This is really just me venting but I'm getting annoyed with all the second, third, fourth, etc.. chances. Nursing school is preparing us to fill a role where could literally kill someone if we make a mistake. Why are we allowed so many chances to retake classes, retake dosage tests, retake nclex, and other things.
In my five semester program, I have a classmate who has been there for 5 semesters but is only in 2nd semester because he keeps withdrawing and is allowed to try again. If it takes that many tries, I don't think you have what it takes. I see posts on here all the time about people retaking classes and retaking nclex and I know sometimes people make mistakes and need a second chance but it's seems excessive.
We have to take a dosage exam before we go to clinicals and we have to score a 95. If you dont get it the first time, you can take it two more times. If it was real, you could've killed a patient by then! It's very basic math. There's no reason to fail.
I'm so frustrated because I work hard to get things done right the first time and people who have to redo something two more times end up in the same position. I don't know why I bother sometimes.
For my school, clincals are either a pass/fail and you need a grade and a weighted quantitative test average of 77% (C+) in nursing, science and math courses. Nursing courses may be repeated one time only. Grades are not rounded up.
I think some people can be bad test takers but it doesn't reflect how they would act in the real life situation. I know from CNA school I had a huge weakness in the "choose the best answer but all are correct" questions! I had a lot of those in A&P but not any other class so far. This summer I've been working on them a little bit every day. Someone might not realize a weak area that fast just because it didn't come up soon enough to recognize and fix it maybe.
As a faculty member I am equally frustrated over this. Sometimes there is nothing we can do to prevent it. If they withdraw before failing the course, they can retake but have to pay to do so. Unless the financial aid changes catch up to them, they get away with it.
I had one wealthy person retake pharm 3 times. Best he ever did was 56% average.
Please be consoled that they hardly ever make it all the way through, at least not where I am.
I think some are being too harsh on the OP. This is a legitimate question. How many retries are fair, and does the need for multiple 2nd, 3rd, or 4th chances tell us something?
I think that you and others on this thread are reading into the OP's words and intent. You are making assumptions yourself that her concerns mean that the OP thinks of herself as superior, and/or opposed to ALL second chances. I have not picked up on any such sentiments in the posts.
JJ1994 does bring up a legitimate question: when is enough enough? In my experience, the multiple repeaters (NOT person repeating a course a second time for legitimate reasons) suck up a disproportionate amount of faculty time and attention, and they may not make it down the line. They also are taking up a slot that might benefit someone else. I think this discussion is important.
I also had a verbally abusive father who would curse at me, call me stupid and denigrate my abilities at every turn. It's taken a lifetime to address because, in the back of my mind, the seeds of doubt and lack of self-confidence were firmly planted at a young age.
I applaud your sister for overcoming her past to secure her future. Sometimes I think a parent's cruel words can have a farther reaching impact than we'll ever know.
You are so right! She definitely still has a lot of hang ups. All of the kids in my family do. I'm proud of her for how she's thrived professionally, though. She's awesome.
You're taking this to seriously. We let anyone be president. We give politicians and doctors second chances so lay of the nursing students.
Nurses have higher integrity than politicians, doctors and all other professions. Search it and see for yourself. We were surpassed briefly by firefighters after 9-11 but we are the highest year after year. There is a reason for that.
I think that at my school, slack was provided to individual students within the confines of the course. That is, the instructor gave leeway before assigning a failing grade. This may have had a lot to do with how the individual student was "perceived" (i.e., favoritism). So, less visible to the majority of the other students, and there was no complaining. Can recall only two people who failed and cried discrimination. Back then, there seemed to be a little more subtlety about such things, or maybe the school had been sued too often.
There are things that go on in other peoples lives that hopefully you will never know.And its not an excuse, because most people do not have an off switch. And their emotions do affect their performance. I agree the nclex needs to be 3 strikes. But how many chances you get in nursing school is nobodys business.
I can't stand this snotty mindset that people don't deserve second chances. I was forced to take a medical withdraw after having the clinical instructor for hell (who, it turned out, had a history of targeting students of color). Not to mention, I had other issues going on that didn't help the situation.
I managed to find my savior in Zoloft.
Guess what? I soared through the rest of nursing school, graduated with a very high gpa AND passed the NCLEX first time around with 75 questions in less than ninety minutes. And now my preceptors are wanting to cut my orientation short (by several weeks) because they feel that I am very strong for a new grad.
If doctors can get second chances, then why can't nurses? I get so sick of this gatekeeper mentality so many nurses have. Who died and made you the Queen Bee?
It all depends on the school. Where I went to school, there were no excused absences unless there was a Dr. note as proof of a valid reason for missing a class. We were allowed to retake med calc tests up to 3 times, and we could retake ATI tests, but we were not allowed to retake any other tests and if we failed out of a class we were out of school, no exceptions. If we missed a clinical day, we failed clinical and were kicked out unless there was a valid reason (with proof provided) to miss, in which case we were allowed to make it up, but it cost $350 to do so. One of my classmates had to leave town because her teenaged brother died in an auto accident, she missed 2 clinical days and it cost her $700.
So, not all schools are lenient. Check NCLEX pass rates for your school...I bet that the results of their leniency shows up there!!
direw0lf, BSN
1,069 Posts
For my school, clincals are either a pass/fail and you need a grade and a weighted quantitative test average of 77% (C+) in nursing, science and math courses. Nursing courses may be repeated one time only. Grades are not rounded up.
I think some people can be bad test takers but it doesn't reflect how they would act in the real life situation. I know from CNA school I had a huge weakness in the "choose the best answer but all are correct" questions! I had a lot of those in A&P but not any other class so far. This summer I've been working on them a little bit every day. Someone might not realize a weak area that fast just because it didn't come up soon enough to recognize and fix it maybe.