I failed...med surg

[mariarose]

My med surg clinical prof failed me for my first med surg clinical. I have a failure in the course and I can not withdraw. I am devastated and heartbroken. I have never once got a C in my classes. All of them were A's and B's in my pre nursing and nursing class. I strive for good grades.

I was told I can retake the course and the new grade will replace my F. But the F will still show on my record but not as part of my GPA. But, I am hesistant if I want to do this all over again. It is stressful and I felt like I was crying ever day because my clinical prof stressed me out so much. I might have the same prof the next time I repeat. I'm afraid of failing the second time. If I fail again, I am out of the program.

Even though I am hesistant, my friends and nursing advisor told me I should keep going. I am a 3rd year in BSN nursing school. I do not know whether I should continue. If I am struggling in med surg. I do not know how I can succeed in other nursing courses. I am already semester behind in graduating. This is making my situation more complicated.

I am at the point where I can pursue nursing or change my major to graduate on time. But I do not want all the hard work for nursing to be gone. I want to become a nurse but the reality of me succeeding in the program have me reconsider this path. I have been struggling the whole semester. I feel like I've hit rock bottom and completely lack motivation to study for my other nursing classes.

I'm aware this decision will ultimately be made by me but I need to inquire some insight and perspective on this. How did you deal with failure? What made you overcome it?

[Summer Days]

Rise to the occasion, it's not the end of life. If nursing is what you want to do, then you must make changes where warranted. Strive to do better in those areas where your clinical instructor mentioned need improvement. It's ok to feel defeated, we are humans, but it's not ok to linger on in that mindset longer than needed. Look at it from the viewpoint that you have another chance to make things right and stay on that course till graduation. You must revamp things up as what you did in the past in your med surg clinical did not work. Ask for tips on how to survive that clinical from your upper cohort who have had the said clinical instructor before. I wish you all the best.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I failed a class and had to repeat not just one course, but TWO courses, setting me back a full year from my expected graduation date. Why did I have to rotate back 2 courses? Course content was moved from one semester to a previous semester and I had to follow the moved content. I graduated 2 years ago...

What I did was very simple. I simply analyzed why I failed and set about correcting that. I went from struggling a bit to basically being a class leader and peer mentor because I'd already "been there" and knew what was coming up. I studied, peer taught, and generally did my best to maintain an OK home, school, and work life. Because I didn't have the amount of time/energy to study as much as I'd have wanted to, I didn't make straight "A" grades throughout school but aside from my course failure, I never got a grade lower than a solid B and the school discounted the F so it doesn't appear in my GPA. It's still on my transcript, of course, and it's a reminder to me that life sometimes takes a curve you never quite expected.

In a way, I'm proud of my F. Not because I failed, but because I overcame it.