So I made an account just to post this here and as the title says, I just failed my first semester of Nursing school. Sorry but this might be a long rant, anyways, I'm really upset that this happened since I practically quit my job to focus 100% on this program but still failed by less than a percent. The passing grade for our program is a 77% or higher with no rounding, meaning if you got a 76.99, you failed. I ended up getting a 76.2% as my final grade. I talked to my professor about my overall performance in the class after I got my grade and she told me that I was satisfactory in dosage, lab, clinicals, skills check-offs, passing them on the first attempt with a 92% or higher, basically everything except the exams. We had 5 exams in the class, 4 of them were worth 210 points and the final HESI exam was worth 99. My scores in order were; exam 1 - 171, exam 2 - 150, exam 3 - 168, exam 4 - 159, and HESI 64.
I know that those questions are critical thinking and I think I struggle with that part because when I see those exam questions, I feel like they have no correlation to the material I studied, and that it wouldn't matter how much or how hard I studied and sometimes it would seem like there were more than 1 right answer. Sometimes I would end up overthinking a question and then getting it wrong because I looked too deep into it. My studying habits would consist of me reading the chapters before we went over them in class and if not then after class, and highlighting parts in my book that I thought were important to know. I signed up for a mentor when they gave out the applications for them but none of them ever texted me back so I just didn't bother with it and I sought help pretty late which was before the 4th exam and went to the nursing adviser for study tips which personally I don't think really helped me at all. We were told to not just "memorize" but to understand the concepts which is what I tried to do. I wouldn't do group studies either as I tried it once and it just lead to off topic conversations and didn't bother with that again.
I've decided to re-sequence, but since I applied late (due to me putting all my bets into that HESI hoping for a 72), I probably won't be admitted until the Summer term which I really don't want to do since it's more fast paced and have heard that it is brutal but if I have to, I will. In the meantime I will also be taking a medical terminology class and hope that it'll help since my professor and the adviser suggested that to me. I plan on getting prescribed adderall from my doctor to help me focus on the exams and while studying, looking for any textbooks on critical thinking and NCLEX practice questions, and going over all my Nursing fundamentals textbook again while I wait for readmission. Since I failed once, I can't fail again throughout the program which is 6 levels of nursing or I'm kicked out for good. I'm really worried and hesitant about re-sequencing because I don't want to be someone that makes it to Nursing 5 and then fail and not have the option to re-sequence anymore when I'd be so close to finishing.
I know people will say that if Nursing is your dream then you should continue to pursue it no matter what, but I'm trying to be realistic here and plan ahead in the event that it does not work out for me and look for other majors or programs with similar pre-reqs with nursing so that I don't have to start completely all over again. I'm both sad and mad that I put in all this effort for this class with nothing to show for it and that I failed by not even a meager percent. I'm looking for any advice, suggestions, or tips. 21 yo Male in FL if any of that even matters. Thanks for taking the time to read my long post.
Nursing school is rough. 25% of my class failed out this 3rd semester. I have always been a 4.0 student but was happy to get a low B.
I have to agree that practicing questions and reading the rationales helps a lot to understand what the question is looking for, since, yeah, all of them have at least two right answers. I also found watching YouTube videos by Cathy Parks and Sarah at registered rn very helpful, especially while I am doing other things but want to keep up the learning. I also copy the questions and rationales for the practice tests we do. If I physically write something it sticks in my brain better.
When I am in class, if the instructor is talking about slides I color all over it with doodles to help me remember what she is talking about, and star it for later if she says it is important, I don't just sit there and try to listen (because I can't). Those are some of the things that have helped me.
If you got such a close grade, I bet you can get through, with a lot of hard work. If they have a tutor, work with them. I don't find study groups helpful to learn with, but after I have learned they are useful to practice with. I wish you all the best!!
BookishBelle
133 Posts
Nursing school is rough. 25% of my class failed out this 3rd semester. I have always been a 4.0 student but was happy to get a low B.
I have to agree that practicing questions and reading the rationales helps a lot to understand what the question is looking for, since, yeah, all of them have at least two right answers. I also found watching YouTube videos by Cathy Parks and Sarah at registered rn very helpful, especially while I am doing other things but want to keep up the learning. I also copy the questions and rationales for the practice tests we do. If I physically write something it sticks in my brain better.
When I am in class, if the instructor is talking about slides I color all over it with doodles to help me remember what she is talking about, and star it for later if she says it is important, I don't just sit there and try to listen (because I can't). Those are some of the things that have helped me.
If you got such a close grade, I bet you can get through, with a lot of hard work. If they have a tutor, work with them. I don't find study groups helpful to learn with, but after I have learned they are useful to practice with. I wish you all the best!!