Ugh, I failed out of nursing school this semester. It was horrible. I have a documented disability with an accommodation plan through the school. In my plan it states that if I have some sort of disability crisis before or during an exam that I can meet with the instructor and disability services about it. I had this crisis before our Endocrine exam. I have anxiety issues. We was supposed to take our exam at one campus and the software for the exam wasn't installed on the new computers which made us have to move campuses, I was not prepared for this. It threw my anxiety into a tailspin. Prior to taking the exam I went to the instructor crying and told her that I didn't think I could take the exam, I was told to breathe, breathe and breathe some more, I eyeballed her during the exam and she kept trying to reassure me that it would be ok, but it wasn't. My focus was gone. My regular instructor came into the classroom and I was almost the last person to leave the room. I, of course, failed the exam badly. I've never failed an exam like this. When I went to my instructor after the exam she suggested that I see a therapist, I told her I already do, not that was any of her business. She then suggested I see another one?
So as you can imagine after this one test that totally blew my confidence in test taking. The test that I bombed was Endocrine and that is not an easy subject but I had felt pretty good about it prior to having the issues with the computers and such. I suck at test taking as it is.
After failing it and speaking to my instructor and then crying in another instructors office for an hour I decided to go home and debate about letting disability services know since I didn't want to get on their bad side (our Dean), I thought about it for a week and when we was at another campus (our class as a whole) I went to one of the instructors to ask about it, they basically told me tough luck. I've already seen the exam and that's that. I wasn't sure what to do after that. I just kept hoping for the best and flying under the radar (we had some problems with the accommodation problem and then Dean in the Spring). I kept on going to class and kept on failing test, not failing horribly but nonetheless failing it, the one test that made the most difference was that Endocrine test, the test that I tried to get help with, the test where I went to the instructor. Again, my confidence and worry just kept getting in the way of the test, I knew the material. Our policy for testing is you must have a 78%, it's always been that. If you don't make a 78% you fail. After our final was taken there was several people who failed, who literally failed the class, it was posted as a final grade. Then they decided to throw out another couple of questions to push some people over to the passing side after the first final grade was posted. We was always told if it's 77.9% it doesn't matter, we will not give it to you.
In our clinical setting it's either pass or fail, if you don't go and don't attend and don't complete care plans and such then you fail. It's all or none. You have to attend. If you don't they do a makeup case study, which is not the same as clinical experience. However this is how they do things. I have attended all of my clinicals. I have done great with all of my work. I have had nothing but good and positive feedback in my clinical settings.
I have a classmate who had to obtain a lawyer because of our Dean trying to remove her from the program and she wasn't even interviewed about the incidence that happened at school, she was just written up and was fixing to be kicked out of the program. I had spoke to her about everything and she suggested that I do something about all of this, file a complaint against the nursing department. I just don't know what to do. I have to apply for readmission and the last thing I want to do is upset them and make it so that I can't get back into the program. But there is no guarantee that they will let me back in anyways.
I am just trying to figure out what to do? Bite my tongue about what happened with the Endocrine test? Hope that they just let me back in when the fall semester starts? My current professor is horrible. She would say mean and snarky things to me, not to all of the class but to me. I don't ever want to be in her class again.
I just don't know what to do. Any thoughts? Even if it's just to tell me to get over it then I will at least see what other people think about it. I have another classmate telling me to do something about it as well. I just don't know if I should hold my tongue or have the disability services file a complaint?
Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
Try to reapply. Ask your advisor and instructors you trust on the best way to do this. One of my BSN classmates had similar test anxiety issues. He really did know the material, as he demonstrated in class discussions and in study groups. He just freaked out during the test. He took a semester off and restarted the program and did great! During his time off he was able to relax and get help for his anxiety issues. There is no shame in having to do this at your own pace. Best wishes.
The whole problem about trying to prepare us for the NCLEX was I could answer all kinds of NCLEX questions on my apps on my phone, I've had no problem but when I get into their test and everything they preach, I can't seem to find the answer that they want. They are all good answers but they need the best answer which I understand. But they teach it one way, and then ask it another way
That's nursing school, no matter where you go. Real life situations won't present like they do in a textbook. Talk to the instructors, and program chair as needed to find out what you're missing. That can help with anxiety. Good luck!
Fear of retaliation is a concern that you mention as important to your handling of this situation. If I were you I would think very long and hard about going to the other campus instead of gaining entrance to an entirely different program. How can you be sure that retaliation won't present itself at the new campus? I had a classmate who p.o.'d the administration at our school. I was told that each and every one of the schools she then applied to rejected her. Don't you think we speculated that administration of our school saw to it that nowhere else would accept her? Maybe a complete change of venue is what you need.
