right now, but I think those are the main things that have helped me to do well. Good luck to all of you!