Help. Is my outrage justified?

[fairandbalanced]

Is my rage justified. My friend just flunked out of her first semester at Charity with a 76 average. 77 is the cut. The failing question (and I don't know it word for word, but here is the general gist of it): An african woman who lives in Africa has an intestinal bug. She believes that by eating pumpkin seeds, the bug will be eliminated. Is this a : religious belief, a cultural belief, is she correct, and few other choices. My friend answered, a cultural belief. As per the teacher: WRONG. First of all, regardless of the question or answer, how is this question even relevant to Nursing? Upon doing her homework and research, she could prove it very much IS a cultural thing. She appealed the question. The woman who wrote the question refused to budge and the committee sided with her. So boom. My freind is out. Never mind she is an excellent student. I am outraged. 44 people apparently missed that stupid, trick, unfair, irrelevant question. When teachers result to trickery on exams, it is so unfair and the students will never win. What can be done about this? This is a power issue and the teacher is getting off on it. People like that have got to go. I am beginning Charity in January. If I wasn't sufficiently terrified before, I certainly am now. Feedback, please.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Boy, does this one roll ever on!! I'm not going to say out loud what I really think but something's missing from this story. Wonder if the student who allegedly failed is outraged?

You must be new to the internet. It is always someone else, friend or neighbor, never themselves ha

[mazy]

You can never know the full story about what is going on with another person. If she failed because of one question she was already hanging on by a thread. There is more to this story than meets the eye.

Nursing school is hard. You can prepare yourself for that but often it ends up being difficult in ways that you hadn't expected......much like nursing and life in general.

As someone else pointed out, it's best to go in with an open mind. I can understand being upset and sympathetic, but being outraged is going to consume a lot of time and energy that would be more wisely used focusing on your own studies.

[sevensonnets]

No, not new to the internet or nursing (32 years now). That's why I used the word "allegedly."

[CanuckLPN73]

Unfortunately, there is no grade for effort in nursing (theory, that is). 95% of nursing students try hard, some just don't get it. My daughter struggles in math. Her teacher says "she tries so hard, she is a good student". But that doesn't raise her grades at all (and this is elementary school, so she is learning early on).

Speaking of my daughter, she thinks I am mean. Why? Because I tell her things she does not want to hear. Its the same thing with instructors. They are often the bearer of bad news. Think of all the people in life who get a bad rap (bill collectors, the IRS, DMV workers, etc). Life is full of people telling you things you don't want to hear. Wait till you guys have to work holidays or during your kids vacations or birthdays.

I do work holidays...I do work birthdays...(I work in the hosp).

I dont know where your getting that Im blaming someone for my grades. Nrs Theory I have an A+ . Clinical was not based on grades but rather numbers 1-5. Where Im at the instructors rarely give 1's and 5's. Usually in the middle one will get 2's and 3's. At the end they should have 3's and 4's (I got all 3s in the middle and 4s at the end).

That is all Im saying is that a failure is when someone quits...Ive gotten lots of low marks (in my life)...I have to work at getting a 70 in certain areas and am proud when I achieve that 70! However in other area's I know I am capable of doing much better and so a 70 would be low. For example I am a 70-75 in A&P and I work darn hard for those marks! however I am a 80-90 in nrsg theory and English so a 70 would be slacking.

I agree that one should NOT blame anyone, however not everyone is capable of getting an A in a subject.

If the OP's friend is angry and ends up dropping because she did NOT pass the exam then that is a failure! However if she goes on , repeats the course (maybe she has to repeat it a few times) then that is a Winner and a Good student in my opinion (I said .."My opinion").

And yes, as a parent I come down on my kids as well. With our oldest he is quite capable of getting A's and a few B's so he brings home a C and I lecture! Our youngest is the opposite, he brings home a C or B and I applaud him, as he is working to his potential. I consider both of them bright kids! Just in different areas.

Right now Im nervous as can be as I have exams tomorow, with the one I am hoping for at least 70-75 (have been studying my buns off! >>A&P) with the other in nrsg I am hoping for 85-90 > again studying!!

By the way, this is my 3rd go at A&P and I find each time I end up higher (same amnt of studying just it takes me longer to comprhend). Again...NO ones fault...part of MY personal learning process :)

Cheers and Merry Christmas :)

[CanuckLPN73]

By the way I love working holidays, I pick up extra shifts whenever possible, I need to because I have a house to pay for, bills to pay, food to buy, my school fees, children's school fees...

I havent had a summer vacation for a few yrs, went from being a stay at home mom to working. That said even as a stay at home mom I didnt get vacation as I was the one who took the kids everywhere, as my husband runs his own company and cannot just get up and leave at the drop of a hat, espeasally considering he does not hire employee's.

