Help! I failed nursing school.. What should I do?

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Dec 22, 2020

LOTS of people are unsuccessful in one program and do well in another. It's all about finding the right fit between student, circumstances, and program.

I am the director of a prelicensure BSN program. Every year I admit students who were not successful somewhere else who go on to graduate from my program. (Most of them were very young like you when attempting their first failed program) I also every year dismiss students who go on to be successful in another program.

I know it's a hard blow- but you can recover from this and have the career you want if you take some time to really analyze WHY you were not successful in the program and take measured steps to change those behaviors that did not contribute to your success.

I wish you well.

FashionablyL8, CNA, LPN · Dec 23, 2020

Plenty of people fail one program and succeed in another. I had a classmate who failed out of our LPN program twice, once in the first term, then in the second term the following year. She entered another program and I heard she's doing fine.

If you can't get into an ADN program, you could always do an LPN program then bridge later. LPN programs are less competitive and I think the medsurg may be less involved since LPNs don't take care of critical pts.

Before you start another program though, have you figured out why you didn't pass medsurg? For example, was it your study habits, grasping the concepts, etc? We all learn differently. I'm a visual learner so I love reading but if I need extra help with a concept, I draw it out. That's what I did for the heart, since it's so important to know how anatomy/circulation. Knowing A&P is crucial in understanding medsurg because a lot of the questions can be figured out if you have a good grasp of how the body works. Hopefully you've talked to your instructors in depth and identified your weak areas.

Don't give up your dream- you're so young. This is disappointing, I know, but it's just a bump on the road- you'll get there! Best of luck.

EMT89 · Dec 24, 2020

I was in a nursing on right after my first degree of college. I had personal stuff going on. I withdrew that semester and returned the following semester. I was no where near ready for the demand of school. I withdrew a couple classes that semester semester. I tried signing up for fall classes and was denied. I put in all these credits towards my degree.

I started researching an adequate paying career. I finally chose respiratory. I was thinking I could do PA school after.

In 2016 I worked on my prerequisites for PA school. It is vastly competitive. I applied and didn't get accepted. One of my family friends urged me to try for nursing school.

Fall 2019 I got into nursing school. School was expensive so I pushed it back a semester. Thankful, because Pandemic hit in Spring 2020.

I have been successful in my program. I think respiratory helped me develop my critical thinking side.

Darp7288 · Jan 1, 2021

There are many for profit schools that will take you and you will only have to complete 25 percent of there program to finish they are expensive but you can finish very quickly try azure college and international college of health science both are in Florida but they take many students that fail without completing the whole program all over again. There are other colleges too but I just don't know the names.Do some research good luck.

shanice807 · Jan 26, 2021

Hi new here (couldn’t figure out how to make a new thread) I’m currently a year into my year and a half ADN program and I failed a class. Not once but twice have I failed the same class. I’m going to submit an appeal but my department head is a Very very tough director. She’s already tried to discourage me from going forward with the appeal stating there won’t be any room for me in the class the next time it’s offered. (She can’t prove that months in advance) she suggest I try a different program but that’s not what I want to do. I came to This school to be an RN. Any advice on how to deal with a seasoned nurse who is very hard to win over. By the way I have valid reasons as to why I wasn’t successful but I don’t know if it’s enough to make her moved. Unless a student is making straight A’s she doesn’t think they have what it takes to be nurse. I’m paying out of pocket for this school and have already invested so much I want to stay in this program. Please help

boochohandsup · Mar 13, 2021

Shanice, sorry to hear that you were in that situation. I am also in a similar situation. If you are working at a hospital and your supervisor praises your work, then you can try to request a letter of reference from the employer. Hopefully, your supervisor's letter of reference can help convince your dean of the nursing program. That is the best solution in my mind.

Neo Soldier, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2021

On 1/26/2021 at 4:55 AM, shanice807 said:

I’m going to submit an appeal but my department head is a Very very tough director. She’s already tried to discourage me from going forward with the appeal stating there won’t be any room for me in the class the next time it’s offered. (She can’t prove that months in advance) she suggest I try a different program but that’s not what I want to do. I came to This school to be an RN.

Even if there is room in the program, they can give the spot to someone else. You're not entitled to anything. I would recommend putting an application elsewhere just in case. You'll be losing out on a semester or a year if you're not accepted back.

chichimel · Apr 22, 2021

Shanice I can absolutely relate !! Let me tell you about myself a bit so you can understand why I understand you completely. I've been doing prerequisuites for as long has I can count . Finally in 2018 after being waitlisted I got accepted. All my peers graduated last year and I was the only one who failed . Only a few reached out to me but the others could care less. I felt defeated and went to an instructor and she stated " the grade I got is what I deserved ." I took all that rage and anger and went after ir hard! Did it all by myself except for the good Lord above and family . Now I am going to be graduating this upcoming May 2021! Apply somewhere else and pick your beautiful head up . Youve got this and much love.

May 2014 · Apr 28, 2021

You're not a failure. It's the nursing schools that put so much pressure on students with their curriculum and way of teaching that is a failure, my dear.

Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN · Apr 29, 2021

On 4/28/2021 at 1:41 AM, May 2014 said:

You're not a failure. It's the nursing schools that put so much pressure on students with their curriculum and way of teaching that is a failure, my dear.

Sigh. It is true that nursing education is different from many others. Most importantly, it requires that you retain material from previous classes and be able to apply it at increasing levels of analysis and performance in every subsequent semester. This is a shocker for people whose education from high school on largely had room for forgetting past material right after the final, selling the book, and checking off the next course on the list.
Consider whether it’s unreasonable to expect a high level of commitment and accountability of someone who will care for your child, loved one, or any vulnerable person. If you think nursing school involves pressure, consider the pressure of licensed practice.
Yes, sometimes it is the student who fails to rise to that standard.

May 2014 · May 3, 2021

On 4/29/2021 at 1:26 PM, Hannahbanana said:

Sigh. It is true that nursing education is different from many others. Most importantly, it requires that you retain material from previous classes and be able to apply it at increasing levels of analysis and performance in every subsequent semester. This is a shocker for people whose education from high school on largely had room for forgetting past material right after the final, selling the book, and checking off the next course on the list.
Consider whether it’s unreasonable to expect a high level of commitment and accountability of someone who will care for your child, loved one, or any vulnerable person. If you think nursing school involves pressure, consider the pressure of licensed practice.
Yes, sometimes it is the student who fails to rise to that standard.

Of course, "sometimes" but not always. Most of the time, it is not the student. How I wish I can reframe nursing schools' curriculum and the way they eat their young. You don't teach people by being intimidating as a teacher. You teach by explanation and letting the students learn as adults. You don't fail someone a whole semester because they score 87.9% and they need 88% to pass. You don't test students on things you cannot explain to them when they ask you questions. We all know you learn to be a nurse by doing not by rote memorization. It is the attitude of nursing school instructors that sucks not the content of medical knowledge. It is the attitude that 'hey I suffered as a student, therefore I must make your life miserable as my student.' It is that school that doesn't care about the personal wellbeing of its students. Yes, I get it you must know your *** before you can take care of me, but I am not going to learn that *** if whoever taught me doesn't know what they're doing but instead reads powerpoints all day with no given answer to my questions, but instead expects me to memorize for tests. Again, I will change the whole method of teaching and the curriculum if I have my way.