Anyone get A's in nursing school?

chattypattyCRNA2B · Jul 14, 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!

Thanks for the good suggestions! Why do you prefer Saunders over Kaplan?

BA2BSN · Jul 14, 2005

I graduated with high honors from a university already and will say NURSING SCHOOL IS DIFFERENT! I have kept A's with only 2 B's and I am halfway through my first semester as a junior (split semesters - it's this super accellerated 18 month thing of all 8 week classes). If not for the grading curve going up to a 93% being the cut off for an A, I would have had straight A's becuase both of those B's were 91/92%s. I was upset the first time it happened, but what can you do? I am at the top of my class and there is no shame in a B in Med-Surge, especially doing it all in only 8 weeks, which nearly killed me, BTW :chuckle

Edited to say: there are people in my class who are doing pretty bad (kinda just hanging on) and the do not work, live at home with parents and have no kids. That, I cannot figure out. I am a stay at home mom all day to a 1 and 2 year old with a pretty tight schedule anyway and I go to school at night and on the weekends for clinicals. If I had their lives, I would have had those two A's, but you have to take your other commitments into account as well. If you did your best and got a B...life goes on. If you feel like you could have done more and get a C...you will surely do better next class and then you life goes on, too! As long as C's are not your goal in life, you are motivated and I bet will do just fine!

MokeRN · Jul 14, 2005

I just graduated in December from nursing school with a 4.0 GPA and was valedictorian . It can be done...with a lot of hard work and determination you can do it. I was studying all of the time, and my family was very supportive (which is very important, as well). Good luck to you.

ftr_bb_catchr · Jul 14, 2005

Edited to say: there are people in my class who are doing pretty bad (kinda just hanging on) and the do not work, live at home with parents and have no kids. That, I cannot figure out. I am a stay at home mom all day to a 1 and 2 year old with a pretty tight schedule anyway and I go to school at night and on the weekends for clinicals. If I had their lives, I would have had those two A's, but you have to take your other commitments into account as well. If you did your best and got a B...life goes on. If you feel like you could have done more and get a C...you will surely do better next class and then you life goes on, too! As long as C's are not your goal in life, you are motivated and I bet will do just fine!

I have to say, at age 18, while at a major university I barely passed, I mean BARELY, and I had a very good GPA going in. I had no kids, no job and only a boyfriend and could barely make it. NOW with three kids (plus a 17 year old sister who stays with me most of the time), a house, a husband and a bunch of other responsibilities I have a 4.0. Something about that life experience gave me the drive to get it done.. plus knowing that I am the one footing the bill! Wish I could have got that figured out back then... but I sure do appreciate it now.

tinaroo07 · Jul 14, 2005

Getting A's is not impossible, it's hard, but not impossible. You just may have to work to keep it. I'm sure you can do it.

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."
I too have a 4.0 and I can't tell you how angry this makes, not me, but my husband!! :angryfire
He is FURIOUS! He thinks it's just awful to tell someone who has maintained a 4.0 through college that they absolutely CANNOT get an A in a first semester nursing course no matter how hard they study. He says they are trying to "break you", to see who will tough it out. Basically trying to scare the wits out of you. In our program, out of 50 students, there were three B's and the rest were C's (with two people dropping due to failing scores) in the first semester. NOW in the second semester there were a couple of A's and a few B's and the rest C's... What I have heard from my friends in the program is that the reason the first semester is so hard is that you are learning a whole new way to test... no more memorization only, like in Anatomy, now you have to critically think instead.
So I guess I have had to accept that I will lose my 4.0.. even though I'm not particularly happy about it. I'm wondering if this varies from school to school and BSN vs. ADN...

ftr_bb_catchr · Jul 14, 2005

IF, as I hear, getting A's is not impossible then why on earth would the instructors tell you they are NOT GOING TO GIVE ANY! Seriously, are they trying to humble you?

I think that's is what makes my husband so angry, not that you can't "earn" an A, but that they refuse to give any.... He thinks they have some kind of God complex with your future in their hands.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jul 14, 2005

IF, as I hear, getting A's is not impossible then why on earth would the instructors tell you they are NOT GOING TO GIVE ANY! Seriously, are they trying to humble you?

Quite honestly it's said because there are a few clueless people who think that the instructor is going to hand out their knowledge on a silver platter to pass everyone.

No, they're not going to give out As, they need to be earned.

mattsmom81 · Jul 14, 2005

I got lots of A's in RN school...which resulted in a whole lot of jealousy.BUT I owe it all to the fact I was a LPN and had the basics down already...giving me time to focus on the more advanced concepts and give more time to the difficult subjects. :)

Student_Nurse_WV · Jul 14, 2005

I think that instructors that say no one is going to get an A are kind of using it as a tool. By getting into nursing school, you have to be competitive (at least in my area). Maybe by saying this the instructors are offering a challenge. Maybe by throwing a challenge (beyond the actual subject itself) most of the students will rise to that level of excellence (or at least go as high as they can). I know I always put more effort in something when I have a challenge.