I would reapply to the program but I wouldn’t file a complaint. Failing a test due to uncontrollable anxiety is not uncommon, but not a good enough reason to file a report. Accommodations can only do so much; you must still prove you know the material as any other student has to. Making a report would likely hinder your chances, as would reporting the teacher for being tough or difficult. Apply for next semester, keep quiet about this test, and find a way to manage your anxiety that perhaps doesn’t depend on a back up plan. Your situation is not hopeless. Many students, including myself, have failed a semester and still gone on to become nurses. Many nurses, such as myself, have anxiety but are successful in our current roles. I wish you good luck.
Fear of retaliation is a concern that you mention as important to your handling of this situation. If I were you I would think very long and hard about going to the other campus instead of gaining entrance to an entirely different program. How can you be sure that retaliation won't present itself at the new campus? I had a classmate who p.o.'d the administration at our school. I was told that each and every one of the schools she then applied to rejected her. Don't you think we speculated that administration of our school saw to it that nowhere else would accept her? Maybe a complete change of venue is what you need.
Oh no, if I decided to reapply then I won't do or say anything to the program directors. I will just fly under the radar and go to this instructors class if they will let me. If this tells you anything about our program, we started last August 2018 with 100 people, then we added 25 bridge students which makes it a total of 125, there are only like 75 people left in the program. There would have been even less if they hadn't readjusted the final grades once again. I will hold my tongue on this one, I will reapply and ask to go to a different campus because when I checked into another nursing program in our area, they said that my Peds and Mental Health classes wouldn't count and I would have to retake them. Which totally stinks.
I would reapply to the program but I wouldn’t file a complaint. Failing a test due to uncontrollable anxiety is not uncommon, but not a good enough reason to file a report. Accommodations can only do so much; you must still prove you know the material as any other student has to. Making a report would likely hinder your chances, as would reporting the teacher for being tough or difficult. Apply for next semester, keep quiet about this test, and find a way to manage your anxiety that perhaps doesn’t depend on a back up plan. Your situation is not hopeless. Many students, including myself, have failed a semester and still gone on to become nurses. Many nurses, such as myself, have anxiety but are successful in our current roles. I wish you good luck.
Thank you! It feels hopeless some days but I know it's not. It just gives me time to take a break and take another online class while waiting to get started again. The last person I want to really make mad is the Dean of Nursing. She holds my degree in her hand.
I was referred by a few of my professors (one of them handed me forms) to see the DRC dept due to my test anxiety which they had observed about me--I sweat and flushed during exams. This was before I became interested in nursing. Anyway, I didn't go. One of them did not wait for the evaluation. He gave me limitless time?. I tried interventions such as placing the clock in front of me and timer next to me. It worked for me. ?. In summary, I didn't go to DRC since my own thing was effective.
I hope you'll find ways to ease your anxiety. Don't hesitate to ask for help.
Reapply for the program. Learn from your mistakes in this previous. Ace the next time! And do not let any stop you from accomplishing your dreams!
I have a disability on file, everything that happens I let the disability coordinator know and ask them to keep in confidentiality due to fear of retaliation,but I struggle too and what I tell people is that if you really want to be a nurse dont let anything get in your way. God has a plan for everyone and it may not be what you were expecting but stay focused and never quit!
Sillycat, I am concerned about your placement of blame on your instructors. Yes, instructors can have an effect on your learning. In addition, instructors may not know all the answers. But, part of their job is to encourage students to seek out answers-not just teach to the test. Clinical reasoning is developing knowledge to come to an accurate conclusion. Anxiety seems to be greatly affecting your ability to understand what has occurred and your role in these results. In another thread you talked about how your anxiety might lead to an inability to present a case study in front of 80 people. Then you say your class is 21 students. I am confused about this. You also say you only failed by 2 points. The 2 points don't represent just one question on an exam, but it is 2%. This means your avg for the semester (quarter) were 2% less than required. Also, if 10 points are added and you don't receive credit for all 10, you may not have the other possible correct answers. Were your exams essay questions or multiple choice and select all that apply? Please take some time to evaluate and make plans to address your anxiety issues. Good luck and keep us posted.
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
Without a doubt anxiety is impacting your test taking, but it also sounds like you are really struggling with critical thinking/application. Of course the exam isn't going to be exactly what is taught in class. It sounds very much like you are relying on rote memorization - a much lower skill set than critical application. There are games, puzzles and other things, both in hard copy and in apps, that can help you learn how to think about a subject beyond the way it was taught in class. This is a super important skill to develop and I suspect if you work on it you will find your anxiety goes down. It seems counter intuitive, but being able to pull up a well rounded impression of a subject is far less anxiety inducing than relying purely on memorized facts, which tend to flee in the moment. If you truly understand something, your fear of forgetting can be far less.
Sillycat, LPN
13 Posts
It is and we pay for that.