Help Please, Geriatrics :(

[studentnurse92]

Hello Everyone! Okay so my first test for Geriatrics was a couple weeks ago and I failed it. Not only did I fail it but most of the class did too. The mean of the test was a 38 out of 50. You need a 40 to pass. I was 2 questions away from passing. I felt so discouraged after this and felt like giving up on nursing, only because I studied so hard for that test. Then we had a quiz, the mean for that was an 11 out of 15. You needed a 12 to pass. Everyone thought the quiz was hard, but the teachers thought that it was easy.They told us not to long ago that the next test was going to be hard. Now if we thought the quiz was hard, I can only imagine what the test is going to be like! I have went to the teachers and asked, "where do they pull their questions from ?", they told me from a "Test Bank". I have made care plans, and included meds. I even purchased a care plan book and did the assigned readings. Is there any other way I can study for this class?

[Kuriin, BSN, RN]

Do NCLEX case studies as well as questions from your book as well as Evolve. Read powerpoints and make sure you actually understand the material.

If you are allowed to, check your test and see what you got wrong and why you got it wrong. :\

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

You and your classmates have to realize that faculty really do want you to pass. But this is not high school, and if you are not doing well they will not pull you out of study hall to talk about it.

Make an appointment to sit down with an instructor and discuss your exams. Ask to have your wrong answers clarified as to why another answer was better. Do this every week after lecture to go over what you've heard and make sure you have picked up what they expect you to recognize as important. Do this until both you and the instructor have better ideas about where you're all coming from.

[studentnurse92]

I've already went to the instructors and we do realize this is not high school. Mind you this is the same class taught by the same teachers that had to curve their grades last year in order for students to pass. But thanks for your input.

[NightNurseRN13]

With the mean being below passing it seems as though as a whole, what they expect you to know is not actually being taught or is not clear, however good luck getting anything to change without some well thought out points to present to your instructors. My only advice is to read everything at least 5 times, talk to your instructors in a respectful way and review your tests if possible.

[aeris99]

Does your school offer tutoring? We have something called the learning center. I went to them after failing my first microbiology exam. I felt like I wasn't getting the information out of the book and lecture that I needed. My tutor/mentor started by going over my notes, looking at my exam and crib sheet, pinpointing where the info was that I missed (turned out to all be in tables) and then starting me on a new strategy for note taking. She also had me talk with my instructor for advice on how best to utilize the text and to start recording lecture.

Since I have started studying the new way my retention and understanding has skyrocketed! Our next exam isn't for 2 more weeks but I can already tell I'm going to do so much better. It was really hard for me to ask for help but when the whole class got more than half wrong I knew I had to take the initiative to change the way I was studying. I generally make high grades on tests without much studying, but my grade showed me that my way wasn't going to fly.

Hope you can find some help. Definitely go talk to your instructor and ask how you should approach the material etc.