Failed out of BSN Program, What Now?

[JB131]

Hello, All I am looking for advice for my son who found out today that he is being withdrawn from a BSN program here in Atlanta, Georgia at Kennesaw State since he has failed out of the same class twice. I am not in the field so I am hoping someone here can let me know what his possible options are for continuing towards an RN.

A little background, he has his AS in pre-nursing, was a certified CNA/PCT at one point, has a 3.5 GPA, he was 1.5 years into the nursing program and would have graduated this spring. He still has an appeal process to see if they will reinstate him for summer term.

My questions would be:

1) Should he try to apply to another school or schools? For either a BSN or a 2 yr RN program? Will any of his nursing credits transfer or will another program make him start at the beginning anyway? Realizing not all programs are created equal, could he potentially get through another nursing program easily? I would hate for him to get into another program only to be in the same position again in about a year and further in debt.

2) Having completed 3/4 of the program does this make him eligible for any certification as an LPN, CNA, phlebotomist, etc? Or could he get an LPN fairly quickly? Again would he be starting at the beginning again?

Its just extremely frustrating that he has nearly two years invested, and thousands of dollars in loans, and the school is basically saying sorry you missed this by standardized test by 3 questions, your out!

Any help would be appreciated thank you!!

[liberated847]

I have five kids, including one about to start college, and I agree with GrnTea. College students are adults and need to handle their own lives. Using me as a sounding board, asking for moral and emotional support? Great. Asking me to read over an essay and give feedback? I'll do that. Begging for homemade goodies and favorite recipes? I am all over it. Visiting on breaks to bask in short episodes of kid-like family life? Yay!

Expecting mommy to put in the effort to figure out what to do after they fail? Just call me Grumpy Cat, because no. Adults need to act like adults. The sooner they start, the faster they get good at it. There will be no unemployed 30 year olds playing World of Warcraft in their pajamas in my house.

The student who failed should be here asking for advice, not his mom. Park the helicopter and let him figure this out.

Yet another insult to the OP by the same people who cry foul every time a different opinion is offered. The OP never said her son asked her to post anything. The OP is a mom that is concerned about her son and his academic future. How easy it is for many here to criticize. Seems like the same elitist few, wouldn't be surprised if the reason they flame the OP is because it makes them feel better about themselves.

[Nibbles1]

I feel terrible for your son. The way it usually works is that if you fail out twice, you are done. You can go and apply at another school, however, they will take into account that he failed twice. There's so many students trying to get into nursing programs. The schools can be picky on who they want. Everyone in my class had 4.0 GPA when they entered the program. Several failed out but the program director gave them a second chance. Guess what? A lot of them couldn't pass state boards. It dropped the colleges grade down. The program was points away from academic probation. LPN, in my opinion, was ten times harder than my ADN program. I certainly have empathy for you. My son is on academic probation for pharmacy school. But I'm going to tell you one piece of advice. Do not go into debt for your children's college. Any financial advisor will tell you that as well. Good luck to your son.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

MODERATOR NOTE:

The OP came here for advice and if we had any ideas on how she can best help HER son. While telling him it's up to him is a viable option...it is not the only opinion.

Please debate the topic and not the posters.

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[JB131]

OK, as the OP, I did come here for advice on his options, not on my parenting skills or the assumption my son is some loser sitting around playing video games all day and that's why he failed out. He actually left a Biochemistry major, where he was a 4.0 student to go into the nursing program and he remained a 4.0 student until this one class. He legitimately had an issue with this one class, he went through all the normal channels for assistance, and fell a few points short. I don't think his only option is to crawl under a rock and resign himself to working at Burger King for the rest of his life.

I will now move on from this post and not waist any more of my time here or on this site again. I respect and thank those of you who have offered real advice, but I have no extra time to get into a ******* match with the rest of you.

[CountryMomma, ASN, RN]

Ma'am, I just graduated a challenging 2 year ADN program that boasts a 95% NCLEX passing rate. I now have a full time position on a high-acuity med-surgical floor and I also tutor students from the nursing school I graduated from. With my creds now in full view, let me say this:

Some students are not meant to be nurses.

Some students are meant to be nurses, but it will demand great sacrifice and heavy work from that student.

Nursing school is not a situation where everyone who applies and pays tuition gets a participation award in the form of their RN at the end of it.

I am unclear why you are insisting that the college somehow compensate him for the loss of funds or that he shouldn't be out the amount of his student loans.

If a student fails the same class twice, I do not think it is neccessarily an issue with the school, unless the majority of each cohort keeps failing this class as well.

Did your student seek help from the Student Services office? Find a tutor? Engage in study groups? Get assessed for a learning disability and brainstorm ways to adjust to his needs? If the answers are yes to those above, your son, bless his willing and hopeful heart, might not be cut out for nursing. Contrary to popular belief, nursing relies heavily on science, chemistry, and biology studies and requires a huge amount of self-discipline, critical judgment, and plain old smarts. We routinely hold people's lives in our hands - that's not a joke or a way to feel important. Its the unvarnished truth.

If your son did not do those things above, are you truly sure he would this time? A student doesn't just up and fail the last semester with no warning signs prior. If he was unwilling to seek for help and obtain it, I would doubt his dedication or ability to critically think through his actions.

