Failing my first semester of nursing school... any suggestions?

Nursing Students General Students

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Psych, Community/Public Health.

Hello, I am in my first semester of nursing school. I started this journey in January 2017. Currently, I am taking NURS 101, NURS 102 (Holistic Health Assessment) and NURS 103 (Health Concepts). I have an A average in NURS 101 but I am right below 75% (passing grade) in NURS 102 and 103.

I have been studying using the assigned readings, youtube videos, flash cards, and NCLEX-style practice questions. For some reason, I have the hardest time with the school exams. I always score between 70-76%. The semester is almost over and on these last few exams, I must get between 80-85% (or higher) to pass these courses and move on. I am very frustrated and worried. I am trying my best. At my school, if you fail two nursing courses, you are automatically dismissed from the program. I do not want this to happen.

Does anyone have any suggestions or guidance on what I can do to reinforce the concepts I have learned this semester and do better on the upcoming exams that will determine whether I progress to the next semester or not?

Study tips, helpful websites, great learning videos, similar experiences (near pass/fail)

Alternatively, if you fail out of one nursing program (dismissed), how does one go about moving forward? Doesn't other programs frown on applicants who've failed out of a program already?

Thanks in advance!

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Sounds like you're struggling with the kinds of questions that you find only on nursing exams, and these questions are set up to be in line with how the NCLEX-RN is formatted. It is a different kind of beast.

If I were you I'd ask your nursing school advisor about a tutor. Meet an upperclassmen (who by now has demonstrated the ability to do well on these tests!) and learn the strategy you need to be successful for nursing exams.

Sometimes it's not the content that is the problem but recognizing what the question is really asking, and understanding how to get to the right answer.

Good luck!

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Sorry, but you should have sought for help once you saw that you were struggling, NOT when the semester is almost over.

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Hey! Well I'll tell you my story. I also hit a TON of bumps in the road during my first semester of nursing school. I failed pharmacology by 0.2 points and my instructor refused to give any extra credit even though she said she would 2 weeks before. I passed funds and health assessment with B's, but I couldn't go on. So I moved to florida with my husband and now I have been an straight A student. My trick was doing nclex style questions at home. When you take the exams don't have tunnel vision and go straight for what you THINK the answer is. Stop and think about the situation and your options. Our school requires us to turn in 100 nclex questions per class every week and it has helped greatly! I sucked at them too when I first started. Their very tricky. If you have any other questions just ask me. I'll gladly help as much as I can.

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Hello,

This sounds frustrating for you. Try to switch up the way you study. Are you allowed to record professors? If so, record them and listen to them all day- in the car, washing dishes, etc. Do you usually study alone? Join a study group. If you study in a group, then start studying alone. Go online and memorize the mnemonics that nursing websites offer to help you to remember important points. Talk to people in class who do well and ask them what they do. Talk to your profressor, express concern, ask her what you can do to do better in her class.

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Im sorry to hear that you are having a challenging moment with these nursing exams. I truly sympathize because I also struggled in the LVN program and was also in panic mode 24/7. I had to hire a tutor but not saying that you need to, but nursing exams are different than any other college exam. Search "Daytonite" on here. I really hope you have found a way to pass this semester. :)

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Talk to your instructor- often.

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The time to seek help was when you did poorly on the first test or two. Does your school have a tutor who can go over your tests with you and explain where your thinking came off the rails? Mine helped me. Our school percentage for passing was 78% when I went through. They have since raised it to 80%. There was no extra credit and no bump. If you got a 79.9 you were out of nursing school and had to take the class again when it came back up. It was our schools way of getting it through our skulls that the nursing profession is very serious. Probably why we only had one NCLEX failure.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

I found

and several of her other, related, videos to be extremely helpful during nuring school.
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Sorry, but you should have sought for help once you saw that you were struggling, NOT when the semester is almost over.

Yep. Exactly what our instructors drummed into our heads. The final is no place to try to make up points because you usually score about the same as on the regular tests.

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I'm sorry you're going through that.i really hope you make it through this semester. Out of curiosity, what state are you? If it's Massachusetts, what school are you in?

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With what you describe as your courses, I'm almost positive we go to the same school. I'm at the end of 3rd semester.

I would use PrepU on lippincott if you haven't yet. Try and get up to a level 6-7 on each concept. Don't just study what the concepts are, but really know the nursing interventions that go along with them. Remediate the questions when you get them right and when you get them wrong.

Study the manifestations, if there's a chart in the readings- study that.

If you have any questions, PM me.

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