Honest opinion when is it enough

Nursing Students General Students

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Quick background, I started school back in 09 and took it slow and got all of my prereqs out of the way. Started nursing school in the fall of 2011 did wonderful in fundamentals, but sadly I didn't pass chemistry. So I had to sit out a full year, but in that year I got all of my fine arts and humanities out of the way, so it wasn't a total waste. Got back into the program in the spring of 2013 and started med surge 1 and failed. At this school, if you fail twice your out even if chemistry wasn't considered a actual nursing course. I was down about a week but I picked myself up and started another nursing program in the fall of 2013. I had to take a couple of prereqs and got those out of the way and then in the spring of 2014 I started the actual program. This program is 5 semesters unlike the last one was only 4 semesters long. So I just completed my third semester and was supposed to graduate this coming July, but sadly I failed my final today which was med surge 2. If I decide to stay and not give up I will now graduate next December instead of this coming July. So my question is when is it enough to just toss in the towel. I am exhausted and overwhelmed not to mention ALL the money I have invested. I have wanted to be a nurse ever since I was 5 and I will be 36 this month. This is not something that I woke up one day and thought lets give nursing a try. I have never wanted to be anything else, but I just feel like I am not smart enough to go on. I am wonderful in the clinical setting, but taking test not so much. I had a wonderful friend quiz me over the phone for almost two hours this morning before my test and I got the majority of the answers rights, but still failed the test. Any advice??

Before you continue on and attempt this program again you need to take a step back and get to the root of the issue. What has caused you to not be successful in nursing school...do you have the time to dedicate to studying appropriately? What is your study style (audio, visual, etc) and do you adapt your study habits to match up with your study style?

Once you have identified what the issue is you can then get up and try again.

If you feel that it is not yet time to throw in the towel then continue on. But, make sure that you will be ready for the next go.

You might look into utilizing NCLEX books to practice questions. This will allow you to develop the critical thinking skills that you need in order to approach nursing type questions. Also, ask your peers how they study...attend study groups...bounce ideas off of your fellow students. You would be surprised to know what little tidbits you might have missed in class that could assist you in being successful on the exam.

There are many threads here on the site that you might find helpful. Many tips and words of advice towards individuals such as yourself.

Best wishes.

Specializes in Medical Surgical/Addiction/Mental Health.

If you want to be a nurse, be a nurse! If you decide you’re going to give up, the money invested is a waste. However, if you keep plugging away at it and finish, it will not be a waste. BUT before you decide to continue the program, do a thorough assessment of why you failed those two courses. Do you need tips on answering NCLEX style questions? Do you need to develop different study habits? Is it possible that you are overwhelmed by the vast amount of information in a short period of time? Regardless, you need to find the root of the problem so that it can be addressed. I would encourage you to self-reflect before jumping right in.

Some of the best nurses I have met failed a nursing course. If you want this bad enough, you will get it!

Good luck to you!

Specializes in Medical Surgical/Addiction/Mental Health.

LOL- we had the same thoughts at the same time! It is true...great minds think alike!

Before you continue on and attempt this program again you need to take a step back and get to the root of the issue. What has caused you to not be successful in nursing school...do you have the time to dedicate to studying appropriately? What is your study style (audio, visual, etc) and do you adapt your study habits to match up with your study style?

Once you have identified what the issue is you can then get up and try again.

If you feel that it is not yet time to throw in the towel then continue on. But, make sure that you will be ready for the next go.

You might look into utilizing NCLEX books to practice questions. This will allow you to develop the critical thinking skills that you need in order to approach nursing type questions. Also, ask your peers how they study...attend study groups...bounce ideas off of your fellow students. You would be surprised to know what little tidbits you might have missed in class that could assist you in being successful on the exam.

There are many threads here on the site that you might find helpful. Many tips and words of advice towards individuals such as yourself.

Best wishes.

"Some of the best nurses I have met failed a nursing course."

THIS. So true.

LOL- we had the same thoughts at the same time! It is true...great minds think alike!

Lol--this is true! :)

Like I said I am great in the clinical setting so I am assuming I

am more of a hands on person. However, I am not sure how to assess what goes wrong. For example, I had a friend quiz me for almost 2 hours before the final and got just about every question right, but failed the final. Earlier in the semester we had a diabetes quiz and I answered 100 practice nclex question and missed around 5 and still failed that test. From what I have been told this class (med surge 2) is the hardest of the classes and there are 4 MS classes

What do your professors say? Do you feel anxious during the test?

Specializes in Medical Surgical/Addiction/Mental Health.

Test anxiety? Does your professor write the questions or get them from a test bank? It does not surprise me to hear that you do well in the clinical setting- I find it to be common. Have you talked with your professor about this? If not, I would encourage you to do so. He/She may be able to give some good pointers of how to improve; I hope it is not too late.

My instructor seems to think that I don't know the why behind each answer and my friend says I read way too much into the question. I am not sure where she gets her questions from but it's so frustrating when I get the practice questions right at home, but still fail the test.

I agree that you likely have test anxiety. I learned to never change my answers and as in actual nursing, TRUST YOUR GUT! As I assisted a fantastic hospitalist trying to insert a central line (4th MD to try) he said "this probably isn't the best time to tell you that I flunked out of med school the first year"!!!!!! Hahahaha good thing the pt was unconscious. Just saying, even doctors can fail. You have worked so hard. It shows amazing things about your strength and character. Don't give up on your dream.

Specializes in Medical Surgical/Addiction/Mental Health.

I agree- go with the first answer choice. It seemed that the questions I missed were the ones I changed. Ironically, the first answer choice was often times correct! I know there are students who make the test questions more difficult than necessary. I was given advice in nursing school- right before an exam, eat a piece of dark chocolate candy. When finished, turn your test over and place a large X on the back of the exam. Then turn the exam over and begin the test. She never explained how those two tricks worked, but for me, they did. I had a lot less test anxiety and the answers were more clear to me. Here is another tip...when taking a test and you come across a question you are unsure of, skip it! Go back to it later. When you return to the questions, often times the answers will click because you were reading the question wrong and/or another test question helped to recall the answer.

Good luck!!!

I agree that you likely have test anxiety. I learned to never change my answers and as in actual nursing, TRUST YOUR GUT! As I assisted a fantastic hospitalist trying to insert a central line (4th MD to try) he said "this probably isn't the best time to tell you that I flunked out of med school the first year"!!!!!! Hahahaha good thing the pt was unconscious. Just saying, even doctors can fail. You have worked so hard. It shows amazing things about your strength and character. Don't give up on your dream.
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