Just my $0.02

:)

Tweege · Jul 15, 2005

I have to say, at age 18, while at a major university I barely passed, I mean BARELY, and I had a very good GPA going in. I had no kids, no job and only a boyfriend and could barely make it. NOW with three kids (plus a 17 year old sister who stays with me most of the time), a house, a husband and a bunch of other responsibilities I have a 4.0. Something about that life experience gave me the drive to get it done.. plus knowing that I am the one footing the bill! Wish I could have got that figured out back then... but I sure do appreciate it now.

Bingo and Amen. Me TOO!!!!!! 42 and maintaining a 3.75, and only because I was slack in a few "easy" courses, (one being Spanish :chuckle I speak fluent German, what was I thinking), made B's instead of A's. Anyway, I will do my best during the next 5 semsters and hopefully I'll be able to maintain. Kids are grown and independent, as well as my DH, finally :chuckle , he and my 13 yr old should be able to take care of themselves, my older two are out of the house and on there own.

You're right about wishing you could have figured it out earlier, I quit college after one semester and married my "Army Man", we've been married 23 yrs., he worked very hard while I stayed home and raised our sons. I would not have done it any other way under our circumstances, he was gone alot, now it's time I had a career. I'm older, more mature, and have experienced alot in life, I too am driven!! Hang in there we will make it! :)

ftr_bb_catchr · Jul 15, 2005

Bingo and Amen. Me TOO!!!!!! 42 and maintaining a 3.75, and only because I was slack in a few "easy" courses, (one being Spanish :chuckle I speak fluent German, what was I thinking), made B's instead of A's. Anyway, I will do my best during the next 5 semsters and hopefully I'll be able to maintain. Kids are grown and independent, as well as my DH, finally :chuckle , he and my 13 yr old should be able to take care of themselves, my older two are out of the house and on there own.
You're right about wishing you could have figured it out earlier, I quit college after one semester and married my "Army Man", we've been married 23 yrs., he worked very hard while I stayed home and raised our sons. I would not have done it any other way under our circumstances, he was gone alot, now it's time I had a career. I'm older, more mature, and have experienced alot in life, I too am driven!! Hang in there we will make it! :)

I AM YOU!!!! In 10 years.. I'm 31 now and married 12 years. Hubbie has worked so that I can stay home with our three kids (now 9, 7 and 5) and since I quit school the plan has kind of always been to go back when the youngest was in kindergarten, which he now is. AND I speak German too!! (well not so good anymore but I WAS an exchange student in high school) .. now that is just downright strange! Where are you in your educational journey now?

Tweege · Jul 15, 2005

I AM YOU!!!! In 10 years.. I'm 31 now and married 12 years. Hubbie has worked so that I can stay home with our three kids (now 9, 7 and 5) and since I quit school the plan has kind of always been to go back when the youngest was in kindergarten, which he now is. AND I speak German too!! (well not so good anymore but I WAS an exchange student in high school) .. now that is just downright strange! Where are you in your educational journey now?

Hi,

When my hubby retired from the military in 1999, I began looking at going back to school, and what I wanted to do to assist with our income. I had originally intended to attend our local CC and then to transfer to a 4yr college to get my teaching degree. While in school, for my first degree, I was simultaneously working in our local school system. My children were all in school and pre K-12 were all on the same campus so I would see them all throughout the day. It seemed like the perfect situation. But after a few years aggravation with the "Higher Ups" I resigned my postion and went to school full time. I graduated with a 2yr Associate in Arts Degree(college transfer) in May 2004, and will be beginning NS in just a few weeks. Last year I took A&p I and II and Chemistry to fulfill some of the points requirements for NS, I was accepted into the program in March and can't wait to get started.

As far as the German goes, my mother is from Germany, but has lost her heavy German accent, but people do often wonder if she is from up north, especially since we live in the deep south. Needless to say I grew up speaking it, although the only time we really used it at home was when my grandmother came to visit. She passed away in 1984, and until 1995 I really hadn't used it at all. My husband requested a tour in Germany, so the military moved us then and I was forced to recapture the language. It wasn't too hard and it sure was helpful. My husband was gone 3/4ths of the time we spent there, so the kids and I would venture out into the city and explore. My parents came and spent time with us as well for 3 months, and we were able to travel all over Germany. We also went to France, Spain, Italy and Austria, it was quite and experience.

Thankfully though that time is over with(militarily speaking), and we've begun a new chapter in our lives.

Now what was your question???? :rotfl: Sorry I rambled so much.

Best wishes in all you endeavour!!! :)