That irks me to no end! I've read so many posts on here where people state that "your grades don't matter!" Are you kidding me?
I bust my butt to get A's. I think my grades reflect my work ethic and my willingness to learn. I am not content etching by as average. I do not want an average nurse caring for me. I do not want to be an average nurse caring for others. I want to be the best nurse that I can be, and I hope that others that currently don't think likewise drop the mantra that a C is good enough. Even if an employer may not look at your transcript, those grades should still "matter."
I just want to add that if (according to some of you) doing the best I can, putting in the most effort I can, and doing a good job makes me a snob, then consider me a very proud snob.
I don't think anyone one here would say you are a snob since you are "doing the best you can, putting in the most effort, and doing a good job". Definitely not.
With the phrases like "I am not content etching by as average" and "I do not want an average nurse caring for me", as seen in the original post ..... I can see how that can be taken as a bit demeaning, and that's what I think people are referring to as "snobbish". It's all in the attitude.
Just because someone got a C in a class, doesn't mean they didn't bust their butt .... like you said, they should be proud of a hard-earned C. Just like those with As should be proud of a hard-earned A.
You should be damn proud of anything you put forth 100% effort into.
I think at times people with Cs say "C=RN" to make themselves feel better. Then they give the example of a nurse they knew that got straight As that went on to be a terrible nurse and failed orientation ... blah blah blah. Then on the other hand you have people with As that say things like "you shouldn't get a C, you shoulda tried your best!" to make themselves feel better.
The problem is those are big generalizations .... you can't group all the "As" and all the "Cs" together. Of course there are some students (A or C) that will end up failing new grad orientation .... then there are some C students that just skated by and didn't try their best. And I think that's where people get upset ..... being generalized when there are SO MANY factors that play into what grade you get. And all those factors should be taken into account before making blanket statements about what kind of nurse someone wants caring for them.
Aw heck folks. Obviously those of us who replied to this post, got offened by being called "average" or a "snob" cared about the grades we got in school despite what they were. C=RN is a fact. I said it because I didn't like the fact that I was making the poorest grades I've ever made in my life. It reminded me that I was there to achieve a goal and even though I couldn't be at the top of the class, which is what I was use to being, I would still be able to do what I had worked so hard for. I don't appriciate anyone implying that I did not work hard to achieve it due to a number or letter.
I did not bring up my friend's failure at orientaton to point out that people who get all A's are lacking, just to show that just because you got all A's doesn't mean that you are destined to succeed.
In my other posts I also mention how supportive my classmates were of each other despite our grades. We really did have a one for all attitude. I think this mentality was the most important thing I learned and none of us got a grade for it. Because we were so dedicated to help each other succeed, I find it is something I now automatically do with the new group of nurses I am with. I don't let anyone of them fall behind if I can help, I'll stay late to catch someone up, and I find that attitude spreads fast once someone is willing to start it.
If you are generalizing a C student I fall in that realm. When there are quotes that state "your A's show that you have a hard work eithic" or " I don't want to be average, I know I can do better than a C." and "if doing a good job makes me a snob, then consider me a very proud snob." then you are implying that I am lazy, didn't care to put forth the effort, and don't deserve to take care of patients because I am substandard. And you are basing your implied opinions soley on a letter grade I recieved at school. Not about what you've seen me do at clinical, not by watching how hard I studied, and not by watching me work at my job. Forgive me for calling you a snob, but the definition is "one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge or taste."
Aw heck folks. Obviously those of us who replied to this post, got offened by being called "average" or a "snob" cared about the grades we got in school despite what they were. C=RN is a fact. I said it because I didn't like the fact that I was making the poorest grades I've ever made in my life. It reminded me that I was there to achieve a goal and even though I couldn't be at the top of the class, which is what I was use to being, I would still be able to do what I had worked so hard for. I don't appriciate anyone implying that I did not work hard to achieve it due to a number or letter.
I did not bring up my friend's failure at orientaton to point out that people who get all A's are lacking, just to show that just because you got all A's doesn't mean that you are destined to succeed.
In my other posts I also mention how supportive my classmates were of each other despite our grades. We really did have a one for all attitude. I think this mentality was the most important thing I learned and none of us got a grade for it. Because we were so dedicated to help each other succeed, I find it is something I now automatically do with the new group of nurses I am with. I don't let anyone of them fall behind if I can help, I'll stay late to catch someone up, and I find that attitude spreads fast once someone is willing to start it.
If you are generalizing a C student I fall in that realm. When there are quotes that state "your A's show that you have a hard work eithic" or " I don't want to be average, I know I can do better than a C." and "if doing a good job makes me a snob, then consider me a very proud snob." then you are implying that I am lazy, didn't care to put forth the effort, and don't deserve to take care of patients because I am substandard. And you are basing your implied opinions soley on a letter grade I recieved at school. Not about what you've seen me do at clinical, not by watching how hard I studied, and not by watching me work at my job. Forgive me for calling you a snob, but the definition is "one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge or taste."
IMO, C=RN, or A=RN is not a fact...Some students study harder than others. For some, the material comes natural... Now with that being said, I don't think a letter determines what kind of nurse you turn out to be.
With all due respect Kalipso, have you actually read any of the posts that I have made on this thread in their entirety? I would like you to point out one place where I stated that a C student is 'average' or 'lazy'. In fact, I think I posted many sentiments to the contrary.
I thought I made it clear in my last post that I believe that there is a HUGE difference between a student that gets Cs because they don't care as opposed to a student that gets Cs after working their tail end off. I promise you that I have great respect for the student working hard and still getting Cs. Nursing school is not easy. I just think it is unfair and wrong of you to lump all of the people that get As into the category of being snobbish. The only reason I made that particular statement about being a 'proud snob' is because YOU decided to call some of us names and you know that that is the exact reason why I posted that.
