failed foundations of nursing

snowybee · Jan 17, 2011

i 'm looking for some encouraging words my friend. It doesn't mean that if you fail foundation you can't make any of those nursing class it is not true. People have did it second time around and became nurse.

Tyler77 · Jan 18, 2011

Stronglady,

Whatever means that you're you are using to post, please stop. It's basically run-on sentences that amount to gibberish.

* There is no such thing as an "easy" nursing exam. They aren't definition type exams or recall of data. They're about applications. For example, a question might be "Which of the following statements shows that a patient is not ready to learn about his/her new diagnosed disease...."...."Which of the following is a weak nursing diagnosis..." You'll be TAUGHT about the fact that patients aren't willing to accept their new disease, or TAUGHT how to write an effective nursing diagnosis, but you won't be SHOWN examples of these topics in class. You have to take the info. you learn in class and APPLY it.

*If you go to your professor and ask for help, and they won't, it's time to go to the director of your program or dean and report this. I have NEVER heard of any nursing instructor flat out refusing to help students in need. Your tuition pays their salary: you are the employer and they are the employee.

*Strudents can be mean. That's a given mantra in nursing school. I GUARANTEE there will be students, clinical instructors, hospital employees, etc. you won't like. News flash: Welcome to life. Stay away from the troublemaker students, the students that don't follow rules, and the ones that think studying is for geeks. They won't last, anyway. Once it dawns on them that nursing school will demand a lot of their time, they'll know they won't have a ghost of a chance.

*It's good that you met someone to change your study habits and has helped you along the way. There will be students that will seem anti-social, but it has NOTHING to do with you. If not interacting with others makes them happy, good for them. Nursing school, and the nursing profession are places where everyone is out for themselves: any weakness that you show will be other people's fuel to bring you down, embarrass you, or gossip about you. It's the nature of the beast. I know it's easier said than done, but it's time to grow a thick skin and start wearing your big girl/boy pants. Like I said, it only gets harder after Fundamentals.

pitaya · Jan 18, 2011

I'm in a bsn program .I 'm a smart student until i failed this nursing class i felt like i am so dumb.My parents blamed me. I was ashamed in front of my friends. I am praying so hard to keep my spirits going. I felt like afailure My teacher never teaches n she just go through slides. So basically i do n't have an understanding. I have never worked in hospital. I 'm a young student. My mom was telling me to got to an lpn skool so i will know the basics but many in my class failed about 20.what should i do to have an understanding in hospital setting. i failed my 1st semster fundamentals of nursing due to hard questions.I understood every procedure but my problems was questions. The first few tests i was nervous and i failed but i passed the final and another test but failed other three.I made really hard but i know that i was gng to fail so i stopped studying and i failed by 5 points. I have to repeat these class in my skool u r allowed to repeat only one nursing class.i 'm so scared if if fail another i 'm out of the program.I passed other classes in my 1stsemster but i failed fundamentals:crying2:. If i move to a new skool i hve to start from the scratch. I was taking 4 classes this semster . So i think that's why i failed plus it was whole new testing style n nclex questions.I bought 4 different types of review books for foundations now n plan on to do group studying.First semster i was not prepared at all .I did n't had the recorder or anything now i purchased one. Now fighting really hard.I am a nervous n anxiuous person my body breaks down wheni get that foundation test.My foundation class was a nightmare. i was mentally n physically drained but adjusting 1st semster was really hard, now i adjusted. i now know what to expect ,and i 'm doing 2 classes or part time at a time like hard classes.So i can study and take easy classes in summer.Any advice further going down the nursing road. I really want to be a nurse n i m fighting my blood n sweat into it.Please pray for me

Hi, stronglady!

I have a dear friend who somewhat reminds me of your situation. She is from another country. She is so smart and studied and really knew her stuff. She blew me away in Pharmacology. But because English wasn't her first language, the tests were very difficult for her. She failed Foundations and it broke my heart.

However, she was able to retake the class and she succeeded. The second time around the weird wording of the questions made more sense to her. She passed with good grades and I am so proud of her. She's in her 2nd semester now. I know that it was probably ten times harder for her than it was for me and I felt bad that she had to study hard because it was the questions that confused her, although she understood the material quite well.