I remember when he would come home from work (sometimes he would be gone a day, other times a few weeks) and ask what I did. He thought I had it easy. HA! running after kids, cleaning, baking (baked on bread), volunteering, etc.

Maybe thats why I love working these past 4 years as it feels like a break to me!

[Charlie0413]

Questions like this come up all the time. The point of them is to get you to think about the fact that not everyone believes the same way you do about things. We took a whole class that was only about these kinds of topics.

[<3_RN]

Without the entire question and the other 2 possible answers it really isn't possible to fully answer the question of how the question applies to nursing and whether it is a fair question. What is missing might have been important to the answer. Also, cultural, religious, and any other alternative treatment beliefs is very pertinent to answering these questions and how we are taught and expected to interact and care for our patients. The system at our school is based on points which is not the same as percentages. So losing your seat by a point is not as small a margin as it sounds. I don't know if you are referring to percent or points but there is a difference. I'm sorry for your friend I can only imagine how sad and frustrated she is about this. I hope if she chooses to pursue this it works out in her favor and a second chance results in better outcome.

[backatit2]

it would be reaaally frustrating as the student to know 1 question "broke" you. however, in my experience, if something was questionable about a response i gave or whatever the case - i think the professor always took my performance as a student OVERALL when making a decision. basically, if i was a good student and failing was out of character for me - i would more than likely have been "given" the point if that's what it really came down to.

i agree with others - she must not be such the stellar student.

[everlongRN]

I do work holidays...I do work birthdays...(I work in the hosp).

I dont know where your getting that Im blaming someone for my grades. Nrs Theory I have an A+ . Clinical was not based on grades but rather numbers 1-5. Where Im at the instructors rarely give 1's and 5's. Usually in the middle one will get 2's and 3's. At the end they should have 3's and 4's (I got all 3s in the middle and 4s at the end).

That is all Im saying is that a failure is when someone quits...Ive gotten lots of low marks (in my life)...I have to work at getting a 70 in certain areas and am proud when I achieve that 70! However in other area's I know I am capable of doing much better and so a 70 would be low. For example I am a 70-75 in A&P and I work darn hard for those marks! however I am a 80-90 in nrsg theory and English so a 70 would be slacking.

I agree that one should NOT blame anyone, however not everyone is capable of getting an A in a subject.

If the OP's friend is angry and ends up dropping because she did NOT pass the exam then that is a failure! However if she goes on , repeats the course (maybe she has to repeat it a few times) then that is a Winner and a Good student in my opinion (I said .."My opinion").

And yes, as a parent I come down on my kids as well. With our oldest he is quite capable of getting A's and a few B's so he brings home a C and I lecture! Our youngest is the opposite, he brings home a C or B and I applaud him, as he is working to his potential. I consider both of them bright kids! Just in different areas.

Right now Im nervous as can be as I have exams tomorow, with the one I am hoping for at least 70-75 (have been studying my buns off! >>A&P) with the other in nrsg I am hoping for 85-90 > again studying!!

By the way, this is my 3rd go at A&P and I find each time I end up higher (same amnt of studying just it takes me longer to comprhend). Again...NO ones fault...part of MY personal learning process :)

Cheers and Merry Christmas :)

While my post was prompted by a quote of yours, it was not directed personally at you. And many of the schools in my area have a very subjective clinical grading scale (Pass or fail), and I am not suggesting that YOU personally are blaming anyone for your grades.

[justashooter]

I was going to say, im somewhat in to alternative medicine and I have never associated eating pumpkin seeds with african culture its something that is promoted for parasites and overall GI health.

this is also common knowledge in china.

[CanuckLPN73]

While my post was prompted by a quote of yours, it was not directed personally at you. And many of the schools in my area have a very subjective clinical grading scale (Pass or fail), and I am not suggesting that YOU personally are blaming anyone for your grades.

Sorry I read into your post...I tend to do that :)

Just an update...Passed A&P with what I needed...70% on the final and ACED the Nrsg theory Final!! Yaaa!!

Now I can relax and put away the books for a couple of weeks until next semester starts...okay forget relaxing...there is food to be made, plus back to work (working through the holidays), coming home to more work (life with kids ) . However I find all that much more relaxing compared to school...

I hope the OP's friend passed the rest of her courses.

A question though to the OP that I do not believe has been answered...

Even though your friend failed the exam is he/she able to retake the course and continue?

I know if we fail a course in the science and arts part of our program we are able to go on as long as we have the needed credits/percent for the particular course failed in the end. So say someone fails english, they are allowed to go on but will not graduate until they pass. If we fail a nrsg course we are able to continue with science and arts courses (bio, sociology, english,physcology) however are not able to go on to the nrsg courses until we redo the nrsg course that was flunked and have over 77%.