Frustrated student

[Austincb]

I don't know if I should transfer or if all schools are this awful, I know nursing school is hard but I feel like we're getting screwed. Everyone in my class is barely passing. The tests sometimes have questions that aren't even relevant to what we've studied. For example we were asked a questions about an intestinal parasite outbreak. Well I think I got it right but nowhere in out book did it say anything about parasites, it wasn't discussed in the lecture or on the powerpoints. So how am I supposed to be able to get the concept if that wasn't covered. Same about hydration of a child, we studied electrolytes but not the best method for rehydrating an exercising child. The only thing I could find on kids was how they dehydrate quicker. So in my books under nutrition, electrolytes and activity, nothing. Am I just supposed to pull this information out of the sky? How can I put together the puzzle if I don't at least have some base knowledge? Now on the hydrationi question yes I had base knowledge of electrolytes and dehydration but the parasite question never. And we had a trough question on htere that I guessed right but we didn't study anything that had to do with trough levels.

Couple that with the fact that my school has a 50% pass rate this year I didn't find out til it was too late. I'm a single mom with kids busting my tail. I killed myself to get here and was an A student. I'm ok with not being an A student but I want to feel I have a fair shot and the pass rate along with the ridiculous busy work that prevents real studying is driving me crazy. And I'm so not a whiner, if it was just me freaking I'd think nothing of it but the entire class wants out

[springchick1, ADN, RN]

Most nursing classes won't transfer. It's a program that you are doing and what you may be covered in 1 class at one school, may be covered in two classes at another. There may be material that is missed. I know the school I attend does not accept credits from another nursing school.

[peacelover]

I am sorry you are going through all this, how tough to be so disappointed in something you worked so hard to get into in the first place. I am wondering, have you spoken to any of the faculty about your concerns? What have they said about how your perception of the test questions?

I think all nursing schools are tough AND I think most of us, at some point, found ourselves thinking; 'where the heck did that question come from-I never saw that material in the textbook.' Sad, but true.

I hope you can find a way to pull yourself out of the negative collective that sortof feeds off each other. There is no room for 'poor me' ot an 'us against them vibe' in nursing school. It just sucks vital energy away from you and makes you feel defeated before you even start-no good. Fact is, the school is doing something right or they would not be have a nursing program.

I will say that while it might not 'look' like it you probably have gone through the concepts needed to answer these questions correctly. At least the majority of the time. For example, you probably studied about hydration and electrolytes replacement and how to best help an athlete but now they want you to take the raw data you learned and apply it to other things. That is maybe where the disconnect is at for you. In the application of one topic you did learn verbatim to another topic you did not learn verbatim.

It might work for you when you are studying to really focus on the rationales or the why behind what you are doing and what you are seeing in the patient. For example, why is a correct K+ value important? Why are K+ and Na+ lost in exercise? What happens if they are lost, how does the body tell you it needs more of them? What conditions other than sweating a lot would you think might need to have these elytes replaced in? Why is it important to look at them at all? What are the norm values? What if the body has too much of them instead of not enough? In this way, looking at it from all side, asking yourself why questions you can sort of back your way into the answers on the test.

The other thing I think would be good is to really take your time and look at what the question is asking you. Are you missing a piece of the puzzle in the question so that you are not looking for the right answer in the first place? Saunders does a good job in explaining how to find the critical pieces in the questions in the NCLEX RN book. If you get in the habit of working some NCLEX questions every day and reading the rationales, even if you get the question correct, you will improve your test scores.

Last, do you have a mentor program at your school where you could be tutored by other students that are having more success? Maybe you could approach an upper classman and ask for guidance in a positive way?

Probably way more than you wanted here, I just want you to know you dont have to give up...

Peace-