He can call around to other programs and ask. In my area, I doubt he'd get very far. It's a sellers market, and nursing schools are eager to keep their attrition and NCLEX rates high. A student with proven performance issues and no apparent plan in place to address them is a huge red flag most programs would be inclined to pass over.

I was tutoring a student once who had already failed a semester with 2 Fs. It looks like that student will miss this semester as well. The student appealed once and "won" the right to try again in the program, but if the student fails this semester as well, that student is just completely SOL. I hate to say it but the student really struggles with both evaluation and synthesis levels of work according to Bloom's taxonomy. This is troubling because it can indicate the student is unable to go beyond the "doing" stage of applying material to fully appreciate, evaluate, and extend their thinking and the results of their actions. Your son might be in the same boat.

Good luck.

[wellcoachRN]

I think now is the time for your son to start to take 100% responsibility for his life and find out what he wants to do. Does he love nursing or is he perusing it because he thinks he "should"? Most schools have counseling services and vocational testing. When he finds something that truly lights him up, opportunities will appear as well as his motivation. Too often people waste their lives staring at doors that are not meant to be open while ignoring the doors that are open. If he really does want to pursue nursing, perhaps this is the event that sparks his motivation. If not, it's time to move on and discover what he is passionate about and is meant to do.

One of the most difficult things as a parent is to let go and allow your child to create their own life. Part of this entails plowing your child to learn from their mistakes. Your son is fully capable of learning life lessons. Your job is to support, not control or "save" your son. Your son is an adult, now should be the time in your life that you can do the things you love. Take a class, join a book club, do something just for the fun of it.

[ladybuglovee]

Hi OP, I am a brand new grad from a GA ADN program. I think if your son still wants to pursue nursing, he should consider trying to get into an LPN program. If he is able to get in and complete that (rigorous, I've heard) program successfully, he will have that as something to point to that shows his drive and changed study habits when he tries to get into an LPN-RN completion program.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

It used to be, decades ago, that if you finished X% of a BSN program you could sit the LPN boards; I know of no states where this is still done.

New Hampshire and Vermont still allow it.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Way to kick someone when they are down. OP, the simple answer is, tell your son to try again, go for LPN then bridge to RN. Pay no attention to the elitist comments here.

Wow!! Nice bedside manner, and I bet you don't have kids!! Its a good thing that human compassion wasn't a requirement when you were in school, back in the day, or you two would have been in trouble. I'll take my son's willingness to help the average person over your academia insulting attitudes any day!

Not elitist in the slightest, I assure you. We have delivered this exact message to one of our own kids. Postscript: He grew up once he had to take responsibility for himself. He is a teacher now, irony of ironies, but that doesn't make him unique in the family.

I wasn't the world's greatest student in my undergraduate years, for many reasons with which I will not bore you. I did learn that with greater targeted effort comes better results, though. I promise you that my advice, whether welcome or expected or not, comes from many years of personal, parenting, and professional experience.

The OP didn't come here for parenting advice and his/her son may not have asked for her help. However, sometimes the best thing a parent or teacher can say to a kid who is not succeeding as desired is not a ready-made solution (other than "Get a job") but, "What are you going to do about it?" Solutions they find themselves, with a little guidance but NOT micromanaging, are generally both cause and result of experiential learning, and are therefore more memorable in the long run.

Best wishes to all.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

I am sorry you are not getting the advice you seem to be looking for. I am not judging your parenting skills or your son's ambition, I am just offering what might end up being the harsh truth of the situation. Your son may or may not win this appeal, if not his options for entering a different program will most likely be limited and will most likely not be local unless you live in a very large area with a lot of nursing programs. If he opts to try somewhere else, advise him to do his research into the program. Is it an accredited school? What is the NCLEX pass rate? Will the credits he has earned transfer? Ask current and former students if they felt they got an education worthy of the money they spent.

I hope he is able to achieve his goals or transition to a new goal with minimal financial loss. It would truly stink to have all those students loans to pay back without the degree. Good luck to him whatever he decides to do.

[vokaybo]

It seems as though he is doing well in his other classes since he has a 3.5 GPA. If possible, he may need to get down to the core reason he can't seem to get through this class with a passing grade. Often students do need tutoring in difficult subjects. You didn't mention which class he was having difficulty with. Tell him to keep his chin up and encourage him to go after his dreams of being a nurse. If you weren't in Georgia I would tell you to have him check out Excelsior for his ADN but he wouldn't be able to work in Ga until he fulfilled the requirements for hours worked. There are options out there. He just needs to explore them. Hope you are able to find him something...

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

OK, as the OP, I did come here for advice on his options, not on my parenting skills or the assumption my son is some loser sitting around playing video games all day and that's why he failed out. He actually left a Biochemistry major, where he was a 4.0 student to go into the nursing program and he remained a 4.0 student until this one class. He legitimately had an issue with this one class, he went through all the normal channels for assistance, and fell a few points short. I don't think his only option is to crawl under a rock and resign himself to working at Burger King for the rest of his life.

I will now move on from this post and not waist any more of my time here or on this site again. I respect and thank those of you who have offered real advice, but I have no extra time to get into a ******* match with the rest of you.

We do not allow personal attacks however on a public forum you get public opinion. We are here to help....what class is he having difficulty with?