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Discussion

Doing bad in nursing school?

I don't know what's going on with me. Throughout all of college I have never received below an A-. I have had straight A's all through general eds and nursing pre-reqs and have always been so proud of that. Going into the nursing program, a lot of people said to forget the "straight A mentality" because it just wouldn't happen during nursing school. That became a reality last semester when I got straight B's. But it just keeps getting worse. I'm taking med-surg this semester and it is killing me. I have never gotten above 80% on anything in this class, and currently am struggling to pass. We need a 75% to pass and I am right at that border, with a 76%. No matter how much I study the content, do practice questions, and listen in class, I just don't do well. When we go over the test after, I wonder to myself WHY I answered things the way I did when the answer is so obvious. Most of our class has been doing really bad, but on the last exam everyone did wayyy better and I still did horrible. I'm starting to think that maybe it's a sign that I'm not supposed to be a nurse or something. I feel so defeated and like such a failure. There are people in my class that receive 98%, 96%, all of these high grades on exams. How come I'm barely passing?! I feel so incompetent and stupid. I don't know what to do. I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm just not smart enough or maybe never was in the first place? It feels like my world is just coming crashing down and that I might fail out of nursing school when I've never failed before. What a harsh reality :( Does anyone have any advice or anything that could help?

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    • Expert

    Get a physical checkup. Maybe you have some subclinical medical problem that is draining your energy. When you are convinced that you're medically ok, look at your health habits, then your study habits. When you feel healthy, you can concentrate better. You know the drill, sufficient sleep, good exercise, proper nutrition. Then how do you study? Have you made any adjustments for the different type of info? Mental preparation. Get rid of this defeatist attitude. Your problem probably is smack, dab in the middle of your negative self-talk. Your post resonated negativity. Start giving yourself positive affirmations when you sit down to tackle your studying. It can't hurt. And don't be ashamed to approach your instructors during their office hours for advice, help, and tutoring. That is what they are there for. Good luck.

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    The further one you go in the nursing classes the harder the classes get. I am halfway through my program and am barely passing my classes. Its doable, but please do not think that you need an A to pass every class. A C is passing and that is what counts

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    No no no do not give up your dream! I agree with caliotter that those negative thoughts can form a vicious circle which will effectively block your ability to find a solution to this issue. You already know that nursing classes are unlike any other academic endeavor most people can undertake. What is also true is that it is very difficult to diagnose where you might be going wrong in the thought process that leads you to answer incorrectly so often.

    I would strongly suggest you get some one on one help through a peer tutor or someone your professor can suggest to learn how the dots connect to the right answer.

    You can also get help here on allnurses in the Nursing Student Assistance forum. We always say that we are "not here to do your homework", but we are happy to help you think things through. So if you were to present a scenario and say what you think is the correct answer and why, you will get feedback on that process you can use to hone your test-taking skills.

    Learning the process of thinking through the scenarios presented also known as "critical thinking" in test questions must happen before you tie yourself in knots over one specific answer or another. If you spend some time reading questions and answers here presented by other students you can learn this as well.

    Remember you are not alone and many, many practicing nurses had bumps in the road on the way. Best wishes!

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    I don't see any thought being given to asking your faculty for help. Believe it or not, faculty really do want you to learn and succeed, and to learn, they know you have to understand. But this is college, and they will not come to you. If you aren't understanding why you're not getting it, you need to make a standing appointment with somebody to go over the week's material, the questions you missed, and help you see how to figure out the WHYs of things,not just the data points for answers.

    We see this all the time. Nursing school is not like your previous education. It demands and assumes that you will carry forward everything you learned before, including your prereqs and support classes, and apply it all in ever-increasing levels of critical thinking. Therefore, if you read something in your book and can't look away and restate it in different language and say why it is why it is, then you don't know it and you can't possibly apply it in a critical-thinking model.

    Go see those folks. Keep at it.

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    My sister is struggling and a lot of my classmates struggled or were set back a few semesters. I graduated last year and now one friend is graduating and his wife will graduate next semester. We were in 2nd semester clinical together. I've also had friends drop down to the LPN program because they failed first or second semester. Nursing school is tough.

    If possible, I would begin to work with a tutor.

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