Don't lose heart. If at first you don't succeed, try again! Work hard, do lots of practice questions, and you can get there! If you need help with writing, find a tutor to help you!

Stay strong and don't let people get you down. I know many more people who failed Foundations, but didn't give up and made it the second time. Honestly, it's one of the hardest classes, in my opinion, because you don't know anything when you start and you are just getting used to those crazy questions!

Oh, and you might want to look into buying a book called Fundamentals Success. It has lots of practice Foundations questions in it. :)

Good luck!

snowybee · Jan 18, 2011

Hi, stronglady!
I have a dear friend who somewhat reminds me of your situation. She is from another country. She is so smart and studied and really knew her stuff. She blew me away in Pharmacology. But because English wasn't her first language, the tests were very difficult for her. She failed Foundations and it broke my heart.
However, she was able to retake the class and she succeeded. The second time around the weird wording of the questions made more sense to her. She passed with good grades and I am so proud of her. She's in her 2nd semester now. I know that it was probably ten times harder for her than it was for me and I felt bad that she had to study hard because it was the questions that confused her, although she understood the material quite well.
Don't lose heart. If at first you don't succeed, try again! Work hard, do lots of practice questions, and you can get there! If you need help with writing, find a tutor to help you!
Stay strong and don't let people get you down. I know many more people who failed Foundations, but didn't give up and made it the second time. Honestly, it's one of the hardest classes, in my opinion, because you don't know anything when you start and you are just getting used to those crazy questions!
Oh, and you might want to look into buying a book called Fundamentals Success. It has lots of practice Foundations questions in it. :)
Good luck!

Thanks man. I 'm in the same boat as your friend was in. Many in these forum tease me because they don't understand my feelings and what i have been going through. I came to U.S 7 years back ,and I was in deans list for three years in college with a 3.8 gpa. So when I failed this, I am disappointed as a student who never failed before ,and being frustrated with situations that drove me crazy. I have problem with understanding questions and it takes time for me to figure it out. Now I really learned that you have just to be quiet and calm, and do more NCLEX questions. i am a quiet sensitive person who always needs some encouragement and help. So that's why I came here . It took me 5 tests to realize the testing patterns and style of my school. The way I learned in my country is used to more essay format and barely used with tricky multiple choice even in nursing. So this stuff is new to me and it took me four months to understand it.Now i am totally incontrol of these question doing 10 times more work than ever because I want this. Do you have any questions for foundations from your school? My school uses that fundamentals success book but it was only good for clinical written exams only which is only one exam. I passed my pahrm and health assessment with a B average. I 'm good at memorization and I understand things. I found finally someone who understood my situation. Thank you so much for your kind words .

want2banurse35 · Jan 18, 2011

:hug:Never give up Stronglady, you can do it. I have a friend who is a chemistry major and is almost done with his bachelors degree with a 3.8 GPA. He is like you, english is a second language, so he was having a hard time in english courses. My advice to you is be strong and never give up. You can do it!!

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Jan 18, 2011

Stronglady,
* There is no such thing as an "easy" nursing exam. They aren't definition type exams or recall of data. They're about applications. For example, a question might be "Which of the following statements shows that a patient is not ready to learn about his/her new diagnosed disease...."...."Which of the following is a weak nursing diagnosis..." You'll be TAUGHT about the fact that patients aren't willing to accept their new disease, or TAUGHT how to write an effective nursing diagnosis, but you won't be SHOWN examples of these topics in class. You have to take the info. you learn in class and APPLY it.

This is very true. It might be hard to adjust to nursing exams because most classes simply require memorization of material. You'll have to memorize certain things in nursing, such as lab values, but overall nursing tests focus on APPLICATION of material. You need to study, understand, and apply the material and use your critical thinking. The only way to really do this is to do practice questions. Get yourself an NCLEX book (I highly recommend either the Saunders 4th or 5th edition or Pearson Prentice Hall's Reviews & Rationales for NCLEX-RN) and practice questions. NCLEX review books are usually broken down into sections...so if for example you're studying the cardiovascular system, go to the cardio chapter and practice those questions. It helps you study and helps you get into that "think like a nurse" mindset. It also helps you prepare for your NCLEX. My school told us we should be doing around 150 NCLEX questions/day.

