first day of summer break...and it sucks!!!!!!!!!!!

Nursing Students General Students

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well here i am...i finished up my one and ONLY final today (my nursing final) and i sit here on my FIRST evening of summer break and i must say that i am not happy :mad: can i just say how much i HATE nursing school sometimes?? i mean, i know we all hate it at one point or another..the constant stress, late nights, information overload, being isolated from friends, family & significant others...but today on a day where i should be excited and ready for a well-deserved break, i am NERVOUS.

i went into my final with an 83%..i even got an A on my last test, and passed every single test but one (i was 1% away from passing)..you think i would be glad that i set myself up okay to pass (passing is a 77% or a 76.5% technically)...all i had to do was get an 80% on the final to keep my B or a 60% on the final to get a C...so after being up late, waking up early, heart palpitations, nerves, panic, and what seemed like 1000 hours of studying later i finally sat down my books this afternoon and just thought "okay bring it on!"...i get to class and 15 minutes before the final begins, A FIRE ALARM GOES OFF!!! UGHHHHH! so i spend the 20-30 minutes before class that i could be preparing myself mentally in a quiet room...feeling relaxed and letting all the information settle..but instead im standing outside, my mind feels like a sloshing fishbowl at this point, and i can't even bring myself to look at my notes another minute.

so after the fire alarm business is taken care of i go back and feel half-prepared to tackle this final...as soon as i am handed the test and i flipped it over, the trembling of my hands said it all. this could be bad. 75 questions...4 which were math (easy)...many were "select all that apply"(not easy)..i felt like screaming. why is it that infomation seems so black and white when you are studying and then when it is put in test-question form you feel like your mind is jumping through hoops to come to some kind of answer. i felt the test questions were just out in left field...everything i assumed would be black and white, felt gray, light shades of gray, and some more gray.

sorry for the rambling but i just feel like when i came out of the test that it was a hit or miss..i felt like i did my best but in a way i dont know if it was good enough. how can you prepare yourself for a test and go in feeling pretty confident and then walk out feeling defeated, confused, and terrified of what your future holds?? nursing is such a constant weight on my shoulders..i love it, but i hate it at the same time. if i didn't make my 60% then i don't move on..i have to reapply. it is soooooo frustrating because i have worked so hard to get here. a 60%!?!? who can't get a 60% on the final???...me, possibly...

i just dread looking at my grade tomorrow..if i don't pass it changes so much..i will be so disappointed that i let myself go from an 83% to below a 76.5% all in a few hours. i felt pretty good about my odds..now i feel like sh*t. ughhh...nursing, WHY?!?!??!! :eek:

well sorry it has taken me so long to update back with my post..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i've been too busy CELEBRATING :beer:!!! so i didnt pass my final..73%..ehhh...but i did pass my class! after averaging my grade i came up with a 80%, that is the reason for me celebrating..even though it IS a C, in any other class or program it would be considered a B..so i think THAT is worth celebrating ;) thank you all for your kind works and support, i guess looking back i did overreact a little but hey, i blame it on the nursing program because it tends to do that to a person. it causes you to stress, overreact, and pray a lot..you all know all about this right ? :) thanks again and good luck to the rest of you!

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Specializes in Mostly geri :).

Oooooooooo don't you just hate all the select all that apply questions. Relax. You have passed and can put this semester behind you, you're closer to your license with every test.

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Congratulations! I had checked your thread a couple of times to see if you updated, and was worried when you hadn't! Great job!!! Enjoy your summer break!

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

For once I finally had a narrow point margin go my way, just found out today (where you're right between 2 grades, usually I end up with the lower one by a fraction of a %) . But I totally get what you are saying. I went into my Maternity final on Tuesday with a big margin. I was at a 88% in the class, I could miss up to half of the questions pretty much. 61 questions I needed to get a 32 to pass the class but because our maternity and peds grade get combined at the very end (we have to get a 77% in each to pass the course, but in the end it's all one grade on your transcript) anyway, I did better in maternity. Well to keep my B which is an 85% I needed a good grade on the final.

Well I went in feeling confident and walked out hoping I at least got the half right. It was the hardest I exam we have had yet. Everyone I talked to felt the same way. It was so hard to go from feeling confident and within an hour being so worried if you even passed the class.

I did pass and to get my B for the class I had to get a 19.5 or 20 out of 20 on my teaching project. I figured that was impossible since 2 points alone were spelling and grammar and APA and I suck at that.

But I just found out today I got a 19.5 which put my overall grade RIGHT AT 85% so I get the B.

I passed Med/Surg without a point to spare earlier this semester but that was a little bit easier for me to handle because I had already assumed I would need to retake the class before the final. I new I was going into the final with a small margin and I knew I would have to get a really good grade and wasn't hopeful. So I had mentally prepared myself pretty well. When I checked my grade and saw I got the exact points needed and passed I was in utter disbelief.

Anyway, hang in there either way. If you have to retake as much as it sucks it will be OK even if it doesn't seem that way at first.

A few days have passed since you posted this though so any updates?

Ooops just saw your followup post. WOOHOOOOOO glad to know you made it. What a relief it must feel like. I know! LOL

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I was basically in the same position as you for one of my classes (I was in first year BScN.) We needed a 63% to pass the course, and I needed a 59% on the final to achieve that or I failed my entire first year. Someone called in a bomb threat on our exam (so irritating!) and we had the chance to rewrite the exam. I really didn't want to rewrite because I was burnt out after 6 exams (and it was scheduled the day after our A&P final), but I was freaking out at the possibility of losing the whole year.

After all that anxiety, I got an 82%!

We've all been there. These rules about marks are crazy.

OK a little off topic but I am completely shocked your school only requires a 63% to pass. Our nursing school is a lot stricter then the normal school grade scale but even our normal school grading scale is a 70% to pass :|

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Specializes in Mostly geri :).
OK a little off topic but I am completely shocked your school only requires a 63% to pass. Our nursing school is a lot stricter then the normal school grade scale but even our normal school grading scale is a 70% to pass :|

63% would be such a weight off my shoulders lol.................ours is a 78%, but it makes sense, I wouldn't want a 60% nurse caring for my family.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
63% would be such a weight off my shoulders lol.................ours is a 78%, but it makes sense, I wouldn't want a 60% nurse caring for my family.

Yeah I would love a 63% also. I bet that would mean I wouldn't have to struggle for those B's 85%-93% but like you, I too would worry.

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I think EVERYONE is feeling the stress of finals right now... I am sitting at an 84%. 87% is a B. and 77% is failing. Depending on my final on Monday, it could go either way!(Hopefully up!) All you can do is pat yourself on your back and realize you did everything you could have done. aaand congrats! You made it! Go soak up some sun and enjoy the summer! :)

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Specializes in Mostly geri :).

Seriously, finals made me break out and I haven't had acne issues in TEN YEARS!

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