Higher grading policy

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Student nurse here. The grading policy for our COLLEGE is 90-100 A, 80-90 B, etc. However, the grading policy in our nursing classes hold us to a higher standard 93-100A, 85-92 B, and I was just wondering if that was a common thing at other colleges. A student made the comment to me the other day that if she didn't pass this semester she was going to another school close by that had a less strict policy. :uhoh3:

Statements like this annoy me, because it's a putdown to one group, to boost another. What does THAT solve??

Either student COULD make a good nurse, it depends on the individual.

Hear, Hear! :yeah:

Although this is what bugs me the most. I don't think A students necessarily make better nurses. And I'm not trying to overgeneralize here. But from my own personal experience ... Every time people flunk a test, they start with the "C students make the best nurses" crap. In my class, they don't even qualify the statement.

These are the same people who refuse to read the book. Well ... duh ... if you're not going to do the reading, you're not going to pass the test.

Now maybe that's not an indication of what kind of nurse they're going to be. But if you're not going to do the assignments, then don't put down other students who do.

And, quite frankly, a lot of these same people don't do their clinical assignments either. They're always trying to get away with doing the absolute bare minimum of work and are always goofing off at the nurses' station. The instructors are always having to ride them to get their assignments done.

Then they complain about students who actually do the work for making them "look bad." They actually expect others not to hand in their assignments on time, since they haven't done the work. It's outrageous.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but I personally haven't seen them in my class. The same people who say "C students make better nurses" are the same people I wouldn't want as my nurse.

:coollook:

Specializes in ICU.
Statements like this annoy me, because it's a putdown to one group, to boost another. What does THAT solve??

Either student COULD make a good nurse, it depends on the individual.

(And i'm not playing "Spot the Fracture", either, since i refuse to participate in a ****ing contest.)

Okay perhaps I could make myself a little more clear.

No one is stepping on me by talking about C students so its not personal. I'm pretty happy being a B student. So long as I graduate I really don't care what I make.

However in my first sentence I said often not all. There are some A students who will make fine nurses and there are C students who will be fine nurses. I would gladly take up for the C students in my class or on here.

In my class several of the A students tend to look down on the C students. That really doesnt sit well with me. In my program the only grades you get are for exams (6@60pts each) and the final(240pts). Clinicals and skills are pass or fail only. So if you dont test well you are screwed. Some of the C students are really good in clinicals and do know what they are doing but do not test well. I have seen them regurgitate all the drug info on the spot to the instructor in clinicals but I have no clue what happens to their brain during a test. At least 2 in my class are now on Xanax for test anxiety and 1 guy ran out of the final exam twice to puke in the hallway. That same guy was borderline passing but cares more about his patients than I probably ever will. One of the A students who I get partnered with in clinicals could give a rats *** about her Pt's because this is just a stepping stone to CRNA for her. So you want that C student working on you or the A student?

As far as me working in the same hospital goes. It means I have been around many nurses in their natural habitat. My father, mother and wife are all RN's. I have seen them come in doing clinicals, precept and return as RN's. One such young lady was an A student and the president of Student Nurse whatever and frightens me to be blunt. But she tested well in school.

Now that that is out of the way. Does anyone elses school have the 3 D policy as well? Nobody else finds it ironic that you have to round up your answers for the med math?

One of the A students who I get partnered with in clinicals could give a rats *** about her Pt's because this is just a stepping stone to CRNA for her. So you want that C student working on you or the A student?

I guess it depends on what you mean by rats ***. :chuckle

I think this applies to docs, as well as all medical personnel. Some people aren't all that "caring" but, they know what they're doing. I've certainly met doctors like that. Horrible bedside manner, but very competent.

If the A student happens to remember an important drug interaction that might kill me ... because they studied really hard for CRNA school, then I'd take that over a C student who studied barely enough to pass and doesn't know the interaction at all ... regardless of whether the C student cares more about me.

Of course, there are other C students who do know the material but just happen to choke on tests, as you mentioned. But I also know C students who are just plain lazy and barely get by.

In the latter scenario, I'll take the "uncaring" A student since, at the very least, they probably won't fulfill their goal of getting to CRNA school if they kill me.

;)

Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.
Okay perhaps I could make myself a little more clear.

No one is stepping on me by talking about C students so its not personal. I'm pretty happy being a B student. So long as I graduate I really don't care what I make.

However in my first sentence I said often not all. There are some A students who will make fine nurses and there are C students who will be fine nurses. I would gladly take up for the C students in my class or on here.

In my class several of the A students tend to look down on the C students. That really doesnt sit well with me. In my program the only grades you get are for exams (6@60pts each) and the final(240pts). Clinicals and skills are pass or fail only. So if you dont test well you are screwed. Some of the C students are really good in clinicals and do know what they are doing but do not test well. I have seen them regurgitate all the drug info on the spot to the instructor in clinicals but I have no clue what happens to their brain during a test. At least 2 in my class are now on Xanax for test anxiety and 1 guy ran out of the final exam twice to puke in the hallway. That same guy was borderline passing but cares more about his patients than I probably ever will. One of the A students who I get partnered with in clinicals could give a rats *** about her Pt's because this is just a stepping stone to CRNA for her. So you want that C student working on you or the A student?

As far as me working in the same hospital goes. It means I have been around many nurses in their natural habitat. My father, mother and wife are all RN's. I have seen them come in doing clinicals, precept and return as RN's. One such young lady was an A student and the president of Student Nurse whatever and frightens me to be blunt. But she tested well in school.

