failed first fundamentals exam

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Sep 5, 2015

I am sorry to hear about your first exam. However, one low test score should not deter you from pursuing your dreams. A 66% is quite salvageable. A nursing program is must different than let's say a business major. You will engage in higher level learning- you will apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. Although I sometimes will include a couple of knowledge (strictly memorization) types of questions, generally the questions are written at higher levels. Here is an example: You have a female patient who requires toileting. Pt urinated and informs you she is done. A competent nurse understands to wipe the patient from to back toâ€¦ This is the best example I can come up with at the moment. My point is that knowing to wipe front to back isn't enough. WHY do we wipe front to back?

I hope the example is clear. If not, let me know and I will dig into my material to find some questions. I think you are on the right path by scheduling an appointment with your professor. My biggest gripe is when a student waits until finals time to discuss her failing grade. At that point, there is often nothing that can be done.

Good luck to you!

rob4546, ADN, BSN, MSN · Sep 5, 2015

I think the above post is one of the biggest keys to nursing education. Many people think that it is necessary to memorize all the information and be able to regurgitate it on test day to succeed. For much of nursing core classes this is not the case. When studying you need to make mental connections between the knowledge you have learned up to this point with new information being taught. Many of the questions will not be expressly taught to you but most likely would be based on associations between multiple nursing theories.

Also while reading the original post I was distressed that she spent the night before the test cramming because she was unsure of the information covered. Studies show that cramming is not helpful but can be detrimental. If you get nervous about the information the night before a test then don't freak and assume that you do not know the information. Relax, review a little, and get a good nights sleep. This would be more beneficial than starting from scratch.

Mrhill · Sep 5, 2015

Thank you for the advice! I'm trying to let go of this feeling of discouragement and let this failure motivate me. I am definitely going to try a new approach to studying and applying information! Thanks again:)

vanilla bean · Sep 6, 2015

PPs have given some good advice. I'd like to concur that rote memorization in nursing school is rarely helpful (an exception would be something like lab values, however you still need to understand what deviations mean for your patient).

I also wanted to mention that it would be helpful for you to try to identify what type of learner you are and what methods of learning work for you. What is most helpful way that you receive and process new information? Hearing it? Seeing it? Touching it? Embrace your style of learning.

Also, study smarter, not harder. As an example, if spending hours writing out information does not work for you... don't do it! That is a method of learning that does not at all work for me. Transferring information to outline form, study guides, notecards, etc. is just a mechanical task (for me) that never allows any of the information to penetrate my brain (just in the act of writing or typing it out), while for many in my cohort, it was an essential part of their learning process. They would have copious amounts of hand-written notes and pages long study guides for every exam and I never wasted time on that because it didn't work for me.

Nursing school is a whole new world. Be flexible. Try new things to learn material. Tried and true methods that have worked for you in the past with other subjects may not cut it now. Give yourself a break - a failing grade on your first exam in nursing school doesn't mean you can't succeed. It's just a wake up call that what you've been doing isn't working for you.

Good luck!

AspiringNurseMW · Sep 6, 2015

I'm a first semester (shoot first week) student, and am already seeing how different my study habits are. Maybe because it's so early on but I'm already finding the flash cards and outlining the chapter to be kind of useless. What's the point of memorizing the x number of factors that affect patient safety. There isn't. But you do have to recognize them and now what nursing actions are (and which ones are priority) in response.

I don't spend tons of time writing things out. What I DO is make sure I'm doing all the questions at the end of the chapter and looking at all the rationales, whether they be right or wrong. In addition, I purchased the Fundamentals of Nursing content review and practice questions. So if I just read about safety, I'll go to that same subheadings, and do those questions as well. It lets me know where I am deficient in knowledge and then maybe I'll go back and outline THOSE pages, and again look over rationales.

Knowing the information is one thing, but nursing is learning how to interpret and apply them to your client.

Personally for me, especially because I feel the same about writing notes as vanilla bean, what works is to teach others. I'll take the learning outcomes that are provided to us for every concept and I try to answer those questions, either to myself, out loud, or reviewing with other classmates.

PaulBaxter · Sep 6, 2015

Lots of people in my program did very badly on their first exam or two. Some of them recovered nicely.

Two points for you. One is to simply reiterate what others have said: application is everything in nursing! You always want to approach each topic thinking about what it will mean in practice. There will be certain things you will need to memorize, like normal lab values, etc., but even questions on those topics are likely to be phrased as application questions.

The other point is that staying up very late studying is probably quite counter productive. Sleep is the time when your brain processes and cements the things you are learning. Forgoing sleep means poor learning. There's been quite a lot of research on that topic, for instance here:

More Evidence That Sleep Enhances Memory and LearningÃ‚Â |Ã‚Â Dr. Michael J. Breus

As to how you can manage a baby, sleep, and study, I don't know what to tell you. It might be too hard right now, or it might not. We had three kids in four years, and I call that my period of "five years without sleep." While I wish that I had started my nursing education earlier (so that I would already be working), it was probably good that I wasn't in nursing school during that period.

Anyhow, hope you find your way through.

BeachsideRN, ASN · Sep 6, 2015

Pay attention to the "nursing considerations". What would a nurse see, hear, feel, smell when assessing s patient? What would the nurse expect the clinician to order? What would the patient say, feel, lab results if a complication is happening?

Larry3373 · Sep 6, 2015

1. Do as many NCLEX style questions as you can and read the rationales carefully.

2. Read the test taking strategies in Saunders.

3. Watch as many YouTube videos as you can. Mike Linares is probably the best and his website is simplenursing.com.

4. Read your textbook for understanding, not volume. Textbooks include a lot of fluff to fill the pages and make it similar to reading a manual. Look for high yield content and add some of that to your notes from class, remembering what your instructors emphasized in class. If you can't answer questions about what you just read, you are wasting your time. Go through the chapters and read only italicizes or bold words first; then go through again and only read information in tables/charts; then read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. This way you work smarter, not harder and you can go through the chapter in a shorter amount of time. Keep in mind that you are learning how to practice nursing, so you have to be able to answer the question "what would I do as the nurse with this information". That's where the YouTube videos, and later you clinicals come into play,

That should be plenty to get you started.

Larry3373 · Sep 6, 2015

I forgot the most important thing. Take care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. You won't learn well if you are physically unhealthy and sleep deprived. Get plenty of sleep, eat well, and exercise. Put God first in all that you do, including your studies, if you want to be blessed in this endeavor. I wish you the best!

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Sep 6, 2015

Great info Larry. I couldn't have said it better myself :)

BeachsideRN, ASN · Sep 7, 2015

1. Do as many NCLEX style questions as you can and read the rationales carefully.
2. Read the test taking strategies in Saunders.
3. Watch as many YouTube videos as you can. Mike Linares is probably the best and his website is simplenursing.com.
4. Read your textbook for understanding, not volume. Textbooks include a lot of fluff to fill the pages and make it similar to reading a manual. Look for high yield content and add some of that to your notes from class, remembering what your instructors emphasized in class. If you can't answer questions about what you just read, you are wasting your time. Go through the chapters and read only italicizes or bold words first; then go through again and only read information in tables/charts; then read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. This way you work smarter, not harder and you can go through the chapter in a shorter amount of time. Keep in mind that you are learning how to practice nursing, so you have to be able to answer the question "what would I do as the nurse with this information". That's where the YouTube videos, and later you clinicals come into play,
That should be plenty to get you started.

Spot on