So I failed 2nd semester by a fraction of a point. Needed a 76.5 to pass. I didn't post this on the student boards because I was hoping to get some feedback from RN's who have failed before.
I got c's on 4 tests and two low b's, then bombed the final because of anxiety/ran outta time...etc. I just can't believe that they are going to fail me for missing the mark by one question. I will lose my tuition reimbursment through work, my scholarships, wedding is going to be post-poned four more months.
I'm just freaking out that maybe this isn't for me. I really thought it was but maybe I just can't hack it. I dunno...what if I fail 3rd?!?! or 4th?!!? I can't go through this again. It hurts way to much. Has anyone out there failed a semester of school before and still made it to RN?
Don't give up if nursing is really what you want to do! We had a medication exam we had to pass with 100% EVERY semester. One retake. We had someone fail it our last semester. She was out. They failed people with 79.4. You failed. Retake ENTIRE COURSE. ALL FOUR SEMESTERS. ALL CLININCALS. You had a end of semester test each semester. A statndardized test (can't remember the name) if you failed it...you failed the class. We also had an exit exam. It did not matter your GPA. If you failed it, You failed. IT WAS AWFUL. On the other side.... the girl that had the highest GPA in our class failed the NCLEX 3 times. Yes, 3. Those that passed by the skin of their teeth... First time. So, retake the semester.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Yeah, they made the bar higher way back in my day, because all we did for patients was fluff their pillows and bend their straws. QUOTE]
Your comments are completely unhelpful. I can see you're defensive because of my comment about nursing school being more stringent and competitive, but I'm just telling the truth. I never said that somehow makes me better or smarter. The point I'm trying to make to you and the others who left some unsympathetic comments, is that perhaps you aren't qualified to pass judgement on my experience in nursing school since you have no idea what it's like now. Think about all the advances we've made in the medical field over the past 3 DECADES on top of higher wages for nurses. You can see why they would made school more competitive and challenging, yes? There's a lot more information to study. A LOT more.
Also, I don't appreciate you making light of "fluffing pillows and bending straws". Those are two tasks that you should maybe take a little pride in doing for someone who can't...
Nursing was no less complicated when I took boards. It never fails to amaze me how newer nurses/nurses-to-be criticize older nurses..."You don't know how hard it is!" Uh, as a matter of fact, I do. Most of those you criticize not only passed their boards, they've passed specialty certifications as well; certification exams that were far more difficult than NCLEX. We know precisely what it's like because we're the ones working as nurses.
As far as school being more competitive? Imagine starting your interview for a nursing school by having the director say, "Only one in four applicants makes it into this program, and we only accept 50 students. And of those 50 students, only about half will make it to graduation." Pressure, much?
My comment about "fluffing pillows and bending straws" wasn't meant to belittle those tasks. It was sarcasm directed at those who think that's the only thing experienced nurses did when they were new.
Since you didn't go to school when I did, you have no idea what kind of information experienced nurses had to have as students. We know what it was like to be a student, and we know what it's like to be nurses.
Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.
You know.... sometimes you JUST KNOW when something is not for you. Sometimes you JUST KNOW when you've made a wrong choice of major in college!
Back when I first went to college... I started out as a music major. Now, many people wouldn't think that music is a tough program... but it IS. Very time consuming, very demanding. I had been playing music since the 6th grade and thought that maybe music was the natural choice for me, as a career.
I got back my first Music Theory test... I had failed it miserably. The instructor wrote at the top "Need tutor help, Cathy!".
Something just clicked.. I was like, "No, what I NEED to do is change my major to "Undecided"! And that's exactly what I did,
and I never looked back.
I'm speaking to you as someone with a lot of life experience.... I'm also someone who, after starting nursing school, changed her major THEN too... but did I look back that time? Yes I did... because I knew in my heart that nursing was what I was supposed to do. (To clarify, I've been to college as an undergrad twice. I have a BA in Art, and then later went back for a Nursing degree)
You sound to me like you really truly want to be a nurse... I urge you not to give up. Repeat the course, study harder, go part time at work if you have to... you'll be done with school and graduated before you know it. =)
You might say that the anxiety of test-taking is a good practice situation for what is required of you at the bedside.
Ehhhhh, they're really fairly different situations. I don't find the stress of working as a nurse to be even remotely comparable to the stress of being a student. I'm all about finding strategies to get over testing anxiety but I think it's kinda simplistic to equate all stressful situations, when people often react differently to different stressors.
The writer of the OP is finding a lot of advice "unhelpful" I suspect because she came here looking for a pat on the back and a 'there, there, it will be okay. This is the wrong place for that, I suggest the student discussion. I'm sure you could find plenty of sympathy there.Most likely the reason you find the advice "unhelpful" is because you're unwilling to open your mind new to suggesstions and ideas.
To think that NS, NS exams were less stringent or less stressful is absolutely ludicrous and shows how immature you portray yourself. Think about it.... just as much, or more, information to memorize, no Internet forums to ask advice or answer homework questions, barbaric heavy books you actually had to read, no computerized testing, papers had to be typed on typewriters without spellcheck.The anxiety of taking a test (which you should have overcome in pre-req A & P) will be nothing like being at the bedside and your patients lives are literally all in your hands.
When and if I'm ever in the hospital my nurse darn sure better know what she/he's doing. I don't want something to happen to ME because my nurse just squeaked through NS, had "test anxiety" so had to take the NCLEX X 4.