Like I said, it only gets harder after Fundamentals.

This is also true. Fundamentals/Foundations teaches you all of the basics and then every nursing class afterwards continues to build upon previous knowledge from other nursing classes. But in no way does it get easier.

mspontiac · Jan 18, 2011

Maybe I missed it, but I think none of us knew that English was your second language until someone picked up on it and mentioned it. I don't have much advise other than to keep trying and use the practice books that others have mentioned. I did want to offer my encouragement though; it takes a lot of courage to move to another country, learn the language and the culture, and also tackle a career! Nursing school frustrates people who use English as their first language because the questions ARE worded in a tricky manner. Good luck to you!

pitaya · Jan 19, 2011

Thanks man. I 'm in the same boat as your friend was in. Many in these forum tease me because they don't understand my feelings and what i have been going through. I came to U.S 7 years back ,and I was in deans list for three years in college with a 3.8 gpa. So when I failed this, I am disappointed as a student who never failed before ,and being frustrated with situations that drove me crazy. I have problem with understanding questions and it takes time for me to figure it out. Now I really learned that you have just to be quiet and calm, and do more NCLEX questions. i am a quiet sensitive person who always needs some encouragement and help. So that's why I came here . It took me 5 tests to realize the testing patterns and style of my school. The way I learned in my country is used to more essay format and barely used with tricky multiple choice even in nursing. So this stuff is new to me and it took me four months to understand it.Now i am totally incontrol of these question doing 10 times more work than ever because I want this. Do you have any questions for foundations from your school? My school uses that fundamentals success book but it was only good for clinical written exams only which is only one exam. I passed my pahrm and health assessment with a B average. I 'm good at memorization and I understand things. I found finally someone who understood my situation. Thank you so much for your kind words .

Feel free to send me a private message if you want to talk more! Students like you inspire me. The fact that English is not your first language and you were able to get into a nursing school where English is spoken is amazing! I speak a little Spanish, but in no way would I be able to handle nursing school in Spanish!!! It is SO hard, even for us who have English as our first language, but keep working at it and it will pay off. :)

I don't have any Foundations questions from my school...I just used the review questions in the Potter and Perry Nursing Fundamentals textbook. Try buying a Saunders NCLEX review book; that might help, too.

alejandra007 · Jul 18, 2014

I can't believe you corrected it.You must be bored:)

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work"

Thomas A. Edison

Wipe away the tears, pick yourself up and Keep moving.

NuGuyNurse2b · Jul 18, 2014

I can't believe you corrected it.You must be bored:)
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work"
Thomas A. Edison
Wipe away the tears, pick yourself up and Keep moving.

+1. I know it's hard for people like OP to stay positive, but things will work out. Nursing school knows people will fail out, they don't shut the doors on them forever. they will allow re-entry if the student shows determination to improve and do what they need to do.

NurseEddie904 · Aug 29, 2014

Not to be mean, but I think the first thing you should learn is how to correctly spell SCHOOL. Next, in order to become a nurse, you have to think like a nurse. Nursing is very detailed as far as procedures and functions. You are not even able to write in a complete sentence structure with correct grammar, spelling, or punctuation. I would suggest to you that you learn to write a good sentence, read your material, do any and all practice questions in your book, pay attention to names, abbreviations, and charts. Don't expect to go sit in class and become a nurse. You have to really put your time into it. YOU are the only person standing in your way. You blamed the tests for being hard. Yes, they are, and for reason. They are going to weed out those who do not study, or who are not serious. Why would they waste their time and yours if you are not going to take it seriously. I suggest you sit down, have a little chat with yourself, then determine what your goals are and how to get there. Many schools offer tutoring free of charge. Use your resources and study hard. Buckle down, and you can achieve! Best of luck!

bsngirl2015 · Aug 29, 2014

To be completely honest you need to take a second and collect yourself. TO be completely honest if you don't prepare yourself for school and stay calm you are going to fail again. Nursing school is hard but not impossible. Join a study group, see if there is tutoring be pro active, don't just complain and worry about failing again. You need to use the resources available to you to succeed. Teachers may not give you 100% the material you need so you should read the book, ask to meet with the teacher, ask other students ect! I can't emphasize enough if you want to succeed you can't sit and worry you need to be pro active.