I failed my 1st fundamental of nursing exam

bagladyrn, RN · Oct 6, 2015

Why oh why. I'm so sad. I when in prepared. Not sure what happen. I study all the materials, participate in class m group discussion. I did well on the text review. I wasn't nervous during the exam. I was cool calm n collect. I did all process of elimination. I'm so confused how i got a 68.

This is not meant as a slam but it appears from the wording of your post that English may not be your first language. Do you think that it is possible that limited comprehension of written English may have affected your test score?

If so you may want to consider tutoring.

SarahStoddard14 · Oct 6, 2015

I bombed my first test too. I changed the way I studied. I focused more on what the teacher was actually teaching (power points) instead of trying to read everything in the text. Some times our tests came from 5 or more different chapters. I ended up barely failing one more test but earning a B for the class. Don't give up... You can do it. Try a study group too- that helped me as well.

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singwithme123 · Oct 6, 2015

Perhaps have a discussion with your instructor? We have no way of knowing how this happened...

stepmelisa · Oct 6, 2015

This is not meant as a slam but it appears from the wording of your post that English may not be your first language. Do you think that it is possible that limited comprehension of written English may have affected your test score?
If so you may want to consider tutoring.

Tutoring for what, English? I did not know my grammar is a factor. Thank you for all you concerns. Seeing that English is your first, any inputs on nursing?

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · Oct 6, 2015

Tutoring for what, English? I did not know my grammar is a factor. Thank you for all you concerns. Seeing that English is your first, any inputs on nursing?

Well, it could certainly be a factor. If you struggle with English, some of the questions you may know the answer to but just happen to misread or misunderstand the question.

I do that, even with English as my first language.

Oh'Ello, BSN, RN · Oct 6, 2015

Tutoring for what, English? I did not know my grammar is a factor. Thank you for all you concerns. Seeing that English is your first, any inputs on nursing?

It sounds demeaning, but Language barriers CAN be a factor. Many nursing and NCLEX style questions are NOT straightforward and are written to mislead the reader. Just get an NCLEX study book, they're usually broken down by concept and practice doing those questions before your tests, it helps you prepare for those types of misdirections in your tests in school.

Also... I bombed my first one too. Simply because of the above. You'll get the hang of how the questions are written and what they're looking for... you just have to study study study and PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Unfortunately in nursing school, knowing the concept in and out isn't going to help if you don't know how to answer NCLEX style questions.

AceOfHearts<3 · Oct 6, 2015

Don't beat yourself up too hard about this- that will only make things worse. One exam grade can't determine what will happen the rest of your time as a nursing student. Use this as a learning experience. Figure out what went wrong, talk with your instructor (can't stress this enough), and adjust your study habits accordingly. You've taken the 1st exam so now you have an idea on what to expect with the rest of them. I sometimes think the first exams with a new instructor are the hardest because you don't know what to expect. I just barely failed the first quiz in my adult 1 class (we had 2 quizzes, midterm, final, and subject HESI and that was it for grades). I started reading the textbook because the instructors lecture style didn't mesh with me and my grades only went up and by the end of the course I had done well enough to make an A. I tell that story to others to encourage them and show that one bad grade isn't the end of the world.

Everyone studies differently, maybe try a study group or maybe a study group is too distracting and you'd be better off with just one study buddy. Do you read the textbook? If you don't, that might help. Most people in my program didn't read because of time, but I found for certain classes reading really helped pull everything together for me. How do you take your notes- do you have a written component to studying? I had an instructor who really stressed that and it's something I really believe in too. Sometimes typing things out doesn't help, but writing things out (and using different colored pens/paper for visual reminders) can really help and make a big difference. Have you tried any reviews and rationales? The ones by Hogan are extremely popular. For questions I found the Success series by Davis to be excellent (I wish I found them sooner). Another great resource if the lecture material isn't sticking is the website Simple Nursing. You have to pay for a subscription, but for some it is really worth it. There are video lectures on almost any topic and the guy explains things a bit differently (and in not-so-delicate terms) than instructors which can really help the material stick. There are some free videos on Youtube you can find by just searching simple nursing (they have acid base imbalance and fluid & electrolytes on youtube for free). Also see if your school offers any type of tutoring, a lot of places (especially universities) have academic support offices and have free tutoring available. One of the first things is making sure you are understanding the material- doing tons of questions won't help if you don't actually understand the content. If you understand the content maybe you are reading too much into the questions or making some other mistake like that.

Also, I don't think anyone was trying to be mean or demeaning with the questioning about whether or not English is your first language. If it's not then kudos to you for being at least bilingual- that's a great accomplishment! As pointed out I think the questioning might be because maybe there are slight nuances in some questions that non-native English speakers might struggle with a little more (not sure if I explained my train of thoughts right). Nursing style questions can be hard enough to get the hang of and I imagine are even harder if English is a second language. The only way around this that I can think of is what every other nursing student is also told- questions, questions, questions (meaning get an NCLEX book, a Davis book, etc. and answer practice questions and read the rationales so you can start to understand what the questions are asking, what they [text writers] are thinking, and what the most correct answer is and why).

Another great resource that you can buy for about $30 is the NCLEX mastery app. Download it on your smartphone then answer questions whenever you have time- waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for friends at dinner, when you get to class early, etc.

Don't feel defeated- that will only make things worse. You have to keep a positive attitude! Everyone is afraid at some point, but the important thing is that you can't let fear stop you from trying. I completed a really intense accelerated program and that is something we told the new incoming students. You'll never know what you can do until you try. Good luck!!