The post you just made proves to me that you are posting the things you are posting because you were angry and upset that you lost your good grades in nursing school. You have my sympathy and I have no doubt that you are intelligent and a hard worker. There is no reason to be mean to those of us that did well, though.
The nurse that does their job well is an excellent nurse not merely 'satisfactory'. I hope I make an excellent nurse but I am not a nurse yet. I am still a student. I am an excellent student. When I was a soldier I made myself an excellent soldier.
That doesn't make me a snob. I just have standards and I refuse to operate below them. If the fact that I believe people should hold themselves to high standards makes me a snob well then the military is snobbish too because that's where i learned it.
Many excellent people categorize themselves as average. That doesn't make them average. A C student IS an average student. It's not offensive just reality. I am pretty sure the nurses here will gladly point out that they work with average and excellent nurses. That doesn't make them snobs either.
The nurse that does their job well is an excellent nurse not merely 'satisfactory'. I hope I make an excellent nurse but I am not a nurse yet. I am still a student. I am an excellent student. When I was a soldier I made myself an excellent soldier.
That doesn't make me a snob. I just have standards and I refuse to operate below them. If the fact that I believe people should hold themselves to high standards makes me a snob well then the military is snobbish too because that's where i learned it.
Many excellent people categorize themselves as average. That doesn't make them average. A C student IS an average student. It's not offensive just reality. I am pretty sure the nurses here will gladly point out that they work with average and excellent nurses. That doesn't make them snobs either.
And quite frankly, I don't see anything wrong with setting high standards for yourself...
No one doubts that a significant part of nursing isn't learned until actually working, but working after graduation doesn't give you fundamentals. Anyone in any occupation can become efficient or even seemingly an expert through sheer repetition, but if the fundamentals aren't solid- say by slacking your way through the nursing program- the second that person runs into a new obstacle, they have nothing to fall back on to get around it.
I'd even go so far to say that 95% of what I know regarding disease and patient care I took into nursing school from my various past jobs in the field, but that 5% is what tied it altogether and allows me to organize knowledge gained from my experiences into meaningful and directed channels to care for patients.
Spoken like a true...student.
A dedicated one at that.
...you're not even a baby-nurse yet...so...your opinion is understood...but...
to under-value or otherwise say that nursing fundamentals (nursing school) has a bigger impact on the quality of your nursing practice than years of experience...is...well...misguided. (fundamentals?!?!...c'mon. )
You'll eventually discover whether you think so or not (i have to say this alot to all the loud student argumentative-types) that experience is perhaps THE biggest thing that shapes a nurse. period. If i were critically sick I would much rather have the 10 year vet (who got B's and C's a decade ago) treating me than the shaking new-grad (or not shaking but dangerously cocky??). As would most.
You'll eventually gain this experience.
Lets talk in 2019.
In the meantime, keep hitting those books that you hit so well!
that experience is perhaps THE biggest thing that shapes a nurse. period.
I think everyone on this thread agrees that experience makes the nurse.
No lie. I see this everytime I encounter something new and incorporate it into my practice (everyday)
There is nothing like time in the field. No education can compare to that.
Again, the OT of this thread was the SLACKERS. Not the people who are doing everything that they can and still getting C's. It's the people who don't care.
And a slacker is a slacker in all walks of life. And we ALL know slacker RNs with 20 yrs experience. Ever heard the phrase "care from the chair"? The nurses who do as little as possible for the pt? The ones who don't turn or do mouth care? I know lots of these.
I think this has all been rehashed and rehased.
Do grades indicate the quality of the future nurse? No.
Do grades imply the quality of the student? Yes. They imply that I'm a good student.
People can say this or that, but grades do IMPLY that I'm a good student. Not that the tests were rigged or the school was easy or that I had an easy life while in school. They only IMPLY that I was a good student.
Heres what I don't get about this thread(The OT I mean): why is anyone concerned with anyone else's grades but their own?
I just don't understand where anyone has any place to comment on what grades other people are or are not making. The phrase "You do you, and I'll do me" comes to mind here.
Gomer42- LOL i'm not a C student nor was I. And I'm offended by this thread. (I graduated with a 3.48). BUT i seen some al idiots who got 4.0's. I've seen students who cheat to reach their 4.0 status... grades aren't the only thing that matters.
(nursing school) has a bigger impact on the quality of your nursing practice than years of experience...is...well...misguided. (fundamentals?!?!...c'mon. 
)
:up:
RainDreamer, BSN, RN
3,571 Posts
I don't think anyone one here would say you are a snob since you are "doing the best you can, putting in the most effort, and doing a good job". Definitely not.
With the phrases like "I am not content etching by as average" and "I do not want an average nurse caring for me", as seen in the original post ..... I can see how that can be taken as a bit demeaning, and that's what I think people are referring to as "snobbish". It's all in the attitude.
Just because someone got a C in a class, doesn't mean they didn't bust their butt .... like you said, they should be proud of a hard-earned C. Just like those with As should be proud of a hard-earned A.
You should be damn proud of anything you put forth 100% effort into.
I think at times people with Cs say "C=RN" to make themselves feel better. Then they give the example of a nurse they knew that got straight As that went on to be a terrible nurse and failed orientation ... blah blah blah. Then on the other hand you have people with As that say things like "you shouldn't get a C, you shoulda tried your best!" to make themselves feel better.
The problem is those are big generalizations .... you can't group all the "As" and all the "Cs" together. Of course there are some students (A or C) that will end up failing new grad orientation .... then there are some C students that just skated by and didn't try their best. And I think that's where people get upset ..... being generalized when there are SO MANY factors that play into what grade you get. And all those factors should be taken into account before making blanket statements about what kind of nurse someone wants caring for them.