That's a fair point, however, I work as a tech in an emergency room and thrive in that kind of enviornment. Bedside problem-solving is different than pen and paper problem solving for me for some reason. I'll reiterate, I know concepts but I guess I'm not good at applications analysis. This is just an example of a question:
Your patient has COPD and has been smoking for 40 years. What is the number one teaching priority?
A. Smoking Cessation
B. Pursed-lip breathing
C. Mouth-care after use of inhaler
D. High-calorie diet
The answer is A. I would have chose B since I consider A an unrealistic goal for someone who has been smoking for 42 years. Have you ever told one of your patients to stop smoking and they were like "I never thought of that. OK!" Pursed-lip breathing is a much more realistic and attainable intervention that will help the patient breath better.
Oh yeah, we have this too. I did pretty well on it because it wasn't written by our instructors!We also have the med exams which we have to get a 100 on but those are easy. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong on the exams other than talking myself out of the right answer.
Nursing was no less complicated when I took boards. It never fails to amaze me how newer nurses/nurses-to-be criticize older nurses..."You don't know how hard it is!" Uh, as a matter of fact, I do. Most of those you criticize not only passed their boards, they've passed specialty certifications as well; certification exams that were far more difficult than NCLEX. We know precisely what it's like because we're the ones working as nurses.
As far as school being more competitive? Imagine starting your interview for a nursing school by having the director say, "Only one in four applicants makes it into this program, and we only accept 50 students. And of those 50 students, only about half will make it to graduation." Pressure, much?
My comment about "fluffing pillows and bending straws" wasn't meant to belittle those tasks. It was sarcasm directed at those who think that's the only thing experienced nurses did when they were new.
Since you didn't go to school when I did, you have no idea what kind of information experienced nurses had to have as students. We know what it was like to be a student, and we know what it's like to be nurses.
Study harder and do better the next time.
Fair enough. I'd like to retract my comment and apologize. Think I was speaking out of frustration more than anything else. I know you guys work(ed) hard if not harder than us. I've been studying harder and am doing about the same. Sitting at a B right now. I think I just need to study for the final A LOT better than I did last semester. I'm just used to being an A student and really thought I'd blow through this program. Been a real humbling experience for me. It's a pretty reputable program and we have good NCLEX pass rates so I'm telling myself all this ball-bustin' is for a reason. Thanks for the encouragment.
Fair enough. I'd like to retract my comment and apologize. Think I was speaking out of frustration more than anything else. I know you guys work(ed) hard if not harder than us. I've been studying harder and am doing about the same. Sitting at a B right now. I think I just need to study for the final A LOT better than I did last semester. I'm just used to being an A student and really thought I'd blow through this program. Been a real humbling experience for me. It's a pretty reputable program and we have good NCLEX pass rates so I'm telling myself all this ball-bustin' is for a reason. Thanks for the encouragment.
I'd also like to say NS may be tough but the real world is completely different. Every nurse has there own strengths and weaknesses and do not by any means judge your grades in NS to predict what type of nurse you'll be. You seem to have had a pre-conceived notion that you'd rock NS since you're "bright and previously had a 4.0" which doesn't mean s#%t in NS. It's good that you've come to this realization now and not later.
I just posted on this very topic. I bomb my OB rotation. I am a Registered Nurse, passed my NCLEX the first time. I don't know about you, but I was very angry, frustrated and even embarrassed since alot was depending on me finishing nursing school. I will admit I was a bit scared to go back- my following semester was Critical Care! My instructors asked me if I wanted to take a break and restart the following year, but I said NO! I realized that had to focus more and really study which I did for the next two semester. I did better in my second year of nursing school then in the first year. I was fired up and determine. I retook the class and I put my all into it- ironically OB was my strongest material in nursing school-not surprising.
So, I said it before and I will say it again-do not give up! If you want this then you take a deep breath and you do it! I did it and so can you.
Looking at your example question, I will give some advice that many students in my program needed: stop reading into the questions so much!! Choose the most obvious answer. Sometimes you think, "wow, this question has such an OBVIOUS answer that they can't possibly be looking for something so simple. Hmmm...what could they really be asking?" STOP reading into it so much. The questions are usually very straight forward. I think you probably do have good critical thinking skills and a good understanding of disease processes, just by your reasoning. However, IMHO, half of the battle of test taking in NS, and really the NCLEX, was just knowing how to take the tests. My program was excellent at preparing us in that way.
The writer of the OP is finding a lot of advice "unhelpful"
To think that NS, NS exams were less stringent or less stressful is absolutely ludicrous and shows how immature you portray yourself. Think about it.... papers had to be typed on typewriters without spellcheck.
The anxiety of taking a test (which you should have overcome in pre-req A & P) will be nothing like being at the bedside and your patients lives are literally all in your hands.
My comment about the "unhelpful" post was to one specific poster. I find 90% of the responses helpful so I have no idea why you just said that and neither do you. You obviously didn't read through all the responses.
Secondly, you're right, test taking and patient care are nothing alike.
iluvhrts
56 Posts
Don't give up if nursing is really what you want to do! We had a medication exam we had to pass with 100% EVERY semester. One retake. We had someone fail it our last semester. She was out. They failed people with 79.4. You failed. Retake ENTIRE COURSE. ALL FOUR SEMESTERS. ALL CLININCALS. You had a end of semester test each semester. A statndardized test (can't remember the name) if you failed it...you failed the class. We also had an exit exam. It did not matter your GPA. If you failed it, You failed. IT WAS AWFUL. On the other side.... the girl that had the highest GPA in our class failed the NCLEX 3 times. Yes, 3. Those that passed by the skin of their teeth... First time. So, retake the semester.