I only have a 75% in anatomy and im not sure if im cut out to be a nurse

[1las9630]

so i started out at 16 being a lifeguard and really loved it because i loved learning how to help people with spinal injuries and cpr and was excited about all the new information i was learning about first aid. I took anatomy, physioloy and kinesiology in high school and really enjoyed it too. Now i am a pre nursing student taking my first prerequisite of anatomy and it is so much harder than when i took it in high school and i am only getting a 75%. Im worried that maybe this is the absolutely wrong occupation for me to be a nurse which is evident by my not getting an A in this class. please tell me that i am just overreacting and that prerequisites are just a pain in the butt and very difficult and not a great representation of what being a nurse is really about!it would really be comforting:confused:

[bassandtea]

I'm doing an A&P course at nursing school at the moment and find the best way for me to remember everything I have to is make up silly songs about the different parts of the anatomy, sounds silly, but it seems to work and it makes it a bit more fun. It's the same with the one thing that I remember from all the lectures clearly - the mitral/bicsupid valve because the lecturer joked about saying something like "it's the bicuspid and it's not gay!"... very silly, but it did stick in my head.

[Itshamrtym]

Don't give up your dream to be a nurse due to getting a "C" in A&P. You can and will be a good nurse with a "C". Getting an A or B will not make you a better nurse, trust me.... I found with my experience (LPN, and then RN with excelsior college), that A&P was hard, hard, hard, for me... infact at times I thought it was harder than nursing school. It is tough.... Use some of the study tips that others have given you. Go to open labs to help boost your lab grade. This was a must for me. The only thing that concerns me if you do end of with a "C" at the end, is will you be able to get into the college of your choice. There are waiting lists at most colleges, and they usally go by GPA and the sciences looked at the most. Don't give up..... study more perhaps. Is it possible for you to get a study partner? How much longer do you have to the end of your course??? Time to bring it up??? Well take care... You will be as awesome nurse. Don't let this stop you.

[Diahni]

YES YOU CAN!!!! Don't make the mistake of thinking grades = intelligence. I was a rotten student, and then in my twenties went back to college and learned how to study. You can, too. Anatomy may be demanding when it comes to memorization, but in fact there is very little thinking involved. Just memorize things. Everybody has a different way of "learning how to learn" but I took advantage of always making up silly sentences in anatomy that I could remember. Memorization is a skill that we can all learn, and the more you do it, the better you get. You know that long sentence to remember the cranial nerves? Well, you can do that for everything. Look online to see what others have come up with. I also did stuff like this:

"Little bitty beans" means ligaments connect bone to bone.

"Too many bananas" means tendons connect muscle to bone.

Also remember, as someone else pointed out, that being a good student doesn't translate into being a good nurse. But you do have to pass to get your license!

Good luck! Just remember you are being successful as long as you don't quit. Have to take a course over? Then do it. Just don't stop.

Diahni

[1las9630]

Thank you everyone for the amazing tips....i just got a lab exam back and got an 87%...thank you so much for all your kind words and help:nurse:

[kristenncrn]

Congrats!!

Just want to second the majority above... I work with some of the most amazing nurses who struggled with the academic parts (expecially in A+P, patho, micro... those detail oriented, hard science courses.)

And I know at least one RN who got straight As, sailed through the NC-LEX and is honest enough to admit that she isn't the smartest nurse around. She can ace a written test without any problem, but you should see her in a mock code ("crap, they aren't breathing? Uh, what do I do...") Luckily, she holds her own in real-time - but mostly due to perserverence rather than brilliance.

I know her really well, in fact, cause I see her every morning in the mirror.

Grades do NOT always reflect ability. Maybe more so in nursing than in any other field I'm aware of.

=)