Now that that is out of the way. Does anyone elses school have the 3 D policy as well? Nobody else finds it ironic that you have to round up your answers for the med math?

an oppinion is an oppinion and you are certainly entitled to it

to answer your question since you were kind enough to address mine, we do not have a 3D policy, but I do see the reasoning behind it. And I think it is unusual that you only are graded for tests. Our clinicals are also pass/fail, however we get graded on tests, care plans, and med terminology, and our pharmacology is an entire class in itself.

In our pharm class our teacher will accept either 33.6gtt or 34gtt b/c some facilities have infusion pumps that can be set to the tenth, however some facilities do not so you would round up. We asked about the fact that the med may not be accurate if you round up and they get more, and she reasoned that this would only be critical in like an ICU setting, and they normally have the special equipment anyway.

Specializes in ICU.

lizz

I think we lost the lazy ones in 1st semester. We started with 52 and I think in the end had 42. For 2nd semester we started with the 42+6 replacements who were repeating 2nd semester. Of that 48 we now have 33 after the final. I know that some of them studied and even worked with a tutor but just could not grasp the material for whatever reason.

My instructor was really cool this semester so I scribbled on the test booklet so I would remember what I was thinking for the 1 on1 test review. Many times if I didnt like a question I would make a note (usually in the form of a big WTF?). One of the other instructors comes up with questions that are just off the wall. I think we would be better served being tested to see if we have a good understanding of how the drugs work than memorizing if you need to take a med with or without food. I just feel like I am trying to learn things so that I can apply them long term and the questions should reflect that.

asoldierswife05

I think its a bit odd myself but its the only thing I can relate to. I am not sure how the other area programs do it. We dont have an actual pharm class its just part of the lecture. Like for cardiac we will have to know all cardiac drug classes for the test. The killer is knowing that if you do well on all 6 tests that the final is going to count for 40% of your total grade.

As far as the rounding up we have to for our answers. On one test this semester I had a brain cramp and left my answer in decimal form and had it marked wrong. It was like 33.3 gtt or something like that.

BTW when you get a chance thank your husband for his service for me.

Specializes in NICU.
And I think it is unusual that you only are graded for tests. Our clinicals are also pass/fail, however we get graded on tests, care plans, and med terminology, and our pharmacology is an entire class in itself.

We don't get graded on careplans or anything else either. Our grade comes solely from our exams. Our clinical portion is pass/fail, including the careplans.

Either student COULD make a good nurse, it depends on the individual.

EXACTLY!! One student in particular comes to mind when I was reading this thread about how even though you make the good grades, doesn't mean you'll excel in the clinical area. She is an excellent student, I don't know her well at all, but I know she gets really good grades. During out preceptorship the last couple of months (I was in the NICU, she was in L&D) .... her preceptor was telling us one night that she (the student) has just been frustrating to work with because she's always telling the nurse how to do things, saying things like "no, this is how you should do it". I was just in shock hearing that. You don't say crap like that to your nurse (especially in front of the patient)! The preceptor (very sweet lady and great nurse, by the way) said the student scares her, that she's afraid after she graduates she'll injure a patient just because of how her attitude is. So yeah I agree in the opinion that you can have book smarts and still have no idea what the hell you're doing in the clinical area ...... just because a book says this is the correct procedure for this certain skill, doesn't mean when you're actually doing it, it's going to go by the book all the time. That's what happened to that girl ....she was trying to tell her preceptor how to put an IV in ..... whereas the nurse has a whole lot more experience putting in IVs, but this girl was just taking her book knowledge and saying "you don't do it that way". It's good to have the book knowledge, but a lot of the knowledge comes from experience. That girl was just narrow-minded in her way of thinking for the clinical skills. Clinical vs. classroom .... whole different way of learning and I think that's what some of them have a hard time with.

And I'm not saying I'm a great student. I make solid Bs and I do the best I can during my clinicals. My preceptorship was a great experience because I was totally open to what the nurses had to teach me. I asked a TON of questions and was willing to learn, rather than just taking my book knowledge and acting like "I know this and this is how you should do it", I knew these nurses that worked in the area daily had a lot more knowledge to give me from experience than I could read in any book.

But that girl that had trouble, I don't think it was just because she was an "A student" .... I think it's just because it's the type of person she is ..... that's her, not every A student is like that, I wouldn't even say most are like that. It's just dependent on the person.

I so agree with you! One of the girls in my class works full time, has a family and goes to school, most of the time she gets c's on her tests but knows the material. I've watched her in clincal and when other students are scared and nervous she calmly performs her procedure as if she had done it a thousand times. I have a great respect for her because of all the things she is balancing along with school. It is obvious that being a nurse is important to her even though her grades are not as great as she would like. I have no doubt she will join us at graduation in August and make a great nurse.

We're on a strict 5pt grading scale with an 80% being the lowest passing score.

Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.

BTW when you get a chance thank your husband for his service for me.

thank you! I will. :)

Specializes in er, pediatric er.

Our school has the same grading scale as the college with 70 as passing. Our NCLEX passage rate is in the mid 90 percent range.

Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
The school I go to is the same way. Only difference is you need a 94 to get an A. :rolleyes:

SAME THING AT MY SCHOOL

Specializes in Neuro, Critical Care.
SAME THING AT MY SCHOOL

we have to maintain an 84% to stay in our program, anything below that you are out....

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