Failed med/surg! Need help. Confused and disappointed

[nursingchick42]

I have failed the surgical semester of my nursing yr 2 and my prof failed me 3 days before we were done the year. I am becoming depressed thinking about my failure and don't know wht to do. Confused on what my next step should be and feeling down in the dumps that I will have to use 1 year redoing this class and have a total of 5 years? Is it really bad as what I'm thinking?? Please anyone give me so advice

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

I was in an accelerated second degree program. Our semesters were 7 weeks long. The very last semester (7 weeks before graduation) a friend of mine failed critical care (MedSurg 3). She was devastated. Because we were in cohorts, she had to wait six months to retake the course. She retook the course and now she is unit manager in the ICU. It’s almost ironic that she is a unit manager for a critical care unit, given that was the course she failed. We still laugh about it today. Does it suck? Absolutely. But you will have an advantage over the others; you have already been exposed to the content. Therefore, the second time will be easier for you! Take a breath and plan for your fifth year. It’s okay!

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

The first thing any nurse does is assess. Why did you fail? Get your instructor's input (may be painful to hear) and assess yourself. From there you can devise a "diagnosis". Are you not focusing enough? Not allowing enough time to study? Do you need a tutor or study group/partner? Once you determine what is the main issue, then dig deep till you discover what your intervention should be. In other words, apply the nursing process to your own situation. This will sound trite, but in the long run, no one knows or cares how long it took you to graduate. You do, of course, and you are the only one who can "fix" it. I wish you loads of luck!!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Agree (as usual) with classicdame. It's important that you 'own' your issues... "professor failed me" is not accurate - you failed to meet the course expectations. Taking ownership turns you from a passive recipient to an active participant in your education.

[SleeepyRN]

Ditto the above posts. Your teacher did not fail you. Be accountable. Now, that being said, yes, it sucks. Take your time to grieve a little, then get back at it. I had to go back a whole year because I ended up needing surgery at the end of my first semester, and couldn't complete the class. THREE weeks away! I cried, then got over it. In the 9 months I had to wait to retake the class, I studied. Then when I came back, I rocked that class because I knew what to expect. I had already been there. I felt much more confident too. Now, I'm GLAD I had to start over. I was better prepared the 2nd time around.