Failing Nursing School Over One Class?!!

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  1. What should I do?

    • 16
      Pursue my Associate's degree to find out what I might be good at, and then get a bachelors.
    • 13
      Continue with nursing school.

29 members have participated

So I just finished my first semester of a 2-semester long Practical Nursing program. I got A's and B's in all of my classes (Even Pharm!) except for my one- my first clinical rotation. It is graded pass/fail and my instructor gave me a fail. I feel that She judged me and treated me unequally (compared to other students) all semester. She made me feel very incapable during the actual clinicals and excluded me from performing skills on patients even though I have passed them all. I would appeal the failing grade, but I couldn't pass anyway due to missing 2 days of clinical at the end of the semester ( I just couldn't do it anymore).

So, I went to the dean of nursing and said I had decided not to come back to the second half of the program. I decided to use my prereqs and transfer credits to get my associate's, and then transfer to a university for whatever I decide I may be good at.

I am just so lost in life. I was unhappy before all this happened. How do I know if nursing really isn't for me, or if I only got tired of it because of this entire situation? If I decide not to pursue nursing, then I have no idea what else I could major in. I don't know what I'm good at. I need help!!

You need to take responsibility of your actions, trust me it will help you in the long run. I failed my first semester and I was very devasted but after feeling sorry for myself, I picked back up the pieces and started working much harder. I was allowed to come the next semester and now I'm going into my last year of nursing school. And for the record , associate programs are just as hard as the bsn, may even if the harder. Good and reputable associate programs don't usually take failing students from any school , I know mine does not.

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Specializes in hospice.

I guess we will never know what the supposed unfair treatment by the CI consisted of. Usually when people are asked for details and withhold them, it damages credibility.....

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Specializes in Primary Care.

I know I want to be in a profession where I'm helping people and nursing is not it, for me. I am choosing to just move on and pursue other things.

Thank you all for the insight!

You mentioned psych and a hard science as possibilities... you may want to reconsider both. Psych is hard to find a job with, and if you threw your hands up and "just couldn't take it anymore," you best stay away from the hard sciences. I got a biology degree before nursing, and they call them HARD sciences for a reason. It takes a lot of determination to push through the coursework, and there's limited jobs for those degrees as well, unless you get an advanced degree. Have you considered social work? They get to help people through tough situations, and I think that career is often overlooked.

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So be it. I've decided what I am going to do. And I didn't include many details on purpose, because I'm not going to do that with a bunch of strangers.

Take Care, Britgirl1

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PA-_RN87, before I was in nursing I was actually majoring in Molecular Biology and did just fine. I do pretty well academically, the only thing I struggled in with nursing was the clinicals. Maybe it's just not for me. Maybe I should be stuck in a lab helping people rather than doing it directly.

I will definitely be thinking about what I want to do while I work on my associate's degree. Either way I'm sure the future will work out fine. The most important thing to me is being happy, and nursing didn't make me feel that way. Social work is definitely an option, I'll have to look into it.

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Specializes in MH, ED, ICU.

In my opinion, if nursing school were for you then you should want to be present to learn, regardless of anything else that may be going on. We all have things that happen that make us not want to get out of bed in the morning. I lost five friends this semester on our last day of clinicals, but we all chose to still finish out the semester and not take an incomplete because it's what we love. You need to find something you're that passionate about. That is where you belong.

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Specializes in Home Health, Geriatrics, Women's Health, Addiction.

First you have to own up to missing clinical whether you were on the premises or not. Nursing is stressful and you have to be able to overcome such mental blocks or it could cost someone their life. This may not apply to you but clinical instructors are able to decide who gets to perform skills based on overall observation if they feel a student can perform the skill safely. Their license is on the line. In addition a good clinical instructor is not doing their job or you any justice if they don't push you or challenge you. I had an instructor who I was very intimidated by because my whole thing was wanting to be left alone so I could cruise through clinical under the radar and she was the type that would breathe down your neck and hit you with twenty questions. I also experienced an overworked clinical instructor who was MIA for most of the day who was later replaced. Guess which one made me the better nurse? Take some time and research other health care related fields to be sure of what would be a good fit for you. At any rate no matter what you decide you will have to develop some mental toughness. I believe this is why I ended up ultimately taking twenty years to between graduating from high school and completing nursing school despite always having the desire to be a nurse. I realized the person I was at 18 yrs of age was not capable of dealing with the rigors of the program or mean doctors or nurses who eat their young. The person I was at almost 38 yrs of age when I graduated had been through graduate school, a divorce, several career choices, among other things and a mother with nothing to lose. I couldn't allow the "mental blocks" to win. I used a lot of prayer and I listened and received/evaluated constructive criticism. Don't take it personal. Good luck.

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The hallmark of a professional is showing up....especially when you don't feel like it. Your patients and coworkers need you to show up consistently and be ready to go. They don't or shouldn't have to care if you are having a bad day or are upset. If you can't do that, you aren't ready for any health profession.

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You think nursing is tough, just wait until you try social work. Talk about a job that you can't get out of your head at the end of the day and huge caseloads.

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Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

Right..but you brought it up to a "bunch of strangers" and threw yuor instructor under the bus.

Quitting things when they become uncomfortable or challenging can lend itself to developing a pattern of quitting. You talk about social work, molecular biology, nursing. FINISH what you start. You will be amazed at the sense of accomplishment and then you are more likely to finish the next goal.

You state "the most important thing to me is to be happy". Ok..that sounds great, but ANY career is going to have times you are not "happy"....and you can't just up and quit anytime you are not "happy". I don't honestly care what you do, but the people on here seem to be trying to help you realize your perception and stated apparent "victim" role will not be tolerated in a professional career.

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