flunking out of nursing school

Tweety, BSN, RN · Nov 17, 2007

I'm sorry to hear that you falied out. It must be quite a blow.

I would relax for a bit, forgive yourself. Spend time with family and regroup. Sounds like you're going to have to go back to work. Can you work as a CNA? Get your old job back?

After a bit re-evaluate whether you really want this path for your life. If you do, then go for it. Try to figure out what went wrong, getting feedback from fellow students and instructors and learn from this. Some of my greatest strengths and growing experiences have come from my failures.

Yeah, you failed school. But you yourself are not a failure. Good luck!

I'll move this out of the Introductors forum to the main forum where you might get more feedback. Many people at Allnurses did not pass at first but came back to graduate and become nurses.

nurz2be · Nov 17, 2007

illbeanurse,

I think you should look at your nickname here, illbeanurse. I am TRULY sorry you have had this setback. I hope that you will just look at it this way, as a setback. I realize the money involved in getting through nursing school, but I also know that you can start to pay those loans back and then once you start school again they will be deferred. Maybe you should give yourself a day or two to mourn this (don't go too long) and then lift your chin up and move forward. Try to get a job as a nurse tech, so you are keeping your hands in the medical field. I would also get with a group that is in your class and attend some of their study sessions, to keep yourself moving forward and give yourself a head start when you re-start next year. When you get back to work, getting involved with your kids and family a year will FLY by before you know it.

Good luck with all this.

BenPA · Nov 17, 2007

Don't be too hard on yourself, I also recently failed a nursing course, it was an LPN Anatomy Course at a local Vo-Tech / Community College. I was very close to passing the final exam. Please don't begin to blame anyone (especially yourself) for failing.

I have been asking myself: "Why did I fail? What different methods could I use to learn successfully? What were my learning surroundings like, did I feel comfortable in the learning environment?" Let's face the truth, I failed because I felt stressed out sitting in the classroom for so many hours, which made studying become laborsome and uninteresting. Because of the stress, I actually wanted to forget the material rather than learn it. Do I make sense?

After only a few months I was running ragged because of the hours required and I am in pretty good health and I generally learn new things pretty quickly.

Things to keep in mind: your health is top priority. If you are not healthy, ANY job or educational experience becomes exponentially more difficult. Don't make it harder on yourself. Take as many required non-nursing courses before getting in to the nursing core. Learn at your own pace, make it become fun without as much stress.

Agnus · Nov 17, 2007

Well, today it happened, I flunked my 4th and last test before the final exam for Mother Baby/Peds. I am so lost right now, that I do not know what to do. I quit my fulltime job, I have neglected my home, children, and family, I have run up major credit debts trying to pay for books, class, and tuition, and I really feel like I am a failure.
The funny thing is that I know every bit of information of what was presented to me on the test. I mean really, I studied. I did well in clinicals, and felt confident in what I was doing.
So any suggestions on what I should do now? My school is not allowing me to reenter into the program until fall of 2008, it is not even spring yet; and when the fall of 2008 comes, there is no guarantee that they will accept me in.

More than likely when you reapply you will need to demonstrate why they should accept you back. In other words what is different now than when you were failing.

I would go and talk to my instructor. Tell her you new the information. Maybe you were having test anxiety. Or maybe you did not understand it as well as you believed. Often schools have a student mentoring program where a senior student mentors a freshman. You should look into this.

You should consider a study group. Often students can convey information to their peers better than an instructor does.

For now talk to you instructor tell her you are trying to figure out what went wrong and how you can fix it so you do not have this problem when you are accepted back.

Talk to some class mates and see if they have any insights for you. Then do a careful self examination yourself to figure it out, and plan for how to deal with it next time.

Take this time to regroup and recoup. Get a job in the medical arena. CNA would be a good choice. Study. Get a NCLEX review book and devour it. Especially the area where you are weakest. Don't just test yourself on questions but go study in your texts when you miss a question

caliotter3 · Nov 17, 2007

This may not apply to you, but one of my classmates had herself tested at the college and found out that she had a learning disability. After they documented this, she started getting help in learning how to deal with studying. She was given extra time to take tests and nobody treated her poorly. You might be having a problem somewhere in this area. It would be a good thing to go to your counseling center at the school and find out if you can get tested. Good luck. Don't give up.

Agnus · Nov 17, 2007

I meant to say but guess I forgot that assuming your really did know and not just thought you knew the material that you may be experiencing test anxiety.

If this is the case instructors can work with you to insure that your grades reflect your actual knowledge and not your anxiety over the test.

Sometime instructors will do an oral with a student experiencing this. However, you will need to learn ways to over come this because the NCLEX is not administered orally. Ok OK bad English on my part or maybe it is just the nurse speak in me.

Agnus · Nov 17, 2007

I meant to say but guess I forgot that assuming your really did know and not just thought you knew the material that you may be experiencing test anxiety.

If this is the case instructors can work with you to insure that your grades reflect your actual knowledge and not your anxiety over the test.

Sometime instructors will do an oral with a student experiencing this. However, you will need to learn ways to over come this because the NCLEX is not administered orally. Ok OK bad English on my part or maybe it is just the nurse speak in me.

Take two NCLEX orally three times a day until test anxiety is relieved.

Sabby_NC · Nov 17, 2007

Well said Tweety.

Hang in there illbeanurse :)

HM2VikingRN, RN · Nov 17, 2007

Can you file an appeal? If everything else was going well you might find an open ear from the school. It cannot hurt to ask to take the final for the course. If you pass the final then it shows you may have just had an "off" day.

I would take a shot at scheduling an appointment with the department chair to go over your file together. The goal of the meeting is to help them find a reason to say yes to your appeal. It is a lot harder for people to say no when they are sitting and looking you in the eye.

(Pull together letters of recommendation etc from other instructors prior to this meeting.)

I wish you the very best. I know you can make it through school.

Agnus · Nov 18, 2007

This probable is not much comfort but those of us who have been where you are. (I am one) actually found that time (8 months in my case)off from school were actually a blessing. Unlike you I needed an attitude adjustment and this provided not only that but a wonderful chance to explore nursing from a different perspective and time away from something I was tired of, school.

When I was allowed to come back in Aug. (I had to reapply with no guarentee) I became the number one student in that class. I thought I had studied hard before now I really was because of what I had learned working those 8 months. I understood what it was I did not know.

CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2007

Take two NCLEX orally three times a day until test anxiety is relieved.

Now, did you want that crushed in applesauce?

I agree! Get yourself an NCLEX study guide and practice practice practice. I too struggled in maternity nursing. I studied my Saunders NCLEX prior to the final and passed with flying colors.

Oh and get yourself out of the I'm a failure mode by realizing the best nurses sometimes spend 5 years on their degree rather than 3! But that's just my bias. Tough it out, you can do this! I did and have no regrets.