Grades in nursing school vs. success as a nurse?

[MachThree]

Hi All,

I'm new here. I wanted to ask a quick question on behalf of a friend of mine, who is currently finishing up her second to last semester of nursing school.

She's a smart woman, who got mostly A's with one or two B's on her nursing school pre-requisities. And she puts in the effort - when she describes to me what she does every day, I don't see how she (or anyone else) could possibly spend more time studying and practicing.

Unfortunately, whereas during the beginning of nursing school, most of her exams she was scoring in the A-/B+ range, her grades have steadily declined to the B-/C+ range. At the same time, her frusteration levels have been going up - she just isn't getting a corelation between her effort and academic success. Every time she gets results from an exam and they're less than what she hoped for, she says to me "I guess I'm just not cut out to be a nurse".

Not being a nurse, I've tried to give her the best advice I can, which is this - I have to think (or at least hope) that nursing school is a barrier to entering the nursing profession, but that once overcome, the "real" knowledge is going to come from on-the-job experience. That several years down the road after she graduates, the grades she received in nursing school will have little bearing on how good of a nurse she is, just so long as she tries her best and her grades are enough to graduate.

I'm of course trying to encourage her to do her very best and to get the best grades she can in nursing school - I'm not encouraging her to just try and just skate by. I'm just trying to help her not to get too discouraged or to despair too much, to tell her that yes, she really can do this, even if she's not getting A's all the time.

But I think both she and I would probably feel a lot better if any of you who are actual practicing nurses could tell us that there is really something to the advice I'm giving her, that I'm not just talking nonsense, if indeed that was the case. So I'd really appreciate hearing feedback on this from some of you.

Thanks very much for any help!

[tokyoROSE, BSN, RN]

Your friend sounds a lot like me. I totally agree with all the previous posters that you do not have to get straight A's to be a great nurse. The reason I'm so crazy about grades is because I want to get my MSN and I'd like to have at least a 3.5 GPA in the second half of ns for admission. My lowest prereq grade was a single B+ and so far I've gotten another B+ in ns....it is a bit unnerving, but I'm trying my best. I know I'll be a great nurse regardless. Tell your friend to relax and put in her best effort and don't define herself by her grades.

[linnywho]

The only thing grades seem to indicate is how easily some people get the class material compared to others. I had to study my butt off and my GPA dropped from a 3.3 before starting the nursing curriculum to a 2.98 upon graduation. However, our school did use a 6 point scale once starting the nursing classes. I can tell you my GPA is no indicate of my abilities as a nurse. Out over 35+ students only 12 of us passed the exit exam that semester and received diplomas. Then while some 3.5 students had to wait an entire semester or even a year to sit for the NCLEX, I passed the first time with the minimum number of questions. Moreover, within 3 years of graduation I was awarded as a Great 100 Nurse for my state.

What does all of this mean? Your grades do not indicate who you are or the quality of your nursing care. Unfortunately there are some smart people who get into nursing for the money. They have good grades and offer poor care. I also had a friend that started school with me and graduated 2 years after me from having to repeat nursing classes (failing or dropping). She had the passion to be a nurse and I would accept her care any day and I doubt her GPA is above a 2.2.

The only thing I think a GPA matters for is graduate school and from what I have researched so far, the low GPA can be overcome with a few extra years of experience and/or a high GRE score. I do intend to go to graduate school and will probably take a few science classes (organic chem, physics, statistics) to raise my GPA above the 3.0 mark and hope my 5-6 years of experience by then gets me in.

[sunnycalifRN]

Not being a nurse, I've tried to give her the best advice I can, which is this - I have to think (or at least hope) that nursing school is a barrier to entering the nursing profession, but that once overcome, the "real" knowledge is going to come from on-the-job experience. That several years down the road after she graduates, the grades she received in nursing school will have little bearing on how good of a nurse she is, just so long as she tries her best and her grades are enough to graduate.

I'm of course trying to encourage her to do her very best and to get the best grades she can in nursing school - I'm not encouraging her to just try and just skate by.

Thanks very much for any help!

I wouldn't say that nursing school is a barrier to entry into the nursing profession. Nursing school teaches some basics and prepares new grads to pass the NCLEX-RN board exam. You are correct that most of the learning does occur once you are working as a nurse. As you wrote, encourage her to do her best but she should not stress over grades. She just needs to pass all her classes and graduate.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Nursing school is to be endured. You must study in order to "master" the art of taking those exams to pass. Your friend needs to focus on strategy.

I LEARN what interests me and what I know I will need as a nurse more on my own time. I know that pathophysiology is my interest. A&P is what is needed after all the monkey business of nursing school is over. I will thank that science instructor for giving me what I need to be a nurse.

[mamamerlee, LPN]

Although I went to school in the Jurassic Era, there were still those who worked hard, got good grades but lacked that certain something. There were 2 students that I would never trust with a cockroach, and, not surprisingly, they did poorly when they worked on the floors. A ran into one of them about 7 years after graduation- - I was orienting to a specialty, and she came for an interview. I tried to tell the head nurse that this was a schoolmate of mine who struggled thru bedmaking, let alone direct care. She was hired, and barely lasted 3 weeks of orientation. I loved the specialty, stayed with it for years.

Sometimes grades tell a good story, but they are not the whole story.

Tell your friend to ease up on herself - she will be a NURSE when it is all done.

[RedhairedNurse, BSN, RN]

C = RN

[Blackheartednurse]

hmm - I am really bothered by the OP's assumption that nursing school may actually be a barrier to actual practice as well as some responses that tend to indicate a disconnect between knowledge and practice -- that 'book learning' does not equate to clinical proficiency.

I would like to offer a different perspective. In order to become a proficient nurse, one has to have the 'intellectual horsepower' needed to learn a wide range of fundamentals. It is also necessary to learn how to learn because nursing requires a lifelong commitment to the acquisition of new knowledge. We are engaged in a practice profession, so there is also a requirement not only to become adept at physical tasks, but also to be able to continually analyze an ever-changing patient/situation and apply reasoning skills to determine which - among many options - is the best one to take. And we have to do it all very quickly. If you aren't able to sort through the old brain and pull up the appropriate 'book learning' when you need it, your reasoning will be flawed.

Looking back, I can think of very little in my basic nursing education that I have not had occasion to apply at some point in my career. Of course, I didn't always realize it at the time but it turns out that all that 'stuff' was necessary.... well, maybe not nursing theorists.

I always thought that being concerned about learning how to mentally put the whole picture together was much more higher on the priority list than worrying about not being able to grasp mutiple nursing tasks. It has been said milion times that any person like a machine can learn how to perform different procedures,we are not talking about acrobatics here~

Ps. Also I worry how other nurses,wanna be nurses,nurses allmost to be view nursing job as whole. Like yesterday I was holding a converstation with my best friend.She and her silibiling think that all it takes to be a nurse is to be technically good!! Sure,forget about supervising your patient,making often critical decions,understanding your patients healing process,as long as you can give dorsogluteal (read a.s.s) IM shot (without causing pain) you are a super nurse!