If I hear "C Nurses make the best nurses" one more time I will scream!

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I'm in my first quarter of nursing school and I keep hearing "C Nurses make the best nurses". It makes me absolutely crazy. I'm the first to admit that being book smart does not mean that you have a lot of common sense, but I don't think that A nurses are destined to be bad nurses.

Our school has a tough grading scale, anything below 80 is failing, and I understand that makes it tougher to get really good grades. However, every time I hear that little manta, it feels like a put down, even though I don't discuss my grades.

I work extremely hard to get good grades-- I think it is important for obvious reasons and because I'd eventually like to attend CRNA school. I made the decision to be poor for two years and live on student loans so I could spend a lot of time studying. It is only the first quarter and I'm already tired of being made to feel like I won't be a great nurse because I dared to overachieve!

Does anyone else feel this way too? Thanks for letting me vent.

i have never heard that before..... and i don't think it is neccesarily true....

what we always said to those who got c's was.... who will ever know...:)

I never heard that one either. What I have heard and said myslef to friends that are struggling is in the end C=RN too, not just A and B.

I hear that a lot. Or, you hear C = RN, so C's are ok. I think it comes from people who feel bad about getting C's and want to make themselves feel better.

There are C students who make great nurses. But CRNA's are at the top of the heap, and those schools don't accept C students. So grades have to matter somewhat.

"A" students pay a lot of attention to detail, and they often work harder than those who are just getting by. I don't see how that makes you a bad nurse. If anything, it may make you a better nurse.

Just ignore them. Chances are it's jealousy. ;)

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

I dont agree with that at all,, C=nurse,B=nurse and A=nurse no matter how you cut it. The NCLEX is what makes or breaks a nurse. When my son started at a very competative college, the first thing he learned was D=diploma. Not to say that anyone would want to settle for that, but what is is. Do the best you can and accept that you have as good a chance to make it as the A nurse, B nurse or C nurse.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

To me the "C nurses make the best nurses" line is no better than someone saying "A students pay a lot of attention to detail". Plenty of C students pay attention to detail, and plenty of A students are good nurses, DESPITE what what people think about either GPA. There is no legitimate research that proves that the best nurses on the planet made Cs or As in school. How come? It's a stereotype, that's why, because:

THE BEST NURSES MADE A VARIETY OF GRADES. GRADES DO NOT DETERMINE WHO THE BEST NURSE IS.

People need to spend less time trying to glorify grade point averages and work on, and instead working on maintaining the one THEY want!!!

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

(But yes i am definately sick of the "C Nurses make the best nurses" line, another one that's old is "nurses eat their young")

I don't think the expression is meant to give people permission to slack off and just squeak by. I think it's meant to give people who are really having difficulty with some of the harder courses the encouragement to pull through with a passing grade and move on. I for one believe that if you have done your best, that is the best.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

That's not encouragement, though. "C students make the best nurses" is another way of saying "you're better than other people" and that's beyond wrong.

The grades are up to the individual. If someone put you down because you're not an all A student, that's their problem not yours.

(Tried to edit to add earlier but the computer decided to throw a fit)

Specializes in L&D.
:rolleyes:
The NCLEX is what makes or breaks a nurse.

Now that is a fact!

I think it's funny that someone who get's A's cares about a prof saying C nurses are the best nurses. Maybe you should stop and think that this isn't for your benefit, it's to make thoes who are passing, but not with flying colors, feel worth-while.

I'm sure it's a fact that there are nurses with C's who are better than A nurses and vice versa...as for the B students..who knows, and more importantly...who cares! Do what's best for yourself, don't worry what a prof says, pass your classes and get your RN and be done with it. If you want to go on to CRNA, then good for you, if not...who cares!

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